The Archaeology Education A Team: Public Archaeology and Public Media

Introduction

The pandemic created a variety of challenges for those that do public outreach. However, it also provided an opportunity to try new approaches, form new partnerships,  remove ourselves from our comfort zone, and learn new things. The FPAN North Central Regional Center, located in Tallahassee, Florida, has always had a good relationship with WFSU Public Media, the local PBS and NPR affiliate, but the pandemic provided the impetus to strengthen that partnership and take it to the next level! WFSU's television production expertise and FPAN's archaeology outreach expertise resulted in a series of quality public television programs as part of the PBSKids Camp TV virtual summer camp program. The broad audience and reputation of PBS and WFSU allowed us to broaden our following and provide public outreach programs to an audience that would have otherwise been outside of our immediate reach. 

The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN)

The Florida Public Archaeology Network’s mission is to promote and facilitate stewardship, public appreciation, and value of Florida’s archaeological heritage through regional centers, partnerships, and community engagement. We approach our mission by focusing in three core areas: Public Outreach, Assistance to Local Governments, and Assistance to the Florida Division of Historical Resources. For this topic, we will be focusing on public outreach.

FPAN has eight regional centers throughout the state that each operate their own visible public outreach programs. Under normal circumstances, these public outreach programs consist of promoting archaeological and heritage tourism, assisting heritage-based organizations, disseminating information to the public, working with volunteers, and attending regional heritage events.  In March of 2020, that all changed when the State of Florida, along with so many other states, shut down due to COVID 19. This unprecedented event changed the face of public outreach for FPAN staff, but also allowed us unique opportunities to experiment with various platforms in order to reach people safely and effectively. The majority of our public engagement was done digitally or virtually. 

WFSU Public Media

WFSU Public Media provides quality public broadcasting services to the North Florida and South Georgia area. WFSU Public Media is both an NPR and a PBS member station. Their FCC licenses are held by Florida State University. WFSU Public Media provides two television broadcast stations (WFSU and WFSG), one cable television station (4fsu), one statewide satellite television service (The Florida Channel), and Internet webcasting services. WFSU Public Media provides community outreach and educational services, such as the American Graduate Project and children's projects associated with PBS KIDS. Their mission is to enrich lives and cultivate diverse perspectives by connecting the community through media content and services that inform, educate, and entertain.

Camp TV

Camp TV is a PBSKids program that provides a day-camp experience for kids every weekday via television! The head counselor, Zach, guides “campers” as they learn through play in the comfort of their own home. This virtual programming was vital in the summer of 2021 due to the closure of so many in-person summer programs for children. Guest experts are invited on the program to lead activities like science experiments, dances, animal encounters, story times, and crafting. Partners from across the nation included the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, OK Go, Memphis Zoo, Lincoln Center and more. 

Thanks to grant funding from WNET in New York, WFSU Public Media was able to highlight several partner organizations from across the Tallahassee area in their own series of Camp TV videos! Throughout the 2021 summer break, children’s educational videos appeared on WFSU-TV, Facebook and YouTube. In addition to the Florida Public Archaeology Network, other local partners featured for this program were the Florida Center for Reading Research and the Southern Shakespeare Company.

 

Barbara guiding children through the PB&J Archaeology
activity for Camp TV

The Florida Public Archaeology Network, with the expertise of the WFSU’s film crew, filmed two educational activities from our “Beyond Artifacts” curriculum guide at the WFSU studios in Tallahassee, Florida. Barbara Clark (North Central Regional Director) acted as the host guide for “Peanut Butter and Jelly Archaeology”. This activity teaches children how archaeological sites are formed, how time is recorded in soil stratigraphy, how archaeologists excavate a site, and how stratigraphy can be destroyed by human activity.  Tristan Harrenstein (North Central Regional Public Archaeologist) acted as the host guide for  the “cookie excavation” program. This activity teaches students the process of excavation and how delicate artifacts are recovered from the soil by archaeologists. 

Tristan Harrenstein (FPAN Public Archaeologist) and Suzanne Smith
(WFSU Executive Director) prepare to film the "Cookie Excavation" activity. 

          In conjunction with the televised Camp TV programming, WFSU/PBS  hosted a virtual camp for the 2021 Summer break, PBS Camp TV! This virtual camp – sponsored by Leon County Schools – brought a day-camp experience to  children’s homes, with local partner spotlights (including the Florida Public Archaeology Network), engaging hands-on activities, and standards-aligned educational content. This program was conducted over Zoom, with Camp TV “counselor”, Zac, and a WFSU staff member guiding the children through the activities. After the guided activity there was a question and answer session with the guest. For this portion the children did PB&J Archaeology and then spent time virtually with Barbara Clark from FPAN discussing the activity. This interactive component provided a unique opportunity for the kids to interact with the expert and ask questions about their field.

Camp TV "Counselor", Zac, takes children through the PB&J
activity step-by-step via Zoom during the live virtual camp.

 

Conclusion

 While the pandemic created many challenges for those that do public outreach, it also provided an opportunity to try new approaches, form new partnerships, and strengthen old partnerships. FPAN had done some small scale events and projects with WFSU Public Media before, but Camp TV strengthened that partnership and took it to the next level. One very important benefit to virtual programming is the ability to reach those that are not in your immediate vicinity. WFSU and PBS already have a strong following and membership base, as well as a reputation for quality educational programming. Partnering with them  enabled FPAN to reach children across the country, which obviously we are not able to do with in-person programming. Furthermore, because of grant funding obtained by WFSU, there was no additional cost for either WFSU or FPAN, besides the time investment associated with production of these videos. The series received 1.2 million gross impressions. A gross impression is a metric used in television  to determine how many opportunities there were for a program to be viewed. The program aired 4,128 times on 121 stations, in 17 of the top 30 markets. As previously mentioned, this reach would not have been possible without virtual programming or our partnership with WFSU. Partnerships like this, along with the success of this and other virtual programs, have led FPAN to continue some virtual programming even as we start to do in-person events.

Although we are a Florida-based organization, and prioritize programming that emphasizes the protection of our state’s cultural resources, we realize the benefit of reaching a broader audience that crosses state lines and even international boundaries. Virtual programming is a simple and effective way to reach a broader audience without ever leaving the state. Partnerships with organizations that have a large following and strong reputation for quality programming, such as local PBS stations, help to spread our message farther than we may be able to do alone, thus leading to a broader appreciation for archaeological resources everywhere.