2012 LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICE
REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY
“Quality TV. Thank you for being there.” — Pat Cronk, WIPB Member
WIPB Public Television endeavors to educate, entertain and engage the communities we serve through distinctive television programs and enriching outreach services.
KEY
LOCAL
VALUE
SERVICES
IMPACT
WIPB is a valuable part of the east and central Indiana region.
In 2012, WIPB provided these key local services:
WIPB was founded by a grass-roots movement of young mothers from Muncie who wanted Sesame Street for their children. So they recruited friends, neighbors, co-workers, husbands and teachers to help establish a public television station for their community.
• Fed more than 3,828 people with meals from Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana
WIPB’s local services had deep impact in the Muncie community:
LOCAL
Since 1971, WIPB-TV has remained active within east central Indiana, providing invaluable services focusing on education and serving the needs of community members.
• Provided reading curriculum for at-risk children in three elementary schools • Distributed resource kits to teach families living under the poverty line about affordable food strategies • Won Emmy awards for local programming
WIPB Public Television’s broadcast services and community engagement serve more than 1,500,000 people in east central Indiana. WIPB’s educational outreach department partnered with more than 50 organizations, connecting children, families and teachers with essential information and resources.
2012 LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICE REPORT
IN THE COMMUNITY Educational Outreach Services WIPB Public Television strives to extend the learning opportunities beyond the TV screen. Making in-person connections with parents and educators provides WIPB with the opportunity to demonstrate how educational programming can positively affect a child’s desire and ability to learn. Partnering with local non-profit organizations and businesses strengthens our ability to make a large impact for children and adults. Dinosaur Train Nature Trackers WIPB partnered with the Muncie Children’s Museum and Cardinal Greenways to bring Dinosaur Train Nature Trackers to east central Indiana children. This event attracted more than 600 people to the Cardinal Greenways Depot where families explored the outdoors using the Nature Trackers’ guidebooks and making their new discoveries. Along with the nature challenges the children did with their families, they also met Buddy the Dinosaur from Dinosaur Train. PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest Since 1997, WIPB has promoted literacy by conducting the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest. Hundreds of children from all over east central Indiana submitted original stories and illustrations for judging by a local panel. This year’s first grade winner, Edward Krzemienski also won first place in the national contest. Mr. Steve from PBS Kids visits Muncie Kids WIPB’s annual Family Fundae Ice Cream Tasting was held at Minnetrista Cultural Center in June 2012. The event, free to the public, included Dinosaur Train Nature Trackers activities, educational resources and fun activities. Special guest was PBS KIDS host Mr. Steve, who performed free stage shows and engaged kids while promoting reading and literacy. Approximately 1,000 people attended.
Children enjoy singing and dancing with PBS KIDS’ host Mr. Steve during WIPB’s Family Fundae in July, 2012.
2012 LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICE REPORT
IN THE COMMUNITY Local Programming We believe in order for WIPB to fulfill our mission to inform, educate and enlighten the citizens of east central Indiana, we must work beyond what we present on the television screen. Furthermore, we believe our quality local programming is our single most important point of differentiation in this highly-competitive media landscape. WIPB is committed to supporting the education of Ball State University students, giving them real world Wellness Matters host Glenn Augustine experience and the opportunity to produce television interviews guests. series that air on WIPB. Our production team mentors students on shows including Be a Fan: Ball State Sports Link, Cardinal Sports Live, Connections, 3rd Down Chirp and Seeing Stars in Indiana. 2012 also saw the beginning of a new WIPB series, Wellness Matters. This new program is the result of a recent member survey in which respondents ranked local programming focusing on health topics as their number one preference. Each episode deals with a different health, wellness, or medical topic and features special guests from the east central Indiana area who share their advice and expertise, as well as community members who share personal experiences.
Student Documentary wins Emmy Awards Seeing Stars in Indiana won two Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2012. The film, which was funded by a WIPB Student Grant Initiative, won the overall prize for Health/ Science Program or Special. Kevin Grazioli also won an Emmy for his role as Director/Post Production. Created to encourage people to “look up!”, the Seeing Stars film crew followed professional and amateur astronomers as they traveled through Indiana and to Arizona to explore the night sky. They were mentored and received supervision from WIPB production staff and management.
Kevin Grazioli poses with the Emmy Awards he earned for his WIPB documentary, Seeing Stars in Indiana.
Seeing Stars in Indiana is available for online viewing at www.vimeo.com/24060942.
2012 LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICE REPORT
STORIES OF IMPACT Martha Speaks Reading Buddies Pairs Mentors, Young Readers
In 2012 WIPB implemented the Martha Speaks Reading Buddies program in three Title 1 (high poverty) schools: WesDel Elementary in Gaston, Ind., Baker and Willard Elementary in Winchester, Ind. These schools were chosen because they held the highest percentage of families participating in the free/reduced lunch program in the county and the children were deemed “at risk.” Prior to launching the program, Outreach Manager Lori Georgi conducted training sessions for the educators and provided each classroom with a toolkit that contained the weekly curriculum, printed materials and books for each child.
“Reading Buddies was really fun and I liked my Buddy!” — Caleb, 1st grade reader
Using the vocabulary focus of the series, Reading Buddies paired 4th or 5th grade reading mentors with kindergarten or 1st grade students during a ten-week period. During each session Reading Buddies viewed a Martha Speaks episode, talked, played, read and wrote together.
Reach in the Community: In total, 12 classes participated at Wes-Del Elementary; Baker and Willard Elementaries each had eight classes. Total reach: 425 students and 20 teachers
Partnerships: The project was a partnership of WIPB Public Television and Wes-Del, Baker and Willard Elementary Schools.
Impact and Community Feedback: “Our teachers felt that the vocabulary presented, the partnering with an older student, and the literature was very beneficial to our students. The shared writing component was also a help to students as they developed their writing craft.” – Tracy Shafer, Principal of Wes-Del Elementary
“I realized that my little buddy was getting bigger books. Today when we went to read with our buddies he could read the book all by himself and I didn’t even have to help him with one word!” — John, 5th grade mentor
2012 LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICE REPORT
STORIES OF IMPACT WIPB helps raise Poverty Awareness In March 2012, 27 organizations partnered to present Poverty Awareness Week in Delaware County. WIPB and Second Harvest Food Bank held a special screening of Sesame Street’s Growing Hope Against Hunger workshop for educators, childecare providers and families. The workshop raised awareness of food insufficiency in our community. WIPB distributed Food For Thought companion kits to Head Start Families, educators at Title 1 schools and families in poverty in the Muncie area to help teach strategies for parents and children to cope with uncertain or limited access to affordable, nutritious food. Impact: 50 workshop attendees, 400+ kits distributed
WIPB and Mutual Bank help feed east central Indiana citizens WIPB and Mutual Bank partnered during our 2012 fall membership campaign to provide meals to Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. For every donation WIPB received during the two-month period, Mutual Bank matched a donation of six meals to Second Harvest. This meaningful partnership was extremely well received by the public, and more importantly, by our neighbors in need of food. Impact: 3,828 meals donated
WIPB’s Super Why! Summer Camp offered summer fun, education Muncie Children’s Museum partnered with WIPB to bring the Super Why! Summer Reading Camp to Muncie area children. During this five-day camp, children learned the alphabet with Alpha Pig, practiced vocabulary and recognized sounds with Wonder Red, learned spelling with Princess Presto and read with Super Why! Reach: 50 children attended camp
2012 LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICE REPORT
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
WIPB-TV entry wins first place honors in national PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest
Edward Krzemienski laughs while joking with other attendees (from left: Susan Bunner, WIPB program director; his parents Beth and Ed and his teacher, Julie Austin) outside the WIPB studios. Krzemienski, a first grader from East Washington Academy in Muncie, was awarded an iPad for winning first place in the PBS KIDS Go! Writers Contest.
Edward’s story is available at www.wipb.org and http://pbskids.org/writerscontest/ story-viewerphp?storyid=1619
“It’s a huge accomplishment to have a winner out of thousands from across the country come from our community. We are proud and excited for Edward and his entire family. This annual event is one of the ways that WIPB and PBS kids help build children’s creativity and improve literacy skills in a fun and engaging way.” – Alice Van Dyke, general manager