SECC's History
On August 26, 1985, eight South Natomas residents tuned in — for the first time  — to cable television, and the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) aired — for the first time — programming on one channel. That was the day cable television was activated, and SECC was the leader, the only one of the community channels ready to provide its educational programming to the community. Back then, SECC’s 50 hours a week of prerecorded programs was a huge accomplishment, especially with a two-person staff. Today, SECC’s viewers watch more than 400 weekly hours of programming on two to four channels.

Establishing an Educational Channel
SECC’s creation began in the 1970s when a group of progressive educators formed a consortium comprising the area’s educational institutions to negotiate with cable franchising authorities. When cable arrived in Sacramento in 1985, the educational community worked with the cable company to establish an exemplary educational channel. The challenge for this partnership was to break down traditional education and business barriers to achieve similar goals. SECC is part of Sacramento’s community cable channels: Access Sacramento, KVIE’s Cable 7 and Metro Cable.

The process involved developing an SECC board of directors, constituents and policies. Even today, each member organization has one voting board member, so the largest university and the smallest K-6 district are equal. No single organization dominates the consortium. And this concept ensured the success that has endured all these years.

The cable company and other businesses partner with SECC in areas that match their own goals. For example, the cable company encourages teachers to utilize Cable in the Classroom channels and materials. To help promote the use of educational cable, Comcast provided a free connection for all 380 Sacramento schools. The cable company also assisted in establishing local school site television studios and cosponsored teacher education events.

While SECC provides programs via cable that reach across the borders of classroom walls — credit courses watched at home, classic arts, electronic fieldtrips to exotic places, staff development and NASA trips into space — a new project provides an opportunity for dynamic learning experiences through technology such as videoconferencing, webcasting, collaborative workspaces, real time data access, remote instrumentation and control and much more.

For Sacramento area students, this revolutionary idea is growing in the here and now thanks to an exciting, new resource called BESTNet (Broadband Education Services Technology Network) spearheaded by SECC. Described as Sacramento’s educational technology gateway, BESTNet is a shared vision of the educational community and defines as many things to students, teachers and parents. Literally a super high-speed network that connects all SECC K-20 member educational institutions, BESTNet also is an instrument to unlimited access of places and ideas throughout the world and beyond. This unique service comes from SECC and its members, the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission, Comcast, Strategic Technologies (STI) and Surewest.

As BESTNet evolves, so will the idea that education is a multimedia environment that provides a dynamic infrastructure for Sacramento’s educational community. Whether teachers, students and parents use cable television or the Web’s vast resources, access to the entire world through technology in the coming years will just be life as usual.

VISIT BESTNet ONLINE

SECC's Educational Partners

School Districts: K-20
All local school districts; the California State University, Sacramento (CSUS); and Los Rios Community Colleges (American River College, Cosumnes River College, Sacramento City College and Folsom Lake College) belong to the consortium. Together with SECC, districts create a variety of programs to show at special events and on Cable 15 & 16.

FIND YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT
VISIT CSUS ONLINE
VISIT LOS RIOS ONLINE

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California Department of Education
SECC works with the California Department of Education to develop programming and provide input on using cable television as a technological resource. SECC also accesses educational teleconferences through the department for local educators, administrators and parents.

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California Foundation for Agriculture in the ClassroomStudents learn how agriculture impacts their lives in the imaginative California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom Imagine This... production. Students grades 3-8 enter the foundation’s annual story writing contest which creates a positive learning experience in reading, writing and the arts through education about current agricultural topics. Students illustrate, animate and produce winning stories and SECC airs and offers the production online.

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Comcast Cable Television
Comcast supports educational cable television through a free cable drop at nearly 400 area schools and promotes educational cable through PSAs, event sponsorship and more.

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CABLE DROPS FOR SCHOOLS INFORMATION (pdf)

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Community Cable Channels
SECC Cable 15 & 16 forms the educational component of Sacramento’s community cable channels which include public, government and religious access. Additional educational cable television programming is provided by KVIE 7.

SECC and BESTNet are funded in part by the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission.

VISIT ONLINE:
ACCESS SACRAMENTO
KVIE CABLE 7
SACRAMENTO METROPOLITAN CABLE TELEVISION COMMISSION

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Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
SECC teams with its member the Third District PTA to support and promote parent education programs.

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Sacramento County Office of Education
SECC and the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) work together to create a variety of resources for educators and students.

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SureWest Broadband
As part of its educational support, SureWest Broadband sponsored SECC's 2004 and 2005 SEVA Contests.

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