CW Pair Picks Up Emmy Awards for E-Field Trips

By Desiree Parker Sunday, June 13, 2010

Two Colonial Williamsburg employees who produced electronic field trips for the organization have picked up 2009 Emmy awards from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Abigail Schumann and Frances Burroughs won the awards for their work on “A More Perfect Union” and “Freedom Bound.”

Schumann received an Emmy for her work as producer, director and writer for “A More Perfect Union” in the category of children/youth 12-and-under, single story or series. Burroughs received the Emmy as producer, and Schumann as producer and director for “Freedom Bound” in the informational/instructional or special program category.

“A More Perfect Union” follows the story of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and premiered November 19 last year. “Freedom Bound,” which premiered in February last year, shares stories of escapes from slavery spanning three centuries.

There were 718 entries in this year’s Emmy competition, with 228 nominations. Members of Colonial Williamsburg’s productions team have won seven Emmys and received 16 nominations in the past five years.
Produced by Colonial Williamsburg’s division of production, publications and learning ventures, electronic field tips are broadcast one Thursday each month, twice a day, from October through April on participating public television stations and cable channels across the country.

Targeted to grades 4-8, the distance learning programs span a broad range of historical subjects about people, issues and events from the colonial period to the present day.

Each electronic field trip is supported with lesson plans, interactive student resources, program scripts and other materials to help teachers make history more exciting and relevant for their students. All materials have been developed by teachers, historians and museum educators and meet state standards for history, technology, art and literacy. Selected programs also correlate to state standards related to the program’s subject.

Students in participating schools may submit pre-recorded video questions, share a project via live video Web chats, and e-mail or call in questions to costumed interpreters and historians during the live televised broadcast. Registered users also may view electronic field trips and use teacher and student resources via the Internet on demand any time during the school year.

More than one million students and four million viewers every year view Colonial Williamsburg’s interactive television broadcasts. For more information and pricing, or to subscribe to the electronic field trip series, click here, call 1-800-761-8331, or email eftsupport@cwf.org.