Southern California's Largest Classroom
Mission: The mission of PBS SoCaL Education is to provide the best possible educational resources to the Southern California community through relevant, interactive teaching tools, effective training that supports the integration of these tools, and the promotion of high-quality media to create meaningful and engaging learning experiences.
PBS SoCaL Education serves parents, teachers, and students on-air, online, and through community engagement. Our major education and engagement initiatives include:
• Ready to Learn – early childhood outreach reaching children 2-8 and their families
• American Graduate – a public media iniative to raise awareness on the dropout crisis
• Career Exploration – workforce development projects that engage the greater community on careers in production, broadcasting, and non-profit work.
Additionally, PBS SoCaL Education engages our audience across three major platforms.
In the home
• 9+ hours of PBS Kids® top-rated, core programming
• Ready to Learn workshops that connect parents and caregivers to program content and resources on-air and online
In the classroom
• Digital media – PBSLearningMedia: providing K-12 students and teachers each year with access to videos, audio, images that create a rich and exciting classroom experience
• Educator training – in person workshops with a focus on technology integration and high quality PBS resources
• PBS Teacherline – certified online professional development
• Educational resources – including Mission US, Martha Speaks Reading Buddies, Roadtrip Nation, Get The Math, & the PBS KIDS Lab connecting technology to curriculum standards
• Student Reporting Labs – connecting local students with a PBS SoCaL and an innovative journalism curriculum
• Education hour – themed educational programming, broadcast each weekday with supplemental online resources.
• California Student Media Festival – the nation’s oldest student film festival, supporting student filmmakers by encouraging the integration of video and multimedia in the classroom
In the community
• PBS Kids GO! Writers Contest – encouraging, challenging and rewarding the original works of K-3 students
• Engagement events – partnering with local organizations for community events that enhance and support our educational mission.
• Library Corners and family reading nights – creating an environment in low-income areas that support literacy
• Book Distribution – free children’s books direct to those in need providing an opportunity for parents to read with their children
• S.T.E.M. outreach kits - engaging parents, caregivers, and teachers with lessons, activities, supplies, and books connected to PBS KIDS characters.
• PBS SoCaL Mobile Lab – an interactive and mobile technology experience brought directly to the community.
American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen
PBS SoCaL is proud to be the Southern California partner for American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen, a public media initiative, to help students stay on the path to graduation and future success. Public broadcasting has a long history improving educational outcomes for high-need students and communities. Locally, we are rising to the challenge and doing our part to address the dropout crisis through partnerships, forums, content, volunteerism, parent connections, teacher training, and student engagement.
The Ready to Learn (RTL) initiative promotes early learning through age appropriate, educational, and engaging content for children 2-8. Based on the approach that every new technology is a new opportunity for learning, Ready to Learn reaches out to children everywhere. Ready to Learn content facilitates family engagement and the connection between school and home through engaging PBS KIDS television programs, exciting games, interactive websites, and easy-to-use learning resources for kids, parents, caregivers, and teachers—all with the goal of helping children ages 2 to 8 get ready to read.
Career Exploration and Workforce Development
PBS SoCaL’s Career Exploration and Workforce Development program builds on our 40-year history in television and broadcasting. Our goal is to provide resources to the community and experience opportunities for those interested in careers in production, broadcasting, and non-profit. The program includes our internship program, studio tours, a new studio docent program, AmeriCorps, volunteering, school career fairs, speaking engagements, partnership opportunities, and connected to career exploration and workforce development.
History
PBS SoCaL Education, formerly KOCE Classroom, began in the mid-seventies as Telecommunication of Orange County (TOC), a resource to aid teaching through television and video-based instructional learning. Over the years, the program evolved to include teaching students how to create, produce, and broadcast videos. Today, PBS SoCaL Education serves parents, teachers, and students on-air, online, and through community engagement.
Meet the Education Department Staff
Contact Us
Jamie Annunzio Myers | VP, Education
& Community Engagement
email: jannunzio@pbssocal.org | phone: 714.241.4107
Alyssa Torrez | Coordinator, Education and Outreach
email: atorrez@pbssocal.org | phone: 714.241.4187
Lisa Mayeda-Nichols | Grants and Sponsorship
email: lnichols@pbssocal.org | phone: 714.241.4115
PBS SoCaL | 3080 Bristol Street, Suite 400 | Costa Mesa, CA 92626
www.pbssocal.org
