KCPT’s mission is to educate and enrich our community with quality programming and services that entertain, challenge minds and contribute to a life of learning. We accomplish this by serving as a platform to address community issues and producing and delivering quality local programming. KCPT partners with local organizations to bring these special programs and public awareness campaigns to our community.
The tallies are in for the 2012 KCPT PBS Kids GO! Writers Contest! This year there were a total of 45 stories entered.
The contest, presented locally by KCPT with national funding support from Studentpublishing.com, encourages children in grades K-3 in the Kansas City region and in communities across the country to celebrate the power of language and creativity by creating and submitting original stories and illustrations. KCPT was one of sixty-three public television stations across the country that participated in this year’s contest.
All first place winners from KCPT’s contest will be entered into the national PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest, where they will compete against area winners from across the county.
KCPT’s 2012 PBS Kids GO! Writers Contest First Place Winners
Kindergarten – Furry Cat Has a Birthday Party by Alex Beeman
1st Grade – My Baby Sister by Estelle May
2nd Grade – The Cat Who Wanted to Fly by Keagan Iris Bailey
3rd Grade – The Waterfall by Amelia Kline
Second Place Winners
Kindergarten – The Butterfly at the Farm by EmmaLyn Burnett
1st Grade – The 3 Pigs Return by Maureen Tuohey
2nd Grade – The Pet Shop by Jillian Staver
3rd Grade – Farmer Boys by Daniel Sliker
Third Place Winners
Kindergarten – The Owl by Autumn Ferrante
1st Grade – If I Was by Gracelynn Xia
2nd Grade – The Soap Story of Natalie Soap by Natalie Thompson
3rd Grade – The Storm by Tanner McDaniel
Honorable Mention
Kindergartern – Pluto Got Sad by Aubrey Pritchett
1st Grade – Boomer and the Cave Mystery – Elizabeth Place
2nd Grade – The Alien by Akerth Jain
3rd Grade – The Mean Mirror by Makayla McClenahan
The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest is produced annually by PBS KIDS and managed and created by WNED-TV Buffalo/Toronto, and is a part of PBS KIDS Raising Readers, a national initiative that uses the power of public media to build the reading skills of children ages two to eight. More information on PBS KIDS Raising Readers and the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest can be found at pbskids.org/read.
UPDATE: During her talk at the KC Chamber Insight meeting, PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger applauded public television stations across the country for continuing to serve the original, educational mission and “had the highest praise for our local PBS station, KCPT, and its leader, Kliff Kuehl.”
Watch Paula Kerger’s talk:
PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger talked about public television’s history, mission and its future yesterday at Union Station as part of The Kansas City Chamber’s Insight Kansas City speaker series.
Kerger, who has been at the helm of PBS since 2006, told the Chamber that they actually have a lot in common with PBS in their shared missions for opportunity, serving communities and the exchange of ideas.
“Although the means of connecting with our audience has changed over the years, we remain focused on using media to fulfill our public service mission to help everyone, of every age, from every walk of life reach their full potential,” said Kerger. “Across every platform we’re providing new resources for children to learn and give all American access to the dramas, documentaries, history, news and public affairs and arts programming that expand horizons and open up new vistas.”
PBS President and CEO presented at Union Station on May 2, 2012 as part of the KC Chamber's Insight Kansas City speaker series.
Kerger applauded public television stations across the country for continuing to serve this original, educational mission and talked more specifically about KCPT’s focus on local coverage.
“Right here in Kansas City, KCPT has evolved over the years, growing their reach and impact to serve more Kansas Citians,” said Kerger. “KCPT is positioning itself as a trusted and constructive center stage for the region.”
The future of public television Kerger said will be dependent on innovation in three main areas: connection, content and community engagement.
Beyond the traditional broadcast, PBS and member stations have more opportunity to connect with viewers than ever before through social media, the web and mobile content.
And as Kerger points out, PBS is excelling in these pursuits. This year PBS received nine Webby Award nominations, including nominations for pbs.org, pbskids.org and the PBS iPad App. In addition, PBS has created six web-only series.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis of looking at who is actually watching us online and over 60% of the people watching videos at pbs.org are between the ages of 18 and 49,” said Kerger. “Now in Public Broadcasting we’ve talked for years about how we can create content that connects with a younger audience. I’ve always believed, and I’ve been in this business now for a while, that our content is compelling, it’s just that we don’t always fit people’s busy lives.”
In addition to making existing PBS content accessible at any time and on multiple platforms, Kerger sees opportunities to use new media to test out new shows and formats that aren’t suitable for broadcast, but further PBS’ mission to educate.
Although changing technology has presented a slew of challenges for broadcasters, Kerger sees many exciting opportunities for public broadcasting to provide all Americans with “content of consequence” among hundreds of other channels, whose programming consists on average of about 50% reality television shows.
“In the US, channels that were supposed to replace PBS by offering history drama and arts programming have increasingly turned to reality television,” said Kerger. “We’ve made deep investments in a couple of areas: arts, history, science and news.”
PBS launched the Fall Arts Festival in 2011, which brought spectacular performances to the millions of Americans that tuned in. KCPT will be one of the presenting stations for the upcoming Summer Arts Festival with “Homecoming: The Kansas City Symphony Presents Joyce DiDonato,” which will air nationally on July 20th.
“[Homecoming] is a spectacular piece not only because it focuses on great art, but it is also a spectacular piece because it shows what a community can do when it dreams big,” said Kerger. “And that is the inspirational message that I am so proud that you’re going to bring from Kansas City to every home across this country.”
In addition to touting PBS’ commitment to the arts, Kerger said that PBS’ highest calling is its kids programming.
“No other media company creates this kind of quality kids programming that treats kids as kids and not as mini-consumers,” said Kerger. “We have received more Emmys for children’s programming than all other cable and television networks combined.”
Outlining PBS’ community engagement strategies, Kerger focused heavily its resources for teachers. In 2011, PBS and its member stations launched PBS LearningMedia, which helps teachers and homeschoolers bring technology into the classroom with thousands of free videos and interactive resources available online. In addition PBS is partnering with NASA, the National Archives and the Library of Congress to incorporate their educational resources and make them easily available to teachers.
Kerger concluded her presentation saying that not only does she believe public television will continue to serve its original mission well into the future, but it will also expand its services.
“Our work cannot be replaced or replicated by commercial outlet because we exist to serve the people and not to sell to them. Our bottom line is the number of lives we touch,” said Kerger. “Of all the stations out there we are the only ones charged with this honorable mission and we are the only ones who can put the people’s airwaves to the service of the people.”
An interview with Paula Kerger and KCPT’s President and CEO Kliff Kuehl will air on The Local Show on May 10 at 7:30pm.
Join KCPT and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art May 4 at 6pm for a special premiere of the new KCPT documentary “Putting Down Roots: Roxy Paine’s Ferment,” about the creation of the brilliant sculpture. After the film, curators and the film’s producer Randy Mason will host a discussion about the newest addition to the Kansas City Sculpture Park.
The event is FREE. but tickets are required for admission. Reserve your seat on the Nelson-Atkins’ events page.
Explore the outdoors this spring with a visit to a local park! As part of the nation-wide PBS Kids Explore the Outdoors campaign, Ironwoods Park in Leawood, KS will be hosting a Self-Guided Scavenger Hunt. on Saturday, April 28th from 10am to 5pm.
Stop by the Prairie Oak Nature Center in Ironwood Park to pick-up a map and instructions for a special wildlife scavenger hunt. In addition to the Nature Center, a children’s playground and trails, the park includes the Historic Oxford School House, which will be open from 11am – 2pm.
Make tracks to pbsparents.org/outdoors and see how you can make any day a PBS KIDS day in the park.
Watch videos, play games and download activities at the Little Green Steps web site!
Join KCPT on Sunday, May 20 for a fun evening celebrating everything Sherlock as we watch the final episode The Reichenback Falls on the big screen in KCPT’s Community Room. Vivien Jennings from Rainy Day Books will give a talk about Sherlock Holmes and the ongoing influence of the character in literature.
We are excited to announce that PBS has chosen Kansas City’s own Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Conductor Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony, and Joyce DiDonato for their Summer Arts Series. This nationally distributed arts series will profile our award-winning symphony and DiDonato’s return to her hometown for a thrilling Kauffman Center debut. Our team has been working behind the scenes with PBS, national producers and the Kansas City Symphony since the summer to help make this happen. KCPT hosted a special dinner and tour of the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts with PBS CEO Paula Kerger in October. I think that seeing the stunning, state of the art Kauffman Center in person helped in PBS’s decision to bring the Summer Arts series to Kansas City.
I think viewers will be amazed at what Kansas City has to offer. The fact that, in this economy, our city has such a thriving arts scene is a real testament to the community and the creative and entrepreneurial spirit here. This project brings a well-deserved national spotlight to Kansas City, the Symphony, and the new Kauffman Center. It is a privilege to help tell our community’s arts stories and keep Kansas City “top of mind” as an arts destination and as a city on the move.
KCPT has another national program on the horizon – a horizon with a not so typical tree, “Ferment.” Executive Producer, Randy Mason is working on a national documentary following the story of Roxy Paine and his craft. As noted by Randy, “It’s been almost a year since “Ferment” arrived to take root on the Nelson’s front lawn. Thanks to the Hall Family Foundation and The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, our documentary about the sculptor, Roxy Paine, and the process of installing his 56 foot “dendroid” is almost complete.” You may remember watching a segment about the artist on The Local Show in June. If you missed it, you can watch it online at http://cove.kcpt.org (episode 6/16/11).
You may have noticed a little special attention being given to local arts organizations. KCPT has teamed up with Townsend Communications to feature six arts organizations on both The Local Show and KC Studio magazine. Featured organizations are: The Coterie Theatre, Kansas City Chorale, Quality Hill Playhouse, Kansas City Actors Theatre, Paul Messner’s Puppet Company, and The Charlotte Street Foundation. The Coterie Theatre, the first of our features, has reported great success with the coverage given to them. They were happy to report that, due to this special attention, they were able to break all box office records with their performance of Seussical. This mixed-media campaign was made possible with the support of the Richard J. Stern Foundation, Commerce Bank, Trustee and the John W. and Effie E. Speas Memorial Trust, Bank of America, Trustee.
In addition, we are working with major stations across the country to help build a regular national arts program that will curate content from stations across the USA, including our arts content. KCPT is committed to ongoing local arts coverage. We are grateful for the tremendous financial support to continue telling the stories of the people and organizations who make Kansas City a great arts and culture community. As you can see, we’re not just sharing these stories to fellow Kansas Citians, we’re sharing them with the world!
Warm regards,
Kliff Kuehl
Join us Saturday, March 10 at 11am for a special sneak preview screening of “Revenge of the Electric Car” a film scheduled to air April 19 as part of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens.
Following the film, John Kurmann, community activist with ReEnergize KC and host of EcoRadio KC on 90.1 KKFI will discuss the drive to electrify our cars.
The screening, which is free of charge, will take place at 11am Saturday, March 10, 2012 at Tivoli Cinemas located in Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Missouri, 64111.
Director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of car is America’s future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever.
Although Shukree Hassan Tilghman begins More Than A Month with the goal of ending Black History Month, by the end of the documentary he has developed a more nuanced approach to celebrating and acknowledging the history of African Americans.
After viewing the film at KCPT’s February Community Cinema event, many attendees seemed to share Tilghman’s conflicted feelings about the month.
Dr. Doretha Williams, who is the executive director of the Black Archives of Mid-America helped facilitate discussion about the film and the role of Black History Month in our community and schools. Like Tilghman, Williams, who grew up in Topeka, KS, says that she has happy childhood memories of Black History Month. “I remember dressing up as and playing Harriet Tubman and leading the other kindergartners to freedom,” said Williams.
Black Archives of Mid-America Executive Director Doretha Willams leads discussion of the film More Than a Month.
Discussion topics ranged from how history is recounted and by whom to the inevitable consequence of corporate and commercial use of Black History Month.
Here are some of the comments and reactions of those that attended:
-Perhaps Black History is hard for people to incorporate into American History because of the shame associated with it. That way the power-brokers don’t have to deal with the shame and wrong-doing. The only history we’re getting has to be cleansed, we’re not talking about the rape of black women. Anything that happens in the US is part of American history. Celebrating Black inventors, leaders and revolutionaries like we currently do is great, but what’s missing is acknowledging the shame of slavery.
-I sympathize with the mom in the film who took it upon herself to teach her daughter about slavery. American Indians have the same problems that Tilghman presents in the film. We have to tell our story to our own kids all the time. It’s hard though when you’re contradicting what’s in the text book and your kid doesn’t know what to believe.
-I take issue with the men reenacting and celebrating the Confederacy and flying the Confederate flag. They say it’s not just a symbol of racism and slavery, but it’s akin to wearing a swastika.
-I think there is still a place for the celebration and acknowledgment that comes with Black History Month, but we should also work to incorporate and add these powerful stories to the main curriculum.
-Tilghman has really reminded me as a mom that I need to shake things up and push for 365 days of Black History! I can remember when I was little and it was just a week. A month is a mark of progress, but we can’t be compliant or just eliminate Black History Month until we have something better to replace it with.
-I think if we eliminated Black History Month, we’d be forgetting whose shoulders we stand on and the struggle to establish Black History Month.
-It seems that the corporate side of Black History Month is inevitable. There seemed to be some disgust around the Heineken’s Black History advertisement. My question is are we disgusted with the product or all mass-marketing? I mean would we have the same issue if the ad was for Colt 45?
-I remember the Kings of Africa Budweiser campaign from a few years back. I think they is a larger issue there with marketing alcohol to our young people.
-I think the high school requirement for Black History is just awesome. My mother went to the all-black Lincoln High School in the 1930s in Kansas City and Black History was a requirement then.
-Black History always felt like a funeral for me of all the past achievements and leaders. I think Black History needs to start as far back as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and not stop. I agree wholeheartedly with Tilghman that Public Enemy should be included!
Listen to KCUR’s interview on Central Standard with Shukree Hassan Tilghman and UMKC History Professor Pellom McDaniels III, who is featured in the film.
Create and discover African American History from the palm of your hand with More Than A Month’s accompanying smartphone application: More Than a Map(p).
Last September, we devoted an entire Local Show episode to bullying and hate. Since then, KCPT has been working behind the scenes with area schools to produce their own anti-bullying messages. This week, we feature the message produced by the Fairfax Learning Center, a high school in Kansas City, Kansas.
Here is a look at another spot that was produced by students at FL Schlagle High School in Kansas City, KS:
