About the Program

The DTV Student Outreach Program was created to help schools and students develop outreach activities to help guide their communities through the Digital Television transition. Contained within this program are educational materials and community service ideas which young people can use to effectively spread the word about the DTV transition while developing leadership skills and fulfilling scholastic community service requirements. These materials include FCC-developed fact sheets, consumer advisories, posters and certificates for schools and students who have completed DTV-related community service projects.

The FCC recognizes that America’s high-school students are technologically fluent and highly civic-minded. This program allows them to apply their skills and ideals while fulfilling community service hours. We believe that an energized and motivated cadre of young community educators can help ensure that all Americans can enjoy the benefits of the DTV transition.

We encourage our school and student partners to focus their efforts on providing much-needed information to the populations most at risk of losing television after the transition; specifically seniors, minorities (particularly those who don’t speak English well or as a primary language), those living in rural and tribal areas, low-income consumers and members of the disability community.

Lastly, after completion of outreach activities, we’d love to hear feedback about your efforts via email at DTVStudents@fcc.gov. Event photos and specific feedback about numbers of consumers reached, categories (e.g., seniors, etc) is warmly welcome.

The DTV Student Outreach Program was developed in large measure through the diligent efforts of some of our 2008 summer interns. Their understanding of youth and the high school community, coupled with their knowledge of the consumer issues surrounding the DTV transition, were key in the FCC’s ability to effectively field the program. We gratefully acknowledge their work on this project.