WETA to Receive Community Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

WASHINGTON, D.C. — WETA will receive a My Source Community Impact Award for Education from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) this weekend in Washington, D.C.

The My Source Community Impact Awards for Education were created by CPB to give well-deserved recognition to public television stations for their commitment to providing educational services to learners of all ages and abilities, all races and backgrounds, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, as well as for the services the stations provide to teachers, parents and caregivers.

WETA will be recognized for its My Source project titled “WETA’s Educational Websites.” For more than 45 years, WETA has provided services both on-air and in the Greater Washington community to inform, enlighten and enrich the lives of WETA viewers and listeners. Members of the community were invited to share their stories about a special viewing or listening experience with WETA. WETA Television viewers, Classical WETA listeners, and WETA Learning Media users all contributed stories on how WETA is a source for something positive in their lives. WETA received many responses from users of their national education project websites, identifying that WETA is their source for learning, confidence and life skills, for English language learner resources and for support and hope from other brain injury survivors, among other topics. To learn more about WETA’s My Source project and to hear and watch contributors’ stories, visit www.weta.org/mysource

The award will be presented at the CPB/PBS hosted Council of Chief State School Officers Executive Summit, Saturday, March 7 in Washington, D.C.

WETA Television and Classical WETA 90.9 FM are public broadcasting stations serving Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia with educational, cultural, and news and public affairs programming and related services. WETA is committed to producing programs that highlight the history and people of the Greater Washington area. WETA TV 26 regularly produces community programs spotlighting local people, places and events. WETA’s other productions and co-productions include The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal, The Kennedy Center Presents, and documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns, including this fall The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. WETA’s headquarters is located in Arlington, Virginia. WETA was founded by public television pioneer and Arlington luminary Elizabeth P. Campbell. Sharon Percy Rockefeller is president and CEO of WETA. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at www.weta.org.

In addition to its on-air presence, WETA’s projects enhance the community and promote education and literacy. WETA’s learning media department created four national educational websites, including LDOnLine.org, the leading website for information about learning disabilities and ADHD, and ReadingRockets.org, an award-winning resource providing parents, teachers and child-care providers with information about helping children learn to read. WETA’s services to the community also include Ready To Learn workshops that train parents and caregivers how to use television as a learning tool and program screenings that promote community discussion and awareness of important topics and issues.

CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 and is steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,100 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 online services

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