KCPT connects our community’s children with educational resources for a brighter future.
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KCPT Reads
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Scholarly, Culturally Literate & Service-Oriented: Crossroads Academy
This week, you might say the theme is school, or what we do when it finally lets out for the summer!
We’ll start by introducing you to a new charter school that lots of us are just beginning to learn about–The Crossroads Academy. Sponsored by the University of Central Missouri, it is wrapping up its first year in operation, offering grades K-5. Eventually, they’ll expand to K-8.
Despite the name, you won’t find it in the Crossroads. This school that embraces what they term 21st Century Learning is actually smack dab in the middle of downtown.
Crossroads Academy, by the way, defines the boundaries of downtown for its student body as the Missouri River to Linwood, State Line to Woodland. Classes for next year, including the addition of 6th grade classes, are already filled up. There is currently a waiting list.
Coverage of downtown stories provided in part by the Downtown Council of Kansas City.
Too Cool For School: The Rise of 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.
Local Homeschooling Resources:
Building Curiosity: Black & Veatch’s STEM Program
Randy Mason sits down with Black & Veatch’s Staffing Program Manager Shelly Arnett to discuss how this Kansas City-based, global engineering, consulting and construction company’s mentoring program is getting area students excited about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). KCPT has partnered with Black & Veatch to start a tutoring program for fifth-grade students at Santa Fe and Dobbs Elementary in the Hickman Mills School District, hoping to inspire the students to pursue careers in science-related fields.
April 2013 Letter from Kliff Kuehl, President & CEO
Every week some 95,000 area students bring their studies to life with KCPT’s digital learning services. Our PBS LearningMedia™ is a great resource for students and educators and brings together the best of pubic media digital content from award-winning programs like NOVA, Nature, FRONTLINE, American Experience, and Sid the Science Kid. KCPT acts as the connector between this outstanding innovative digital content service and the educators and students at area schools.
Gary Brock, KCPT’s Director of Education, represented KCPT at the PBS LearningMedia™ Summit at PBS in Arlington Virginia last month. Sarah Hayden, second grade teacher from the Longfellow Elementary School in the Kansas City Public School District accompanied Gary. Sarah will work with KCPT to create workshops throughout the metro to promote the service to other schools.
Another educational initiative of KCPT is Raising Readers. The Martha Speaks Reading Buddies program now includes six high needs elementary schools in the greater Kansas City Metropolitan area. Currently 700 children are involved with the mentoring program. Fourth and fifth graders become Big Buddies and kindergartners and first graders become Little Buddies. During the ten sessions the Big Buddies mentor their Little Buddies by watching special Martha Speaks programs, playing games, writing in journals, and reading books together. The Little Buddies get to take the 10 books home allowing these high needs children to begin building a library and a love of reading.
KCPT hosted an early childhood workshop for area teachers last month. The Family Conservancy trained the teachers in advanced skills to be used to address the high needs children they work with on a daily basis. KCPT hosts four of these workshops each year and has over 40 in attendance at each workshop.
As you can see, KCPT is more than just television. We have a broad reach in the community to help inside and outside of the classroom. Great content plus great teachers plus great training equals life long success!
If you would like more information about our educational services, please visit our website at kcpt.org.
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