Tag Archives: The Local Show

The Local Show .

Rewarding Geographic Literacy: National Geographic Bee

Education reporter Lindsey Foat sits down with two local finalists, Prani Nalluri and Aviral Misra, for the National Geographic Bee, which is a nationwide geography competition in Washington, D.C. for students in 4th through 8th grade.

Where in the world am I? Apparently, many students in the United States have no idea.

In a 2006 Roper survey, it was found that students in the U.S. fail to understand their world and their place in it. Of Americans aged 18 to 24, seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel on a map. Nine in ten couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map of Asia. And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa.

The 2002 project also surveyed 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and Great Britain. The U.S. trailed every other country in that survey, except Mexico, which did only slightly worse. Even for U.S. geography, the survey results are just as dismal. Half could not find New York State on a map of the United States. A third of the respondents could not find Louisiana, and 48 percent couldn’t locate Mississippi on a map of the United States, even though Hurricane Katrina put these southeastern states in the spotlight in 2005. About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn’t even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean’s location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent.

In order to spark interest in the subject, National Geographic hosts the National Geographic Bee to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge.

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the National Geographic Bee, a nation-wide geography competition in Washington, D.C. for students in 4th through 8th grade. In that quarter century, about two percent of the competitors are girls and only two girls have won the $25,000 first prize scholarship. Education reporter Lindsey Foat sat down with two local finalists Prani Nalluri and Aviral Misra.

The National Geographic Bee will be shown on KCPT the day after the competition, Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m.

Tags: Education, The Local Show, TLS330

performARTS: Jewish Community Center’s White Theatre

As part of our performARTS series in conjunction with KC Studio Magazine, Randy Mason provides viewers with a look at the Jewish Community Center’s White Theatre.

Jewish Community Centers sprang up in many American cities around the turn of the 20th century, in part because Jews were excluded from other organizations.

But unlike the YMCA, for example, these centers didn’t focus solely on physical fitness. They also stressed the growth of the whole person, including artistic endeavors. In this installment of our performARTS series, we’ll take you out to Overland Park to see some of the impressive work going on inside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, a place its own Cultural Arts director calls the “best kept secret around.”

The center’s season will conclude with Hairspray, July 13-28 in the White Theatre, which will then move out to Johnson County’s Theater In the Park, the first time that arrangement has ever been tried.

If you want to learn more about the history of the JCC’s old Resident Theatre, check out Richard Piland’s book, The Illustrated History of the Resident Theatre Kansas City, Missouri 1932-1983, which chronicles this piece of Kansas City and Jewish history. The book features pictures and descriptions of almost all of the major productions the theater offered.

Tags: Arts, performARTS, The Local Show, TLS330

The Local Show: May 2, 2012

This week: the rising trend of homeschooling, a TEDxKC preview, the KU Alzheimer's Disease Center and Gertrude the Sea Turtle.

This week on The Local Show, Sam Zeff examines the homeschooling trend which continues to gain popularity. Randy Mason talks to VML’s Mike Lundgren about what we can expect at TEDxKC 2013. Producer Rich Miller takes us inside the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center which is focusing on diet and exercise as a means of preventing the disease. And we hear the tale of Sea Life Kansas City’s newest resident, Gertrude the Sea Turtle.

Tags: The Local Show, TLS329

Too Cool For School: The Rise of Homeschooling

KCPT's special correspondent Sam Zeff files this report on the fastest growing segment of American education: Homeschooling.

What is the fastest growing segment of American education?

You will probably be surprised to hear that it is homeschooling, which is growing by some estimates at seven percent a year. While religion is still the biggest factor in why parents home educate, there are many other reasons including anything from a focus on science to just spending more time together as a family.

KCPT’s special correspondent Sam Zeff has been looking into this education expansion in our region.