Assembly Required

Sometimes what’s required is to believe in yourself enough to follow through

To create a world where science and technology are celebrated…where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes

—Dean Kamen, Inventor and founder of FIRST Robotics

The Liberty High School Robotics team makes some last minute adjustments in the pit.

In high schools across the country students attend class, head to practice, play in the “Big Game,” but more than 150,000 students participate in something a bit more intriguing, Robotics. These students are participating in a program called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics. A competition that challenges high school aged young people – working with professional mentors – to design, build a robot, and compete in an intense event… all in just 6 six weeks.

The program was the vision of inventor Dean Kamen. He wanted to change the perception young people had about success and create an extra-curricular program that would rival the glorification of sports figures and the entertainment industry, so his next great invention? FIRST.

Shawnee Mission Team

KCPT Producer Angee Simmons and videographers Don Mayberger and Dave Burkhardt followed three area high school robotics teams—- Shawnee Mission North, Raytown South and Liberty.

The teams are made up of ordinary high school students… homecoming queen candidates, high school jocks, cheerleaders, musicians, artists and yes the occasional Math Club member, but these young people are certainly not your calculator-toting-pocket-protector-wearing-geeks. They are ambitious young minds that learn how to work together to take on an incredible challenge with determination, professional guidance and a lot of science know-how.

Raytown South Robotics team picks up a tube and prepares to score.

In the 2007 game, “Rack N’ Roll,” students’ robots are designed to hang inflated colored tubes on pegs configured in rows and columns on a 120 foot high center “rack” structure. Extra points are scored by robots being in their home zone and lifted more than 4″ off the floor by another robot before the end of the 2 minute and 15 second match.

It’s every bit as exciting as any varsity-sporting event – it even looks like one… it has the field, the lights, and the cheering section to prove it… And just as Dean Kamen had hoped, it has become a unique approach. In Assembly Required we’ll see how these students and thousands more like them find inspiration in an event that will take them on a path of triumphs and failures to an accomplishment few can boast.

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The Local Show: May 17, 2012

This week: The Charlotte Street Foundation, Starlight Theatre's Denton Yockey, Cristo Rey and the Black Archives of Mid-America

This week on The Local Show, we continue our performARTS series with a look inside The Charlotte Street Foundation. With the new season just around the corner, we talk to Denton Yockey, the head of Starlight Theatre, about what’s in store for theater and concert goers this summer under the stars. As part of our Difference Makers series, we profile Cristo Rey, a four-year Catholic college prep high school where students help pay for their education by working a job once a week. And we get a look at the new Black Archives of Mid-America which is set to reopen in the 18th & Vine Jazz District on June 16.

Tags: The Local Show, TLS206

performARTS: Charlotte Street Foundation

This week, in conjunction with KC Studio Magazine, our performARTS Series takes a look at the Charlotte Street Foundation. Named after a house near UMKC where poets, painters and music makers would gather to eat, drink and talk shop, Charlotte Street celebrates turning 15 this year. Randy Mason has more about this unique operation, which through cash awards and other forms of assistance helps the region’s artists do more of what they do best.

Tags: Arts, performARTS, The Local Show, TLS228

Culture Alfresco: Denton Yockey & Starlight Theatre

With the curtain about to rise on another season of top Broadway shows and big name concert performers at Starlight Theatre, we caught up with Starlight's man in charge, Denton Yockey.

A new season of live theater is about to get underway at Starlight Theatre. The Swope Park theater with its iconic towers has been entertaining Kansas Citians under the stars for more than 60 years.

Starlight is one of only three outdoor theatres of its size and type still operational in the United States. The Muny in St. Louis and Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia are the others. With the curtain about to rise on another season of top Broadway shows and big name concert performers, we caught up with Starlight’s man in charge, Denton Yockey.

Here is a look at the upcoming Broadway Shows:

In The Heights
June 5-10

Memphis
July 10-15

Peter Pan
July 24-29

Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida
August 3-12 at The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

La Cage Aux Folles
August 28-September 2

The 2012 Concert Season is also filling up with artists such as Barry Manilow, James Taylor, Crosby, Stills & Nash, My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, Phish, B.B. King, Il Divo and many, many more.

Tags: Arts, Music, Musical, Starlight Theatre, The Local Show, Theater, TLS228

Difference Maker: Cristo Rey

As part of KCPT's Difference Maker series, producer Cara Meyers profiles Cristo Rey, a four-year Catholic college prep high school where students help pay for their education by working a job once a week.

Can you imagine an inner-city high school in Kansas City where most of the kids are black and hispanic, almost all come from impoverished backgrounds and qualify for free or reduced lunch and yet nearly everyone graduates and goes on to college? Well, there is such a school. It’s called Cristo Rey, a four-year Catholic college prep high school where students help pay for their education by working a job once a week.

As part of KCPT’s Difference Maker series, producer Cara Meyers profiles Cristo Rey, which you’ll find one block east of Broadway on Linwood boulevard in the heart of the city.

By the way, working one day helps pay for about 60 percent of the students’ education. The rest is picked up through generous scholarships. Most families pay between 10 and 30 dollars a month for their child to attend the school.

Tags: Education, The Local Show, TLS228

Treasure Trove of History: Black Archives of Mid-America

In celebration of the grand opening of the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City, The Local Show presents a spoken word piece written and performed by Glenn North, poet in residence at the American Jazz Museum. The Black Archives of Mid-America re-opens in the 18th and Vine Jazz District on June 16th.

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a ten-part series on PBS that explores the history of America though the lives, families, and DNA of some of its most celebrated citizens. As part of the national outreach for the series and in celebration of the grand opening of the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City, The Local Show presents a spoken word piece written and performed by Glenn North, poet in residence at the American Jazz Museum. We recorded Glenn at the NEW black archives which opens to the public next month.

The Black Archives of Mid-America re-opens in the 18th and Vine Jazz District on June 16th.

Tags: Black History, History, The Local Show, TLS228

The Enchanted Island with Joyce DiDonato

This extraordinary new work combines the world’s best singers, the glorious music of the Baroque masters, and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In “The Enchanted Island,” the lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on the other-worldly island of The Tempest. Inspired by the musical pastiches and masques of the 18th century, the work showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau and others, and a new libretto by Jeremy Sams. Eminent conductor William Christie leads an all-star cast featuring David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Danielle de Niese, Luca Pisaroni, Lisette Oropesa and Anthony Roth Costanzo, with special guest star Plácido Domingo.

Watch Friday, May 18, 2012 at 9pm.

Watch Joyce DiDonato in The Enchanted Island on PBS. See more from Great Performances.

Tags: Arts, DiDonato, Homecoming, PBS Arts KC

KC Week in Review
May 11, 2012

Why UMKC wants to change its name. Mitt Romney in town. The new high-tech answer to the city's crime problems. AMC being sold to Chinese conglomerate? A tough PR call for the Golden Ox. Plus, trapped in intolerably long lines in Johnson County.

THIS WEEK: Friday, May 11th 2012 @ 7:30 pm
(Rebroadcast Sunday @ 11 am )

KC CORPORATE ICON TO BE SOLD TO CHINA?: After spending millions to lure AMC from downtown to Kansas is AMC about to be sold to China? A front page story in the Kansas City Star this week reveals that the nation’s second largest theater chain which has been headquartered in Kansas City since 1920 could soon be purchased by a Chinese conglomerate. What does all this mean for Kansas City?
UPDATE TRANSIT: We won’t know until summer what a Jackson County commuter rail plan might look like. And no one has proposed a ballot issue to fund a rail system, much less set a date for an election. Yet according to a front page story in the Star this week, Jackson County government officials are spending half a million dollars on TV ads and an awareness campaign to promote rail transit in the county. How does this square with KC’s plan for a streetcar line? Is there room for both? Are either of them feasible?

UMKC NAME CHANGE: UMKC is considering changing its name to the University of Kansas City. Officials say the name change would help it emerge from the sizable shadow of the Missouri campus in Columbia. The school has used its current name since it joined the four-campus University of Missouri system nearly 50 years ago.

ROMNEY IN KC: Mitt Romney was in town Thursday. The presumptive Republican nominee for President did not appear though in public – his visit was totally private. No public rallies and big speeches – why?

SHOT SPOTTER TECHNOLOGY COMES TO KC: It’s a high-tech anti-crime system that uses sensors to spot gunshots and let’s police know almost exactly where those bullets were fired. Kansas City officials have been talking about the system for years, but they’ve finally got the money to install the equipment. So how is this supposed to work and will it really reduce violent crime in Kansas City?

TOUGH PR CALL FOR GOLDEN OX: As Bottomline Communications reports this week, sometimes public relations decisions can be complicated. You make the call on this one. You are the PR person for the Golden Ox, one of Kansas City’s landmark restaurants and a downtown fixture since 1949. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, says it wants to come in and substitute your world-famous steaks for theirs and film customers’ reactions. On the one hand, your restaurant will be featured in ads across the country. It will certainly increase your restaurant’s exposure. On the other hand, you know that only those customers who rave about the Walmart steaks will be included in the commercials. What would you do? WATCH THE AD

LONG LINES AT DMV: Why should it take 8 hours to wait in line this week to renew your license plates or register your vehicles in Johnson County?

THIS WEEK’S NEWS REVIEWERS:

Kevin Collison
Kansas City Star

Chris Hernandez
41 Action News

Stacey Cameron
KCTV5

Dave Helling
Kansas City Star

***A NOTE FROM NICK:
Your thoughts are always important to me. Send an e-mail to nhaines@kcpt.org or share and connect at the Nick Haines page on Facebook.
Thanks for watching Kansas City Week in Review.
Nick!

Fiscal Year End Gift

A Fiscal Year end gift to KCPT helps keep the programming you enjoy and depend on coming to your screen.

Tags: Documentary, Drama, How-To, Music, Nature

The Local Show: May 10, 2012

This week: Kansas City Royals legend Frank White, the Johnson County Mental Health Co-Responder Program, PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger and KCPT CEO Kliff Kuehl, and SEA LIFE Aquarium’s conservation efforts.

This week, Kansas City Royals legend Frank White stops by The Local Show to talk about his new role with the T-Bones teaching young players and looks back at how he got his start in baseball. We find out more about the Johnson County Mental Health Co-Responder Project. Randy Mason talks to PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger and KCPT CEO Kliff Kuehl about the challenges and rewards of public broadcasting. And we learn more about the SEA LIFE Aquarium’s conservation efforts.

Tags: The Local Show, TLS227

Nothing Gold Can Stay: Frank White

Legendary Kansas City Royals second baseman and hometown hero, Frank White, talks to Randy Mason about his life in baseball and his new role with the T-Bones.

He won eight Golden Gloves and played in five All-Star Games. Frank White played 18 seasons in the major leagues and all of them with the Kansas City Royals. Following his playing career he became a coach and a popular Royals broadcaster. That is until recently when his longtime club unceremoniously dismissed him from his contract.

Now, White is no longer spending his days at the K but across town at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, home to the Kansas City T-Bones, the metros’ minor league ballclub, where he recently took on the job of first-base coach.

Their new season gets underway next week. White joined Randy to talk about his life and career in baseball.

Tags: Baseball, Kansas City Royals, Sports, T-Bones, The Local Show, TLS227

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