Who We Are:
Teach with TVW (TWT) is the Education Department of TVW. We are a non-partisan, non-profit organization that focuses on teaching state government to the students of Washington State. We teach about how the Washington State Legislative, Executive, and the Judicial branches work. By focusing on issues that are traveling through Washington State government, students learn HOW to think about government and HOW to navigate the government NOT what to think about it.
Brett Hansen – TVW Director of Education
Brett Hansen is the Director of Education at TVW. He is a three time NW Emmy winning documentary filmmaker and has been working at Teach with TVW since 2015. He believes that people’s stories are the foundation of democracy and that through storytelling citizens are able to debate ideas, advocate on issues and effectively engage in the process. Brett has a BFA from Alfred University in Digital Media Art.
1058 Capitol Way South
Olympia, WA 98501
Phone: (360) 529-5310 Ex 5400
Email: bretth@tvw.org
Corey Paulson – Head of Civics Education & Development
Corey Paulson has been teaching American government and history for over 20 years. By integrating US history, Washington State History, and government, her students truly understood the importance of a place based education and the power that they have as Washingtonians. In 2023, she left the classroom to use her skills and passion for teaching students about the importance of civics and civil discourse at TVW. As the Head of Civics Education and Development at Teach with TVW, Corey writes curriculum that helps teachers integrate Washington State Government into their classrooms seamlessly, using video and other available technological resources. These curricula are concentrated on advocacy and empowerment of our youth, by focusing on understanding how government works so that students can use their understanding of issues to drive civil discourse.
Email: corey.paulson@tvw.org
Stefani Smith – Media Producer & Education Specialist
A veteran of TV production, Stefani joined the Teach With TVW team in 2020 to help expand civic engagement. In her prior work with PBS, she produced popular educational programming, garnering millions of views, an Emmy®, a NETA, multiple Emmy nominations, and has programming on CreateTV®. Throughout her career, it has been her mission to bring complex issues into focus, helping to educate, empower, and cultivate common ground.
Email: stefani.smith@tvw.org
Our Programming & Standards:
NON-PARTISAN COVERAGE: Because of our commitment to remaining non-partisan, all of our coverage contains links to TVW’s gavel to gavel coverage of everything that happens in Washington State Government. At Teach With TVW, we are not gatekeepers of democracy. Instead we help students understand how democracy works in Washington by demonstrating how to navigate Washington’s transparent government.
CURRICULA: All of our lesson plans and videos are appropriate for grades 6-12. Our videos are available on our website as well as on our YouTube channel. Each video is under 10 minutes, and is complemented by discussion questions and activities. These lesson plans are shared via Google Docs, which are fully customizable to what the classroom needs. Each lesson plan has a Teacher Guide, a Student Notebook, and a video. To edit for use in the classroom, make a copy of the document. The time commitment for each lesson is generally about 45 to 90 minutes.
EDUCATION STANDARDS: All of our videos and lesson plans address the Washington State K-12 Learning Standards for Social Studies in Civics, with an emphasis on the following standards in Middle and High School.
- C2: Understands the purposes, organization, and function of governments, laws, and political systems.
- C2.6-8. 4 Use knowledge of the function of government to analyze and address a political issue.
- C2.11-12.1 Analyze citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national and/or international level.
- C4: Understands civic involvement
- C4.6-8.3 Employ strategies for civic involvement that address a state or local issue.
- C4.11-12.2 Analyze and evaluate ways of influencing local, state, and national governments and international organizations to establish or preserve individual rights and/or promote the common good.