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Students meet Thomas Jefferson,
Patrick Henry at Blue Ridge PBS
Station celebrates 10 years
of
"Conversations on Democracy"
(Roanoke, Va.)-A class of
fifth graders from Brookneal Elementary School recently
took a step back in time during a visit to Blue Ridge
PBS, where they met and interviewed Thomas Jefferson and
Patrick Henry. These famous men, portrayed by living
history interpreters from Colonial Williamsburg, came to
Blue Ridge PBS as part of the station's "Shaping the
World: Conversations on Democracy" series, an
interactive history project with Thomas Jefferson's
Poplar Forest that is now beginning its 10th year.
"Blue Ridge PBS is where history comes alive, on air and
in our studio," said James Baum, station President and
CEO. ""Conversations on Democracy' is a wonderful way to
engage students. Thanks to our friends at Thomas
Jefferson's Poplar Forest, we are able to produce this
popular education program in a way that is both
entertaining and informative, just like our other
education broadcasts and services."
The recent student interviews with Jefferson and Henry
will be broadcast on-air and online during the fall of
2010, on Blue Ridge PBS and other public broadcasting
stations in Virginia. The program will also be streamed
by Virginia's Education Department to schools throughout
the Commonwealth. The project includes extensive
curriculum materials to help teachers meet Virginia
Standards of Learning. These materials are available at
PoplarForest.org,
or through links at BlueRidgePBS.org.
 "It is our hope that these programs are inspiring
today's public, school students as well as adults, to
discuss democracy and other pressing issues facing
America, just as Jefferson and his contemporaries did as
they set about creating a new nation," said Octavia N.
Starbuck, Director of Interpretation and Education at
Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest. "These past ten years
have certainly been a great learning experience for us
at Poplar Forest. We work with producer Carol Jennings
and the production crew each year, and we look forward
to many more "Conversations on Democracy" with Blue
Ridge PBS."
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This year,
students from Brookneal Elementary were selected for the
program because Patrick Henry's last home and burial
site, Red Hill, is located in Brookneal. The Campbell
County students have been learning about Thomas
Jefferson and Patrick Henry at school. The children were
visibly excited to have the opportunity to interview
these famous Americans about their roles during the
Revolutionary War, the political issues of the time, and
their tenures as two of the first governors of Virginia.
Thomas Jefferson was played by renowned interpreter Bill
Barker, courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation. He has performed as Jefferson for more than
20 years, appearing at the White House and the Palace of
Versailles as well as in programs aired on other major
television networks. Richard Schumann portrayed Patrick
Henry, a role he has played at Colonial Williamsburg for
the past fifteen years.
Jefferson's past guests included: Charles Willson Peale,
Dolley Payne Madison, Aaron Burr, Napoleon Bonaparte,
Meriwether Lewis, George Washington, Marquis de
Lafayette, John Adams, and the Presidential and Vice
Presidential candidates of the election of 1804.
For more
information about
"Shaping the World:
Conversations on Democracy,"
visit BlueRidgePBS.org
and
PoplarForest.org/democracy.
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