Mountain Lake PBS Launches PBS Kids GO® Writers Contest
DATE: February 1, 2010
CONTACT: Joanna Cummings
PHONE: 518-563-9770 ext. 127
EMAIL: jcummings@mountainlake.org
Local Contest part of effort to mobilize children across America to write and illustrate their own stories
Plattsburgh, NY – Mountain Lake PBS is launching the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest, a national competition designed to promote the advancement of children’s reading skills through hands-on, active learning. The effort encourages children in grades K-3 in communities across the country, to celebrate the power of creating stories and illustrations by submitting their own original stories and illustrations.
“We know from research that there is an important connection between writing and the development of early literacy skills, critical cornerstones for school readiness and achievement,” said Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President, Children’s Media, PBS. “PBS KIDS GO! uses the power of media to open up the worlds of letters and words for all children, encouraging them to explore ways to communicate more effectively.”
Mountain Lake PBS will actively partner with schools, public libraries and other literacy organizations to implement the Contest. Children will be encouraged to write and illustrate stories and submit them to Mountain Lake PBS, which will select winners and award prizes. First place local winners will be entered into the national level of the Contest where a renowned panel of judges will identify the national winners. Winners will be announced and national prizes, including laptops, digital cameras and MP3 players will be awarded in summer 2010.
Mountain Lake PBS welcomes entries from our Canadian friends however due to contest restrictions they can receive honorable mention distinction and prizes at the local contest but they are not eligible to have their entry sent on to the national contest and compete for prizes at national level.
“Kids naturally have a keen sense of curiosity and incredible imaginations,” said Mountain Lake PBS Director of Outreach and Education Jane Owens. “The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest will provide a safe virtual community forum for children to express their ideas while fostering key early literacy skills such as story-telling.”
Applications and additional information will be available beginning January, 2010 at www.mountainlake.org/education/pbs-kids-go-writers-contest.html. Entries must arrive at the station by March 19, 2010. In addition, a new PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest Web site at pbskids.org/read will launch in early 2010. It will include the winning stories in each of the Contest categories, as well as a searchable archive.
The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest extends the powerful tradition and annual success of the 15 year national “Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest,” originally created by WNED-TV Buffalo/Toronto and NET Nebraska. The new Contest is produced by WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and PBS.
“WNED is proud to continue its leadership role in literacy for public television through the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest,” said WNED President and CEO Donald K. Boswell. “Building on the important legacy of Reading Rainbow, this new contest ushers the powerful mission of our programs directly into the homes and classrooms of the community, motivating young students to create and imagine.”
The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest is produced by WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and PBS, and is part of PBS KIDS Raising Readers, a national initiative which uses the power of public media to build the reading skills of children ages 2-to-8, with an emphasis on children from low-income families. The effort is funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education, part of a cooperative agreement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), PBS and The Ready To Learn Partnership.
About Mountain Lake PBS
Mountain Lake PBS reaches over 3.9 million viewers in New York, Vermont, Quebec and Ontario and produces award-winning local programs and documentaries. Mountain Lake devotes at least eight hours a day to programming for children from preschool through school age. Our mission is to celebrate and strengthen the civic and cultural life of the Mountain Lake region by providing distinctive telecommunications programs and services that inform, educate, involve and entertain.
About PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO!
PBS KIDS, for preschoolers, and PBS KIDS GO!, for early elementary school kids, offer all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. With positive role models and content designed to nurture a child’s total well-being, PBS’s children’s media and family and educator resources - including PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! television series, PBSKIDS.org, PBSKIDSGO.org, PBS Parents (PBSPARENTS.org), PBS Teachers (PBSTEACHERS.org), PBS KIDS Raising Readers and literacy events across the country - leverage the full spectrum of media, technology and community to build knowledge, critical thinking, imagination and curiosity. Empowering children for success in school and in life, only PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! have earned the unanimous endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and teachers. In September 2008, PBS KIDS GO! launched its video player (PBSKIDSGO.org/video), featuring hundreds of video clips and dozens of full-length episodes. Since launch, the site is averaging 1.3 million streams per week. PBSKIDS.org averages nine million unique visitors a month. PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 356 public television stations, serving more than 115 million people on-air and online each month. For more information on specific shows supporting literacy, science, math, and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom.
About WNED
The Western New York Public Broadcasting Association (WNED) long ago established itself as an originator of television content for PBS. WNED is the founder and national co-producer of the Reading Rainbow series which garnered a total of 26 Emmy Awards, ten of which were for “Outstanding Children’s Series.” WNED was the producer of the popular Mark Russell Comedy Specials for PBS and is a producer of major documentaries for PBS national distribution. A series of WNED documentaries (Your Life Your Money, Window to the Sea, Niagara Falls, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Buffalo, The Marines, The Adirondacks, Fort Niagara: The Struggle for a Continent) have been broadcast nationally on PBS since 2005. Elbert Hubbard: An American Original is WNED’s next PBS production and is scheduled for broadcast on November 23, 2009. WNED is currently producing several documentaries slated for national PBS broadcast in the coming years including the War of 1812 and a special on the Chautauqua Institution.
About CPB
CPB, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1000 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related on-line services.
The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest is part of PBS KIDS Raising Readers, which is funded in part by a Ready To Learn grant, in a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The contents of these contest rules were developed under a grant, #PRU295B050003, from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
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