Kathleen Collins, President, Kansas City Art Institute
Kathleen Collins, who leaves her office as president of the Kansas City Art Institute next summer, sits down with Randy Mason to talk about her tenure and future plans.
ALSO:
Can you tell 125 years of KC Art Institute history in 4 minutes?
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Pencils, paper and laptops?
More than 5 years ago, the Kansas City, Kansas School District began giving free laptop computers to all of its high school students.
Three years ago, North Kansas City joined the gadget giveaway by providing free net-books to its high schoolers. And starting this school year, students receive 11-inch MacBook Air laptops.
Everybody loves technology, but what have these school districts got to show for their massive investment? Are test scores up?
We sent reporter Danny Wood on assignment to find out if the district’s investment is paying dividends.
The Local Show is designed to highlight artists and entrepreneurs, leaders and overachievers from all walks of life – and in the process, help Kansas Citians discover substantially more about this place we call home.
“The Local Show is really going to allow us to tackle areas of the news that rarely get much television coverage in the metro. At KCPT, we tackle local politics and public policy well, but what about the arts and entrepreneurship, education, health and science? Finally, we have a place to regularly tell those stories.” Nick Haines, Executive Producer, The Local Show
Nick Haines is the show’s host and executive producer. Assisted by Randy Mason (and other guest interviewers from time to time), Nick will sit down for fast-paced chats with people who are making a genuine difference in fields as varied as education, health services, technology, and the arts.
The pilot episode, for example, features Kathleen Collins, retiring this year as president of the Kansas City Art Institute; and Bryan Hansel, whose company, Smith Electric, is manufacturing electric powered trucks right here in Kansas City. KCPT’s The Local Show will also spotlight “difference makers” in the community. In this first program, KCPT goes inside Operation Breakthrough, the nation’s largest low-income daycare facility. More than 600 kids a day are served at the facility on Troost Avenue. But with rising poverty, 1200 children are on the waiting list.
The Local Show will also feature segments showcasing items from the WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial, and from time-to-time, some aptly named “Start-Up Stories.” These profiles will peek behind the scenes at fledgling ventures across the metro, and then with the aid of expert analysts, pinpoint the companies’ strengths and weaknesses.
KCPT President & CEO Kliff Kuehl conceived The Local Show after spending much of his first year on the job meeting business and civic leaders all over town. “I was amazed at how many fascinating stories I heard, and how much of it might not be known by a lot of our audience,” he says.
As The Local Show launches in July and August, each half-hour program will air once a month. Beginning in September, it will have a more frequent presence on KCPT, agile enough to accommodate special editions of Imagine KC and other newsworthy topics as the need arises.
More than a decade after Kansas City opened its first charter schools, they have now become a sought after choice. Today, one in three children in the Kansas City, Missouri school district is enrolled in a charter school. Kansas City ranks 4th in the nation for the percentage of students enrolled in charter schools, but how are they working? Are they any better than traditional public schools? As Efforts are underway in Jefferson City to expand charters statewide, you’re about to hear a whole lot more about them. The Local Show presents an hour-long conversation on the subject as we deliver a charter school status report, break down the myths and facts and bring together those on the frontlines of the debate.
In this this special edition of The Local Show, we’re joined by a cast of thousands. With us are state lawmakers, including the representative from St. Louis who wants to expand charter schools statewide, the head of the Senate Education Committee, two Kansas City School Board members, including the school board chair, the head of the teachers union, the head of UMKC’s Charter school program, the executive director of the Missouri Charter Public School Association, an education leader at the Kauffman Foundation and a longtime journalist and author who has been closely following the charter school debate.
This special edition of The Local Show will offer the four‐part series on suicide in its entirety.
With reports and interviews, Episode One illustrates the Kansas City connection to the issue of lives of unbearable pain.
Episode Two deals with depression, which is what Kansas City psychologist Dr. Linda Moore states is the initial symptom experienced by so many, and how to recognize symptoms of depression early.
What to do when someone you know is considering suicide is thoroughly discussed in Episode Three.
Learning to cope after the suicide of a friend or family member leaves one asking, “What could I have done?” Episode Four discusses the devastating loss of those left behind and how individuals and support groups can be beneficial.
Overwhelming positive feedback from the initial showing of the series has resulted in this special edition which will be rebroadcast additional times and will soon be available online.
Here is a look at just a few of the comments we have received:
“My name is Martha Stevens; I live in Manhattan,Kansas. On March 18th, 2007, I lost my beloved 12-year-old son, Ian, to hanging. I am a moderator to the online support group, Parents of Suicides. I have just watched part 4 of your series on suicide and I need to tell you that I am flabbergasted by its excellence. Well done, well done, WELL DONE-and I thank you, both for myself, and the huge population of the grieving. Well done.”
“I recently had the opportunity to view the first of a 4 part series you are doing on suicide. I want to thank you for being so brave, so compassionate and for educating people about suicide which is epidemic. The news reporter who spoke of his coworker who had died by suicide was so honest and moving. He did not hide or sugar coat anything.
My beloved son died by suicide on August 21, 2010, two weeks before his 30th birthday. It was the worst day of my life and I will never be the same. I belong to a yahoo group called Parents of Suicide which has been an incredible support and help. That is where the link was posted. I live in BC Canada and have forwarded the link to others I know whose lives have been forever altered by the suicide of a loved one.
I am very grateful to you for taking on this subject and I hope other PBS stations pick it up and air it as well.”
“Someone sent me a link to the recent show you ran on suicide. The 10 minute report apparently was the first of 4 shows in a series to be aired. I thought the show was excellent, very well done. I appreciated the honesty of the reporter who talked about his co-worker Don and how his suicide affected him, and the fact that the show addressed the stigma that goes with getting help-and the flawed terminology of ‘committing suicide.” Please let the people who were on this show know that this segment was seen-not just by people in Kansas, but by people all over the world, because the show was so well done. I facilitate the world’s largest English speaking Internet community for people who have lost someone to suicide, and international community of around 1000 people. I passed the link on to everyone, expecting that some of them will take time to watch it, too. I live in Tennessee, but the link was shared with me by Martha Stevens, who lives in Manhattan, Kansas. (Her 12 year old son Ian took his life a few years ago.) Thanks so much.
Karyl”
If you’d like to share your own experiences or information on resources, please comment below or send us an email at thelocalshow@kcpt.org.
American Association of Suicidology
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Directory of Mental Health Resources in Kansas
Mental Health America of the Heartland
Headquarters Counseling Center
National Alliance on Mental Illness Kansas City
Suicide Awareness Survivor Support Mo-Kan
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Missouri Department of Mental Health
Missouri Suicide Prevention Project
Parents of Suicide Support Group
Parents of Suicide Support Community
Suicide Prevention Resource Center
Here is a look back at the individual segments:
You’ve heard of a petting zoo, but what about an instrument petting zoo? It’s one of the Kansas City Symphony’s outreach projects designed to get younger kids up close and personal with the instruments of the orchestra.
Area Schools can sign up for the Kansas City Symphony Instrument Petting Zoo.
Because of extensive demand for this engaging program, it is preferred that second, third, and fourth grade students have the first opportunity to receive its benefits. Visits to classrooms are available for either morning or afternoon during one of the seven weeks listed.
Zoos will be filled in the order requests & signed contracts are received, with no request considered less than one week prior to the Zoo date. A maximum of three 45-minute sections may be held during one visit, with each section ideally consisting of no more than 80 students.
Your Classroom | $150
October 8-11, 2012
November 5-9, 2012
December 3-7, 2012
January 21-25, 2013
February 25-28, 2013
March 11-15, 2013
May 6-10, 2013
To take advantage of this exciting educational opportunity, please contact Education Manager Stephanie Brimhall at (816) 218-2639.
Started six years ago by a small group of artist/educators, Hip Hop Academy is an after school program that teaches youth on both sides of state line hip hop dance, DJ’ing, rhyme, emceeing and poetry as well as drawing and mural art. The lessons they learn though are as much about self-esteem and finding their own voice.
Anthony Ladesich and Cara Myers produced this profile of Kansas City’s Hip Hop Academy.
It’s hard to believe given the affluence of America that so many people grow up in our community and across the country unable to read. Imagine if you couldn’t make out the words on a menu, figure out what it says on your prescription label or even read a birthday card from your children. It is estimated that 225,000 adults in our metro are functionally illiterate. They can’t do these things. Recently, Nick Haines had the privilege to host the Power of Reading Event for Literacy KC, a Kansas City organization that uses volunteer tutors to help adults learn to read. Several of those adults who have overcome great odds shared their stories in front of a large audience at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.
You can become a tutor if you can spare two 90 minutes sessions a week. Training is provided.
We are all becoming increasing aware of the crippling impact of Alzheimer’s disease, but what if you could double your chances of maintaining a healthy brain for the rest of your life by following a few common-sense lifestyle suggestions? Researchers at the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center, one of just 29 National Institute of Aging designated Alzheimer’s Centers in the country, are receiving international attention for a radical new way of thinking about the memory ravaging condition.
KU scientists are exploring the big difference that simple diet and exercise can make in how well your brain ages. Did you know that 90 percent of what’s now known about Alzheimer’s disease has been discovered in the last 15-years? Doctors at KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center are always looking for volunteers to help them conduct research. Adults of any age with Alzheimer’s Disease or Mild Cognitive impairment, as well as all healthy adults without memory problems ages 60-and-over are eligible.
Visit the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Center website or call 913-588-0555 for more information.
Also, you can wear your favorite hat, watch the run for the roses and help the Kansas University Alzheimer’s Disease Center raise money all at the same time this Saturday in downtown Kansas City. The Derbyfest runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Maker’s Mark in the Power and Light District. Tickets cost $35 apiece, and walk-ups are welcome.
All proceeds from the 2013 Kentucky Derby Fest will stay right here in Kansas City to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
As a companion to the PBS documentary Not In Our Town, The Local Show focuses on efforts in our community to stop hatred. We will speak with former Miss Kansas Alyssa George about her efforts to combat bullying in schools. Anti-Bullying expert and author SuEllen Fried shares an emotional story from one of her school visits. We will feature the story of Walter Currie, Jr., a Poplar Bluff, MO teen who was set on fire in a possible hate crime. We highlight a story from local Holocaust survivor Bronia Roslawowski. Viewers may contact the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education for additional information on the Holocaust including testimonies of other local Holocaust survivors. We get a look inside the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project. We will also share excerpts and reaction from a screening of Not In Our Town.
Learn how to recognize bullying: Educate yourself on how to recognize the signs of bullying and what you can do to prevent kids from being bullied. Learn to tell the difference between bullying and harmless childhood play.
Help educate others: Spread the word by talking to the people in your community who have the power to put an end to bullying. Here are a few groups you may want to visit or call:
Your family: If you have kids, teach them that bullying is wrong. Use the government resources provided for bullied kids and bullied teens to help them come up with a plan for what to do if they experience bullying as a victim or an observer.
Your friends and neighbors: Take a few minutes to share this bullying information with people in your neighborhood. Encourage adults and children to speak up and stop bullying wherever they see it.
Your local schools: StopBullying.gov has a wealth of free anti-bullying material aimed at helping teachers, school administrators, and students recognize and prevent school bullying. Print some of the school bullying articles and give them to your local school district or email officials the link. You may also want to suggest that school children take the Anti-bullying Pledge from Bullying.org.
Stop bullying when you see it: By now, you know what to do. The next time you see an innocent child being victimized by a bully, don’t let the abuse continue. Your actions to stop bullying will help victimized children have hope again and will pave the way for others to stop letting senseless bullying harm young lives.
Kansas City Anti-Violence Project
BullySafe USA
Midwest Center for Holocaust Education
Stop Bullying: Speak Up Campaign on Facebook
Synergy Services
StopBullying
The Working Group
