Episode 09: The Strengthened Partnership with PBS

Transcript

Welcome to BLaST the Airwaves with BLaST Intermediate Unit 17. Here at BLaST Intermediate Unit 17, we strive to transform lives and communities through educational services. On this podcast, we will provide you with educational solutions for all, no matter the learning environment. So teachers, administrators, caregivers, what are you waiting for?
What would happen if we started questioning, what if? What if we had a positive perspective on education? What if we flip the switch on education? What if we were the solution?
Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Kirsten Smith Grants and education officer at WVIA, and we also have Craig Santoro, as well, the director of educational programs at WHYY. Kirsten, Craig, thanks so much for joining us today to discuss educational solutions for all. Specifically, we’ll be discussing everything that PBS has to offer for our caregivers in the Commonwealth.
Are you guys ready to blast the airwaves?
Oh, we’re ready.
Absolutely.
So why don’t we start by having you tell us a little bit more about each of your roles in relation to our topic today? Kirsten, let’s start with you.
Sure. I’m the Grants and Education officer at WVIA, which is a local NPR PBS affiliate in Northeastern, Pennsylvania. We cover 22 counties. And my primary responsibility in relation to today’s discussion is I’m the director of education for WVIA. So I’m tasked with overseeing all things education at the station.
Wonderful. And Craig?
Sure. I’m the Director of Educational Programs at WHYY, which is in Philadelphia. So, we cover all of the Philadelphia area, the five counties, a region in Pennsylvania, as well as Southern New Jersey and Delaware. And, you know, as the education director, we’ve been working with our local intermediate units. We’ve been working with local school districts, and you know, recently, recently it’s been a year now. Uh, it has ssure flown by,, with the state department of ed, to help kids and parents and families find the best resources from PBS to learn at home.
Yeah. Wow. Craig, you just completely spring-boarded into the next question, which is fabulous. But as a result of the pandemic, Craig, you know, the department of education and PBS has really strengthened that relationship. I know, even with us at the intermediate units, working with you guys, I work specifically with Kirsten, but at state level meetings, it’s, it’s been fantastic to learn everything that PBS has to offer that I, I never knew. Can you share with our listeners, Craig, what has been added to PBS since last March, a year ago. I know for me again, there was a number of new resources that I was not even aware about.
Sure. I, I just want to say first off that it’s been great working with the state department of ed and also with the other Pennsylvania PBS stations. It’s been a really, I think, kind of a new era for us to work together in a way that we haven’t before to address, you know, these kinds of huge problems that these gaps in education that families are facing. So, uh, there’s been a lot that, that we’ve done. Ranging from really big things like a TV schedule that has been completely revamped to serve different grade bands, uh, pre-K to three, a four to eight, and a high school band. You know, some of it looks similar to our PBS kids programming, but then we’ve also taken stuff from primetime that is appropriate for older kids and brought that down to two younger grades. We’ve added really great educational resources, that aligned to those shows. You can find them on all of your station websites, look at your local station first I would say, but also there’s a PBS, a PA PBS website that you can go to. There’s activity sheets for every show or almost every show and, uh, we’ve had some special programs. It’s an, a special, you know, there’s been, like robot doctor and family code night. WQED out in Pittsburgh has this great SOS for schools, if your school is going to shut down for like two weeks. There’s just curriculum that you can, you can jump on there. And then we’ve worked with our IUs. Each station has worked with their IUs on some sort of offline learning projects. Some of them were grab-and-go bags that kids could take home with them with activities. Some of them were using a small computer called a raspberry PI, and then, you know, the big thing that’s kind of on the horizon now is that we are experimenting with our broadcast signal as a way of reaching kids who truly have no access to the internet. And how can you use a digital broadcast signal to bring them the resources that they need to learn at home. And then I think there’s also just a mainstay of PBS resources that existed before the pandemic that I think families are really starting to use and that we’ve been, uh, you know, training teachers and families to use those resources.
Yeah, I thought, well, I am not a parent right now, full disclosure here, but I am part of big brother, big sister. And when I learned about the parent resources page, I sent that right away to our organization because even as a caregiver in general, or afterschool program, they’re so useful and there’s so many ideas out there. So I was grateful for that because sometimes we have to be virtual with our littles and it, and it’s nice to to have some resources. So thank you, Craig. And so Kirsten, one of the biggest benefits of PBS is the PBSLearningMedia and it’s been around, but it’s, I think has been strengthened so much through this and the partnerships and talking more with teachers and intermediate units and the department of ed, but, um, and even like the Pennsylvania, PBS common carriage. Can you explain these two features for our caregivers?
Absolutely. Uh, first PBS learning media is really a treasure trove of online resources that are largely connected, not just to PBS programming, but also to state curriculum. So, what you have at PBS learning media is you have media clips, you have a video clips, you have lesson plans, unit plans, you have audio files, you have documents all relating to curriculum standards and themes throughout the, uh, throughout the nation. But we really, as we drill down in the state to really look at the Pennsylvania state standards, additionally, they connect to PBS Programming. So if you’ve read, if you’re teaching a science class and you’re learning about polar bears and their natural habitat, you could go to PBS learning media and augment that lesson with some great video clips from nature, maybe even Nova. You’ve got resources like, you know, documents and photos. There’s just so much out there to enhance your lessons. Uh, so that’s one of the benefits. Those are some of the benefits of PBS learning media. Additionally, PBS learning media has parent resources. It has teacher resources. So teachers can go on PBS learning media and really do professional development even.
Um, you know, and there’s a wealth of professional development opportunities for teachers on that site. But I think the most important piece. And, you know, looking at it from a teacher’s perspective, you have all of these wealth of resources, but it’s literally for every grade band and every level. So whether you’re teaching pre-K or 12th grade, whether you’re teaching gifted or you’re teaching special needs, there is thousands of resources on PBS learning media to help you do your job and make the experience more exciting for kids.
I might just add also, it’s a great resource for, you know, snow days or opportunities where maybe you have some extra time in class. Just jump on PBS learning media kind of gather in your favorite sections, some videos or some, uh, interactive activities that kids can do when they finish an assignment early or a test early, you know. They can go over to the computer and do an interactive lesson and believe it or not, no matter what you teach, literature, science, math, even physical education, languages, music, that’s all there for you and PBS learning media. Now to springboard over to common carriage.
What common carriage is is that the state adopts a PBS schedule that every PBS station in the state is going to air at the same time. So if it’s 10 o’clock in the morning, you know you’re going to have Sesame Street statewide and that’s what’s called common carriage. So we have this uniform channel lineup throughout the day, and that’s determined not only by grade band per hour but also we have a mixture of different shows relating to all different subject areas.
So you’ve got social, emotional learning in the morning with kids programming, you have literature and language arts. You have science and nature. You have all of that. Even in the afternoon for our older students, you have the same sorts of programming. So it’s nice because whether you live in Philadelphia by Craig, or you live in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre by me, the show lineup is the same.
And. Real quick. Let me add that we’ve actually married the common carriage and the PBS learning media together. So when you’re watching Daniel tiger at 9:30 or 10, or you’re watching nature Nova too, you could actually go to wvia.org or whyy.org. and you can find the schedule for common carriage and related PBS learning media resources.
And like I said, that’s statewide, no matter what PBS station you have in your region.
Yeah and I think that’s also fantastic to keep in mind that like, if you’re a parent at home or a caregiver and you are also working and you have kids, like Craig, I think we were just talking, your kids are at home still right now. So like, if you know, they’re learning something, you could say, Hey, I want you to watch this episode. And then here are some supplemental materials that you could like play with, if your son or daughter or niece, nephew, and child doesn’t have content at that time. Right. So I think it is helpful and beneficial that way as well for caregivers.
So thank you, Kirsten. Um, and I know, like I said, I am more of like a caregiver. I work with my nieces and my nephews and, and littles, but you both are parents. And we also have many caregivers and parents listening. If I was a caregiver, what would be your recommendation for me to use PBS at home with my child or children?
Um, Kirsten, why don’t we start with you and then we’ll go to Craig.
Sure. Uh, I would say that the best use of the resources is really just to either, um, encourage excitement and learning. So if I’m at home and I have three kids, uh, actually I have five kids. I have two stepchildren and three children. So when they’re just kind of not sure what they want to do, uh, these resources are great to just, you know, get them engaged. They’re fun. They’re interesting. I know when, uh, one of my kids was actually fascinated by the country music documentary, and there’s lots of resources on PBS learning media about that. So his interest in music was really engaged by the resources and that programming. And, and certainly as a caregiver, also, if your child is struggling in a concept area or in a skills area, you can actually go to our resource page on PBS learning media type in, you know, oftentimes your teachers will give you a list of standards that are perhaps where there’s some weakness or, uh, conversely, it might be that there’s a strength. You can actually go to our resources, find that standard. And then see all the different activities that you can give your kids to just kind of augment or enhance their learning. So, um, I think that’s really empowering for caregivers to consider.
Great. Thank you. And Craig, what would be your recommendation or suggestion?
Yeah, so I do have two kids at home. One is five and one’s eight. Um, and I, and it’s been, you know, a pretty crazy year. The eight year old has not seen the inside of a classroom yet, this year, but he will soon. Um, but I think that, um, It’s different for every family and every family.
And I think what’s great about these resources that every family can use them, uh, as they need to. I think there’s really, um, you know, it was great stuff just on TV for little kids, you know, and it’s safe and you know, that they could watch it and be enriched by it. Um, and then I think that there’s you know, PBS learning media, is a super amazing, rich resource that you can dig into, uh, at any time. Uh, kids can do it self-guided. I think that’s really nice too. Um, there’s parent, uh, resources out there, as you mentioned, Rebecca. Um, and I think that, uh, you know, Don’t be shy to reach out to your local station.
I think that people like me and Kirsten want to talk to you and want to hear about what’s going on and we can, we can guide you. Uh, and I think that those relationships are really important. I also think don’t shy away from the prime time stuff. Uh, you know, I think people think of us as little kids during the day and maybe old people at night, but those documentaries that we show are amazing shows like Nova are amazing and they all come with educational resources and they are designed to teach you. So don’t, don’t shy away from those, if you have older kids and they don’t have to be that much older. I mean, my eight-year-old, he’s not going to sit down and say, dad show me Nova, but if we were watching Nova together, he’d go, Oh, you know what? That’s pretty interesting. So I think, reach out to your local station, um, and, and dig into the full schedule because there’s, there’s really great stuff out there.
Yeah, and I’ll definitely link all of these resources. And if you don’t mind your emails as well, and you know, in our show notes, cause we do, um, do add the show notes. So we’ll link some of that for our listeners, but now it’s time for our favorite part or at least my favorite part or blast five. Um, all these like no pun intended kind of things, you know, blast the airwaves, blast five, you know, but we’re going to blast you five rapid questions for you to quickly answer.
And these are related to the topic of, you know, professional, personal, just some fun things for our listeners to get to know you. So, Craig, I’m going to start with you.
Do I do all five in a row or do you jump back and forth?
We’re going to do all five to you in a row.
I’m ready. So your favorite candy?
Reese’s peanut butter cups.
Favorite PBS series?
uh Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum.
Favorite part of your job? Uh, helping kids.
Favorite food? Uh, there’s a sandwich called the chicken marusha at a local Lebanese restaurant near me in West Philly. It’s worth the trip.
Wonderful. And your favorite music?
Uh, it’s been a bleak year, but listening to a lot of, uh, Tom waits. Um, but we also have like, uh, eighties dance parties after, after dinner. I don’t know if that’s, that sounds like a lot of fun.
I would love to join in on that. Wonderful. Thank you, Craig. Don’t you feel like you’re on like the family feud or something where that was, that was intense. I’m sweating.
Good job, Greg! Kirsten, your turn. Are you ready?
All right. Favorite candy, junior mints.
Oh, that’s a different one. Favorite PBS series?
Uncovering Shakespeare.
Of course, English teacher in her heart. That was my favorite.
Favorite part of your job? I love working with the students and teachers. Definitely my favorite.
Uh, favorite food?
Um, can I say junior mints again? No, I’m kidding. I’m from Wisconsin. So, uh, you guys call it cheese fries out here.
Wonderful, wonderful. Favorite music?
Well, I have like I said, I have five kids, so I don’t really have a choice of what music I listened to, but I do, I do like rock. So I would say that’s more like, rock.
Great. So you guys pass with flying colors, just kidding. It’s not really a quiz, so, but we cannot thank you enough for your time today.
And we know our listeners have enjoyed, enjoyed it too. And it’s been a blast again, huh? No pun intended Kirsten, Greg. But thank you for taking your time today to connect with us and all of your dedication and hard work working throughout the year to connect our state initiatives and our educators and our families, our offline kids, our online kids, everyone. It truly has taken a tribe, right. Or a village. I’m sorry, a village it’s taken a village. It’s been a pleasure to speak with you on this podcast today. So take care and I’m sure I’ll see you soon on the zoom sphere.
Thank you. Thank you, Rebecca. It’s been a pleasure. Yes. Thank you very much.
We would like to thank you for blasting the airwaves with us today. If you like the show, please subscribe or leave a review. If you want to know more, check out www.iu17.org for further resources and show notes. As always, we want to thank you for what you do every single day. Remember, keep shining. We’ll be back next episode to provide you another educational solution for all, as we continue to transform lives and communities through educational services.