WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has awarded $177,697 in grants to 35 public television stations to develop plans to connect new PBS KIDS resources focused on science inquiry and literacy to the highest need children in their communities.
The grants are part of the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Education, which is focused on maximizing the impact of PBS KIDS content through community collaboration and personalized learning experiences for children. The program is designed to reach children and families across America.
“Education is core to public media’s mission, and CPB and PBS are working to support local public television stations as they develop community partnerships that serve the youngest learners in low-income families,” said Deb Sanchez, CPB’s Senior Vice President for Education and Children’s Content. “These planning grants will help stations analyze their specific community needs and determine the best partners to reach and serve young children and their families. This experience will reinforce the important role that stations play as an educational media partner to communities and families.”
The CPB Awardees are:
Alaska Public Media (Anchorage)
Alabama Public Television (Birmingham)
Arizona PBS (Phoenix)
CET (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Community Idea Stations (Richmond, Virginia)
Georgia Public Broadcasting (Atlanta)
Idaho Public Television (Boise)
KRWG (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
KUED (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Louisiana Public Broadcasting (Baton Rouge)
Milwaukee PBS (Wisconsin)
Maryland Public Television (Owings Mills)
NET Nebraska (Lincoln)
New Mexico PBS (Albuquerque)
Nashville Public Television (Tennessee)
Public Broadcasting Atlanta (Georgia)
Prairie Public Broadcasting (Fargo, North Dakota)
UNC-TV (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
ValleyPBS (Fresno, California)
Vermont PBS (Colchester)
WCNY (Syracuse, New York)
WETA (Arlington, Virginia)
WGBY (Springfield, Massachusetts)
WGTE (Toledo, Ohio)
WHRO (Norfolk, Virginia)
WHUT (Washington, D.C.)
WHYY (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
WIPB (Munchie, Indiana)
WLVT (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
WNED (Buffalo, New York)
WNET (New York, New York)
WOSU (Columbus, Ohio)
Wisconsin Public Television (Madison)
WUCF (Orlando, Florida)
WXXI (Rochester, New York)
Stations will use the grants, averaging $5,000 each, to assess community needs, identify a community site for the project and potential partners, and develop a two-year community engagement plan using a national Ready To Learn-funded engagement model. Up to 14 of the 35 plans will be selected for further funding under the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn grant.
“These planning grants will help stations lay important groundwork to serve their communities and advance the mission of public media – to provide access to high-quality educational content nationwide,” Sanchez said.