WILL Press Room
Ill. Public Broadcasting Stations Launch Service for Educators
Monday, March 05, 2012
Public television and public radio stations in Illinois have entered into an unprecedented partnership to create and launch Illinois PBS LearningMedia, a free, on-demand media resource designed to help PreK-12 educators integrate technology to teach core subjects in the classroom.
“We are excited to help introduce 21st century tools to classrooms statewide,” said Mark Leonard, president of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council (IPBC) and general manager of Illinois Public Media-WILL in Urbana. “In conjunction with PBS LearningMedia, teachers around the state can now access the rich libraries of public television and radio content, and integrate these resources into their lesson plans at no cost to the local schools. Our school-aged children deserve access to the most trustworthy, engaging, educational resources available, which is at the heart of what public broadcasters do.”
Illinois PBS LearningMedia allows educators in Illinois access to 22,000 local and national, classroom-ready digital resources from PBS and other public media stations. Resources are aligned with state and national Common Core education standards. These resources include videos, interactive images, audio files, mobile apps, and lesson plans, which teachers can access and sort by grade level and topic to build their own personal libraries.
“Public media has been delivering educational content for years, so it's a natural fit to create this resource benefiting both teachers and students,” said Greg Petrowich, chair of IPBC's Education Committee and executive director of WSIU Public Broadcasting in Carbondale. “Giving teachers direct access to the highest quality content public broadcasting has to offer is certain to spark even greater innovation in our education system.”
Last fall, Illinois public media stations commissioned a pilot study of the service with 74 teachers representing 43 public and private schools across the state. The study, created by Dr. Evangeline S. Pianfetti of the University of Illinois College of Education and other researchers, confirmed that digital resources help local teachers strengthen connections with students. Results of the pilot study are available online.
“We are very pleased to hear teachers finding the value that PBS LearningMedia is providing Illinois students and educators, and talking about it!” said Rob Lippincott, PBS Senior Vice President, PBS Education. “As America's largest classroom, PBS, in partnership with all Illinois member stations, is committed to offering innovative digital tools and resources for every teacher in Illinois and in classrooms nationwide.”
According to the pilot study, participating teachers unanimously recommend Illinois PBS LearningMedia for its ease of use, variety and diversity of resources, high-quality content, connection to curriculum, ability to engage students, and free access.
“It's awesome to have thousands of video clips at my fingertips at any given time,” said Michael Carton, who teaches first and second grade at the Center for Math and Science in Rock Island.
Marybeth McCormick, a second grade teacher at Sparta Primary Center in Sparta, Ill., agrees. “I enjoy being able to find many resources in one place, especially resources that are educationally based,” she said.
Heather Beck, a vocal music instructor at Our Lady of Grace Academy in East Moline, found the service easy to use and well-organized. “I was able to navigate (the site) easily and locate all the resources I wanted to use with minimal difficulty.”
KiLee Lidwell-McFerren, who teaches high school art at Gibson City High School in Gibson City, appreciates the variety of resources available to educators. “I liked that the new assets were added as the weeks went by. Knowing that there might be new ones added made me look more frequently, and I will continue to use it to look for new supports/ideas.”
New content continues to be added to the online service, which includes resources from PBS, public media stations around the state and country, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, National Geographic, NASA, the National Science Foundation, NPR, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Uni Student Radio Doc Looks at Disability at the U of I
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
How did the U of I help shape the way the nation thinks about disability? A new radio documentary by Urbana Uni High students, airing at 10 am Thursday, Nov. 24, at 11 am Friday, Nov. 25, on WILL-AM 580, looks at the days when disabled students were new on the U of I campus and at the U of I Beckwith program that allows students with severe disabilities to live on campus.
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Throughout history, when people have faced barriers to achievement, those barriers always have a breaking point, says Kevin Fritz, who graduated last May from the University of Illinois. “It just takes the right people and the right fights and the consistency to break them down,” he said.
Fritz is one of the people with disabilities interviewed for a new radio documentary by Urbana University Laboratory High School students. It looks at the days when disabled students were new on the U of I campus, and how the U of I helped shape the way the nation thought about disability. Airing on WILL-AM 580 at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (repeated at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 25), it also looks at the university’s Beckwith program, a comprehensive assistance model that allows students with severe disabilities to live on campus while attending college.
Also interviewed are Mark Chenail, Adrienne Dahnke, Jean Driscoll, Chuck Elmer, Anjali Forber-Pratt, Mike Frogley, Joshua George, Jon Gunderson, Brad Hedrick, John Hobson, Corey Hyslop, Carl Lewis, Paige Lewis, Jenna Lungaro, Pat Malik, Marty Morse, Lola Nosker, Tim Nugent, Carmen Sutherland and Reo Wilhour.
Breaking Down Disability Barriers: The Journey Toward Equality at the U of I was directed by Dave Dickey of Illinois Public Media and Uni High teacher Janet Morford. Producers were Katherine Floess and Sheela Gogula. Interviews were conducted by Uni students from the classes of 2011 and 2014.
Dickey said the project is related to a previous Uni student documentary about Tim Nugent’s legacy at the U of I. “This is an amazing story that needed to be captured and told to people beyond those in the disability community,” he said. “The voices of people involved in the story needed to be heard.”
Local Actors Star in Fundraiser for Book Mentor Project
Friday, October 14, 2011
7:30 pm Thurs., Nov. 10
Faith United Meth. Church
1719 S. Prospect Ave.
Champaign
A fundraising event for Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project, featuring actors from The Station Theatre, Parkland College Theatre and the University of Illinois Department of Theatre, will bring to life children’s books in a concert-style performance. A recommended donation of $10 per person will be taken at the door.
The event, similar to successful benefit performances the past two years, is being organized by Tom Mitchell, associate professor of theater, and Parkland Theatre instructor Joi Hoffsommer. More music and more stories are included this year, Mitchell said. “I’m drawn to the brief but magical, or brief but revealing, stories found in many children’s books,” he said. Local musicians will provide vocal, piano or guitar accompaniment for several selections.
Some of the featured stories include It’s a Book by Lane Smith; If I Never Forever Endeavor by Holly Meade; The Boy Who Cried Fabulous by Leslie Newman; Night Flight by Robert Burleigh; Alligator Boy by Cynthia Rylant and The Geezer in the Freezer by Randall Wright. Songs include You’ve Got to Do It by Fred Rogers and Goodnight My Angel by Billy Joel.
Among the featured performers are longtime Station Theatre regulars Hoffsommer, Barbara Evans and Gary Ambler; Parkland College Theatre veterans Dallas Street and J.W. Morrissette; and Christine Sevec Johnson, Cara Maurizi, Kent Conrad and Ann Marie Morrissette.
“This is a unique opportunity that’s not being done anywhere else. If you love theater or children’s literature, this is an event you can’t miss,” said Molly Delaney, educational outreach director for Illinois Public Media, which includes the WILL television and radio stations.
The Book Mentor Project, which provides books to low-income families, serves nearly 720 families in Champaign County, has 60 trained teachers and 100 trained volunteers in 44 classrooms this year, and distributes more than 4,300 books to families in Champaign County Head Start and the Champaign County Early Childhood Program. To learn more about the Book Mentor Project, visit bit.ly/bookmentor.
For more information about the event, contact Tom Mitchell at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or Molly Delaney at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
A Conversation with U of I President Hogan
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
9 pm Wednesday, Feb. 2
WILL-TV and WILL-AM 580
Live video and audio at will.illinois.edu
WILL’s David Inge interviews U of I President Michael Hogan about issues on campus.
Inge first interviewed University of Illinois President Michael Hogan several days after Hogan took office in July 2010. Now that the president has spent seven months on the job, Inge will talk to him again to discuss some of the top issues on campus, and give listeners and viewers direct access to the president through phone calls during the show.
You can also email your questions before the show to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Focus: A Conversation with U of I President Michael Hogan will air at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, on WILL-TV and WILL-AM, with live audio and video streaming online at will.illinois.edu.
“I’m sure we’ll talk about the continuing fiscal crisis in the state of Illinois and what that means for the U of I,” Inge said. “We’ll probably discuss his proposed restructuring of the administration, and some of the recommendations of the Stewarding Excellence committees such as closing the Police Training Institute and aviation program.” Campus safety and academic freedom for faculty are other issues that may come up, Inge said.
Illinois Pioneers: U of I History
Monday, October 18, 2010
7:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 28, on WILL-TV
The next new episode of Illinois Pioneers shows how the history of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is much richer than most of those who pass through the campus realize.
Most people think about history in terms of the events they have personally witnessed. “But history precedes us and then continues with the next generations,” says John Paul, host of the WILL-TV program.
Paul interviews Professor Emeritus Winton Solberg, author of three books on the university’s past, as they discuss the formative years of the university, even before it made its home in Urbana-Champaign. Had it not been for the efforts of a particularly vigorous and vocal politician, Clark Griggs, the university might have ended up in Jacksonville, Bloomington-Normal or Lincoln. Paul says the agreement to found the university in Urbana “was Illinois politics as usual. Strings were pulled. Deals were made.”
The first campus building, located roughly where the Beckman Institute now stands, housed all classrooms, libraries, offices and laboratories, and was derisively nicknamed “The Elephant” by mid-19th century students. Also within those walls, university policy required all students to perform daily military drills, as well as attend daily chapel and religious instruction.
The Morrill Act, which provided federal funding and support for land grant universities not just in Illinois but nationwide, was signed by President Lincoln in the middle of the Civil War when the Union government needed more educated officers. Illinois Pioneers touches on seminal university figures such as Jonathan Baldwin Turner, who expanded the university’s industrial and agricultural curriculum to include a greater variety of subjects and classes, and John Milton Gregory, the university’s first regent, who requested that his final resting place be on campus. The program also delves into the stories behind the names of prominent campus buildings, areas and streets, such as Mathews, Peabody and Morrow, reminding us how the university’s early legacy is still alive today—if we only take the time to learn about it.
Funding for Illinois Pioneers – Champaign @ 150 is made possible, in part, by the Noel Foundation, and by donors to the Champaign 150th Anniversary Celebration Fund. More information on the city’s 150th Anniversary is at champaign150.com.
Bringing Children’s Books to Life
Friday, September 03, 2010
A fundraising event for Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project, featuring actors from The Station Theatre, Parkland College Theatre and the University of Illinois Department of Theatre, will bring to life children’s books in a concert-style performance Saturday, Sept. 25. Words in the Wind will take place at Faith United Methodist Church, 1719 S. Prospect Ave., Champaign, at 7:30-9 pm. Tickets, available at the door, are $10 each.
The event, similar to a successful benefit performance last year, is being organized by Tom Mitchell, interim head of the U of I Theatre department, and Parkland Theatre instructor Joi Hoffsommer. Local musicians will provide vocal, piano or guitar accompaniment for several selections. “These are the most creative actors in town and it’s fun to see what they bring to this imaginative and colorful material,” Mitchell said. “Audiences will be surprised how funny and touching and lyrical the stories can be.”
Confirmed performers include longtime Station Theatre regulars Hoffsommer, Barbara Evans and Kay Holley; Parkland College Theatre veterans Dallas Street and J.W. Morrissette; U of I Department of Theatre faculty Henson Keys, Lisa Dixon and Robert Anderson along with, Christine Sevec-Johnson, Robert Ramirez, Latrelle Bright and other area stage professionals. Actors will present 13 pieces, including Wynken, Blynken and Nod, Leon and the Place Between, Elbert’s Bad Word, and Steamboat Annie and the Thousand Pound Catfish.
“We are so proud to be part of this event! Everyone had a great time last year—performers and audience members alike. I can’t wait to see what they have in store this year!” said Molly Delaney, educational outreach director for Illinois Public Media, which includes the WILL television and radio stations.
The Book Mentor Project, which provides books to low-income families, serves nearly 600 families in Champaign County, trains 60 teachers and 50 volunteers a year, works with 42 classrooms in eight locations and distributes more than 3,500 books to families in Champaign County Head Start and the Champaign County Early Childhood Program.
For more information, contact Tom Mitchell at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or Molly Delaney at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Uni High Students Examine Lives of Asian Americans in C-U
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Urbana University High School student producers, who created a new radio documentary airing on WILL-AM at 6 pm Saturday, Aug. 28, identified with the experiences of older Asian-Americans in C-U.
Sharon Lee never felt like she fit in growing up in Cleveland in the ’70s and ’80s. As the only Korean American at her high school, she was asked if she knew karate or if she was related to Bruce Lee. “I was very aware, when I was very young, of not being white, and I really struggled with that, growing up, feeling embarrassed about my parents, not feeling like I fit in, always wishing I was taller and had bigger eyes,” she said.
Lee, who recently earned a doctorate in educational policy from the University of Illinois, is featured in the new radio documentary by Urbana University Laboratory High School students, From East to West: Journeying through the Lives of Asian-Americans in Champaign-Urbana.
Several of the student executive producers, Asian American themselves, said they had felt some of the same feelings that Lee and other interviewees expressed. That made them passionate about the project, said students Linda Ly and Maria Gao.
"I identified with how she wanted to fit in and how her parents were breathing down her neck academically because they were very traditional like my parents,” said Ly, whose Vietnamese parents immigrated 20 years ago. Gao said she too identified with Lee’s feelings growing up. “I found out I’m not alone in feeling this way,” she said.
Uni students from the class of 2013 interviewed 16 people with connections to Champaign-Urbana. They were ethnic Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Taiwanese and Indian. They were first, second and third generation Asian American.
“People often see Asian Americans as examples of success, but they overlook the history of bias, discrimination and oppression against them, not only on a personal basis, but in the law, which was very anti-Asian until after World War II,” said Janet Morford, the Uni High teacher who directed the project along with Illinois Public Media’s Dave Dickey.
Among others interviewed are Yukiko Okinaga Llewellyn of Champaign, who was interned at Manzanar with her family during World War II; David Lin, Regent Ballroom owner; Anh Ha Ho, who helps immigrants in Champaign Urbana as (Morford is double checking title)director of the East Central Illinois Refugee Mutual Assistance Center; U of I Asian American Studies professor Kent Ono; K.W. Lee, known as the father of Asian American journalism; and Betty Lee Sung, who was one of three Asian women on campus when she came to the U of I in 1944.
Sung’s father disowned her when she came to the U of I in 1944. “My father said, ‘No, you don’t go to college, you get married and just raise your family and take care of your husband’,” said Sung, who wrote “Mountain of Gold: Chinese in America,” published in 1967, about the experiences of Chinese immigrants.
The third student executive producer, Maritza Mestre, said it was interesting to compare the experiences at the U of I of Sharon Lee, who used all the resources available on campus for Asian Americans, and someone like Sung, who came before they were available.
Illinois Pioneers: Champaign Schools
Monday, July 19, 2010
Erma Bridgewater, who graduated from Champaign High School in 1931, recalls jumping on the back of a moving company’s horse-pulled wagon to hitch a ride to elementary school. “The driver would pretend that he didn’t know we were there,” she said. Bridgewater and Cheryl Van Ness of Champaign talk about their recollections of attending schools in Champaign County during the next episode of WILL-TV’s Illinois Pioneers, airing at 7:30 pm Thursday, July 22.
Host John Paul and his guests talk about earlier times in local schools and look at historic photos of schools, classrooms and leaders such as Dr. Hartwell C. Howard, for whom Dr. Howard School is named.
Bridgewater helped integrate Lincoln School, now an apartment building at the corner of Healey and State streets, in 1917. She and her brother were the only black students, because most African-Americans lived in the north part of town and attended another school.
Van Ness attended Bondville grade school, which was closed by the district in 1971. She was in the first graduating class from Centennial High School.
“It will be a chance to look back at how the school district has evolved over the years,” Paul said. The program will also look at some of the schools that are no longer there, about some of the sports teams that won state championships, and about periods when enrollment soared, resulting in the building of schools to keep up with the numbers of children, he said.
Funding for Illinois Pioneers – Champaign @ 150 is made possible, in part, by the Noel Foundation, and by donors to the Champaign 150th Anniversary Celebration Fund. More information on the city’s 150th Anniversary is at champaign150.com.
U of I in Transition
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The University of Illinois is coping with a state budget crisis and an overhaul of the university’s leadership after an admissions scandal. How will the university handle these challenges? Find out and be a part of the dialogue.
At 9 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11, on WILL-TV and WILL-AM, host David Inge will talk to Interim President Stanley O. Ikenberry and Interim Chancellor/Provost Robert A. Easter about the transition period. Send in your questions beforehand by email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Live video streaming of the program will be available on the Internet at WILL's Web site and at the Web site of the Urbana-Champaign campus cable channel, UI-7. UI-7 will also also broadcast the program live on Champaign-Urbana cable TV. Live audio of the program will also be available on WILL-AM’s Web stream at will.illinois.edu. UI-7 will repeat the program at the following times: Tues, Jan 12: 7 pm & 10 pm Wed, Jan 13: 7 am Thurs, Jan 14: 7 pm & 9 pm Fri, Jan 15: 2 pm Sat, Jan 16: 8 pm Sun, Jan 17: 7 am Mon, Jan 18: 9 amLocal Actors Star in Fundraiser for Book Mentor Project
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Words in the Wind
7:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 12
A fundraising event for Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project, featuring actors from The Station Theatre, Parkland College Theatre and the University of Illinois Department of Theatre, bringing to life various children’s books in a concert-style performance.
Words in the Wind will take place at Faith United Methodist Church, 1719 S. Prospect Ave., Champaign. Tickets, available at the door, are $10 each. The first-time event is the brainchild of Tom Mitchell, associate head of the U of I Theatre department, and includes books recommended by The Center for Children’s Books within the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Local musicians will provide vocal, piano or guitar accompaniment for several selections. “It’s fun way to promote books and learning in a way that we usually don’t get to do,” Mitchell said. “Plus, it offers a unique opportunity to showcase the great acting talent we have in Champaign-Urbana.” Confirmed performers include longtime Station Theatre regulars Gary Ambler, Joi Hoffsommer and Kay Holley; Parkland College Theatre veteran Dallas Street; U of I Department of Theatre faculty Henson Keys, J.W. Morrissette and Brant Pope, as well as numerous other area stage professionals. Actors will present 22 pieces, ranging from classics such as Peter Pan, The Three Little Pigs and The Wind in the Willows to contemporary works such as Knuffle Bunny, Moo Who and the alphabetic poetry of Alpha Beta Chowder. “This event is a perfect fit with our goal of generating excitement about books and connecting that enthusiasm to the classroom,” said Molly Delaney, educational outreach director for Illinois Public Media, which includes the WILL television and radio stations. The Book Mentor Project, in cooperation with Champaign County Head Start, the Champaign Early Childhood Center and local service organizations, provides books to families who otherwise might not have access to books at home. As part of the program, Delaney trains parents, teachers and volunteers on how to interact with children through books, how to use television as a teaching tool and how to use books and related activities to enhance learning. At its start in 2003, the WILL-TV project assisted 54 families. It currently serves 578 families in Champaign County, trains 60 teachers and 50 volunteers each year, works with 42 classrooms in eight locations and distributes more than 3,500 books to low-income families. For more information, call 217-333-7300.