Watch a video of Molly Delaney, educational outreach director at Illinois Public Media, talking about the joys of teaching media literacy to K-5th grade students at Stratton Leadership & Microsociety Magnet School in Champaign, Ill.
After a career as news editor of The Courier and an editor at the American Oil Chemists Society, George Willhite has found enjoyment in retirement by volunteering for Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project for the past six years. Keep reading to find out why he loves it.
KiLee Lidwell McFerren describes her experiences using PBS LearningMedia resources with her art students at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley High School.
Illinois Public Media's Kimberlie Kranich describes the excitement of teaching students to create newscasts for Stratton Leadership & Microsociety Magnet School in Champaign.
Experts say that technology in the classroom should be like oxygen—ubiquitous, necessary and invisible. In Elizabeth Slifer’s 4th grade classroom at Carrie Busey Elementary in Savoy, technology—like oxygen—is breathing life into supporting critical thinking, generating ideas, reinforcing information and fostering communication.
Jessica Holmes’ mom fostered a love of reading and learning in her daughter, and now Jessica is trying to do the same with the pre-school children in whose class she volunteers as a book mentor.
Kelly Russell, child development services manager for Champaign County Head Start, describes how Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project builds community support for early literacy in Champaign County.
Staerkel Planetarium director David Leake describes what it has been like to introduce 500 book mentor children and their families to space with the "One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure" show.
Every year, Illinois Public Media trains more than100 volunteer readers who go into Head Start and early childhood classrooms to read a book and do a related activity with the children. Some volunteers, like Shony Coleman, are parents.
Head Start teacher Cecelia Mintz thought kids’ shows were just kids’ shows until she saw how the children in her classroom responded to the PBS KIDS early literacy series SUPER WHY! As one of more than 60 teachers in Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project, Mintz watches episodes of SUPER WHY! with her classroom and integrates concepts and activities from the show into her curriculum.
