The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS received a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The grant, set for a five-year cycle, provides $24,322,018 per year to fund CPB and PBS’s comprehensive multi-media learning and station engagement initiative. This initiative aims to connect children’s media and learning environments through content where adult role models share how they turned their childhood interests into their life’s work. CPB and PBS have a goal to help parents, caregivers and communities support children’s learning and growth by putting them on a path to success in learning, work, and life.

CPB and PBS will work with experts in early learning and leading children’s media producers including Wombats! (w.t.), produced by GBH and Liza Loops (w.t.), created and produced by Dave Peth, along with additional producers and partners, to create new multimedia platforms, such as with a literacy curriculum, in addition to digital games and podcasts, as well as resources to support family learning at home, in virtual spaces, and in the community.

An excerpt from the announcement:

“During these challenging times, public media continues to deliver value to the American people through our consistent commitment to early learners. As COVID-19 continues to disrupt education, public media is working to ensure that the nation’s children, especially those in low-income communities, have access to learning and are not left behind,” said Pat Harrison, President and CEO for CPB. “The funding by Congress and the Department of Education will provide vital resources to public media for the creation of research-based educational content, that will be offered free of charge and commercial-free, to help children prepare to succeed in work and life.”

The first phase of work will take place in 12 communities, including Anchorage, Alaska (Alaska Public Media); Austin, Texas (Austin PBS); Birmingham, Alabama (Alabama Public Television); Detroit (Detroit Public TV); Las Vegas (Vegas PBS); Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky Educational Television); Los Angeles (PBS SoCaL); Madison, Wisconsin (PBS Wisconsin); New York (WNET); Owings Mill, Maryland (Maryland Public Television); Pittsburgh (WQED); and Tallahassee, Florida (WFSU). Additional communities will be added during the second through fifth years of the grant.

Congratulations to everyone receiving this grant!

Find more details in the press release: https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/cpb-and-pbs-awarded-ready-to-learn-grant-from-the-us-department-of-education/ 

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As the media landscape becomes more and more complex media literacy is becoming more vital than ever. In a PBS press release Sara Schapiro, Vice President of Education, PBS stated, “In today’s multiplatform environment, media literacy, like social-emotional skills, is a necessary foundation for all other learning[.] NAMLE has been a leading voice in media literacy awareness and education for many years, and we’re thrilled with this opportunity to bring our communities and resources together to further empower educators and their students through this vital proficiency.”

The two organizations will encourage educators to participate in the KEQD Media Literacy Educator Certification, a competency-based certification available to PreK-12 teachers. As PBS and NAMLE collaborate on media literacy promotion this week, there are a variety of interesting resources for stations and individuals to up their own literacy game.

For more on PBS from Public Media Now, click here.

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In her time at AETN, Pledger has modernized the station, pushing video streaming for various kinds of programming such as high school sports and state government proceedings. Prior to joining AETN, Pledger worked with the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Hot Springs, Arkansas to update the festival. She is also a member of the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) executive committee.

Courtney Pledger has worked in film and media for more than thirty years from Los Angeles to New York to London before returning to her home state of Arkansas. She has worked in a variety of roles at firms ranging from a creative consultant at the animation studio, Aardman Animations, to the senior vice president of Radical Pictures/Radical Studios.

photo: aetn.org

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In a PBS press release, Paula Kerger stated, “As PBS navigates a complex media environment, it is critical that we have the guidance and counsel of leaders from across the nation who have expertise in a broad range of fields. We are fortunate to have such an experienced and talented group of board members who are committed to advancing the essential mission of public television.” These new PBS board members represent a number of different regions across the country and will all bring their unique perspectives and station experiences to this central body.

It will be exciting to see the new directions PBS goes in this coming year.

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Trusted sources tell us this promotion couldn’t have come to a cooler, more qualified, genuinely wonderful person. Congratulations to Linda Simensky on this new step!

The post Linda Simensky to Head PBS KIDS Content appeared first on Public Media Now.

From WGBH, America Reframed, a co-production of WORLD Channel and American Documentary Inc., will place the focus on immigrant rights with the film The Unafraid.

There will also be a new season of VOCES, a documentary series produced by Latino Public Broadcasting, which spotlights Latino arts and culture. This season will feature three new documentaries: “The Pushouts,” “Adios Amor – The Search for Maria Moreno,” and “Porvenir, Texas.”

POV will release the new film, América,” and American Masters presents “Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage” to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month as well.

The month will close out with The 32nd Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards from PBS on Friday, October 11 at 10:00 pm.

For a full list of programs from PBS for Hispanic Heritage Month please see PBS.com.

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For a full list of winners visit The Imagen Foundation Website.

The post PBS Programs Win Imagen Awards for Best Documentary and Best Informational Program appeared first on Public Media Now.

Kerger will head PBS as it begins its partnership with YouTube TV and makes the move onto the streaming platforms, a move meant to make PBS content accessible to more Americans. As PBS leans more into digital technology, Kerger will remain at the helm, steering the company to an ever more innovative future.

The post PBS President & CEO Paula Kerger Signs on for Five More Years appeared first on Public Media Now.

Congratulations to all these PBS programs!

For a full list of program nominations see the PBS press release.

The post PBS Programming Nets 47 News and Documentary Emmy® Nominations appeared first on Public Media Now.