Archived: Satellite Town Meeting -- Making College More Accessible

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Family Involvement

Making College More Accessible
Tuesday, February 18, 1997
8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (ET)

The February Satellite Town Meeting will focus on ways that schools and communities can work together to ensure access to postsecondary education to every student who wishes to attend. The program will be broadcast live from Atlanta, Georiga, in partnership with the Southern Regional Education Board. U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley will welcome a panel of experts from local colleges, schools, businesses and service organizations who will discuss:

How colleges and universities can work with secondary schools to improve access to higher education;
How businesses and community organizations can support programs that prepare disadvantaged students for post secondary education;
What communities and businesses are doing to provide financial support for disadvantaged and minority students;
Sources of federal and state tuition assistance for higher education.

To participate, all you need is to locate a facility with satellite downlink capabilities. Or call your local cable access station or school board channel and give them the satellite coordinates:


C-Band Galaxy 9 Transponder/Channel 2 Horizontal Polarity Downlink frequency 3740 MHz Orbital location 123° West	Ku-Band SBS-6 Transponder/Channel 12 Vertical Polarity Downlink frequency 11994.5 MHZ Orbital location 74° West
(Note: Galaxy 9 is where Telstar 3 used to be located) Audio subcarriers: 6.2 (Spanish) and 6.8 (English)

Please note that satellite coordinates are subject to change. Register your participation to ensure you will be notified of any changes by calling 1-800-USA-LEARN.

What is the Satellite Town Meeting?

Each month, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley hosts a video teleconference for communities working together towards comprehensive school improvement. National experts, community leaders and educators discuss current issues in education, offer practical advice for community action and interact with participants throughout the nation. Major national television outlets, including The Discovery Network, and Channel One, as well as public access stations and school board channels, carry the Satellite Town Meeting each month. Satellite Town Meetings are also available on many local Public Broadcasting System stations. Past topics have included: school violence, standards, arts in education, school-to-work, and parent involvement.

How can our community benefit from the Satellite Town Meeting?

The Town Meetings are excellent opportunity to organize your community and involve new partners in your school improvement effort. You can also plan your own local community meeting prior to or after the Satellite Town Meeting to discuss your community's progress and challenges in relation to the month's topic. The Satellite Town Meeting brings together people from across the nation with the same commitment to building community partnerships for learning.

How do we participate?

Find a downlink facility
You can take part in the Town Meeting with a group or at home by contacting your local Public Broadcasting System member station or public access station. Call and give them the show's name and topic, date, time of the broadcast, and coordinates. Encourage them to air the program and, if they do, ask if the program will be aired live or rebroadcast at a later time. A number of national organizations encourage their local affiliates to serve as downlink sites for the Satellite Town Meeting. Contact your local Public Broadcasting System member station, or local Chambers of Commerce, and ask if your group can use the facility. Your local school system, public library, or community college may also have the satellite equipment necessary to provide downlink. Other possible sites are local cable television stations, universities or technical schools, local government offices, hospitals, businesses, hotels or even private residences with backyard satellite dishes.
Make a list of invitees
Invite those who are working on your community's reform effort: parents, members of the business community, educators, members of the local chamber of commerce, and other key community leaders. In short, invite everyone who is interested in learning more about school improvement. Notify participants as early as possible.

Call 1-800-USA-LEARN to register your participation.
Send you comments or questions via e-mail to
Satellite_Town_Meeting@ed.gov

The Satellite Town Meeting is produced in partnership with the National Alliance of Business and the Center for Workforce Preparation with support from The BayerFoundation,The Procter and Gamble Fund, Microsoft, Inc., and SC Johnson Wax. Broadcast and cable partners include Discovery Communications, the Public Broadcasting System, and Channel One.

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Last Updated -- October 20, 1997, (smj)