Furthering a commitment to using the power of media to educate and entertain America’s children, PBS KIDS and SESAME STREET will introduce a bonus half-hour program this fall on-air and on digital platforms. Starting Monday, September 1, the additional half-hour program will air on weekday afternoons on PBS stations, complementing the one-hour series that airs weekday mornings (check local listings). For the first time, selected full episodes of the 30-minute show will also be available for free online at pbskids.org/video, on the PBS KIDS Video App and on the PBS KIDS Roku channel.  By offering this bonus half hour of SESAME STREET in an additional timeslot and through a growing number of digital services, PBS KIDS hopes to reach even more children with one of America’s most beloved and educationally powerful children’s series.

“With this new half-hour program, we are excited to build on SESAME STREET’s 45-year legacy on PBS with a format that will make the series more accessible on mobile devices, where PBS KIDS’ reach is growing exponentially,” said Lesli Rotenberg, General Manager, Children’s Programming, PBS. “In just the past year, the number of users streaming video on the incredibly popular PBS KIDS Video App increased 34 percent.¹ The new half-hour format will give PBS KIDS the opportunity to offer SESAME STREET to even more families, making it easy for parents to help their kids build essential school readiness skills with one of their favorite shows.”

Through the extensive reach of PBS KIDS, the new afternoon SESAME STREET program will offer families even more access to the iconic series that for decades has helped prepare kids for success in school and in life. PBS KIDS reaches more kids ages 2-8 and more moms with kids under age 12 than any other kids TV network, and nearly 99 percent of homes in the U.S.^{2, 3} PBS KIDS averages more than 12 million unique visitors per month online, and more than 1.5 million users stream video on the PBS KIDS Video App each month.^{4, 5} PBS KIDS reached 11.9 million low-income families last year, many of whom do not have access to cable or satellite TV.⁶

“We’re thrilled to extend our reach on PBS. What better way to celebrate our 45^th anniversary season than to touch more children’s lives,” added Terry Fitzpatrick, Chief Content and Distribution Officer at Sesame Workshop. “These days, families expect to be able to connect with their favorite SESAME STREET friends at any time of day. The new afternoon show is a great complement to our continuing efforts to reach more kids with engaging lessons that will help them grow smarter, stronger and kinder.”

The half-hour version of SESAME STREET will help kids learn a variety of skills, including the school readiness skills – such as impulse control and socio-emotional lessons – for which parents are increasingly seeking resources. With its comprehensive curriculum – or as Sesame Workshop calls it, a whole-child approach – SESAME STREET makes a measurable difference in children’s lives. In fact, a variety of studies prove SESAME STREET’s educational impact. A longitudinal study by the University of Kansas found that American children who frequently viewed SESAME STREET as preschoolers had high-school grade point averages that were almost 16 percent higher than those who did not watch.⁷

Each half-hour episode of SESAME STREET is a shortened version of each one-hour program and will include a “Street Story,” a “Word on the Street” segment, a celebrity vocabulary segment, songs, spoofs, dance breaks and popular segments like “Cookie’s Crumby Pictures” or “Super Grover 2.0.”

Since its debut on PBS in 1969, SESAME STREET has provided millions of families with trusted, engaging content, and has earned extensive critical acclaim. More moms watch SESAME STREET than any other preschool program and SESAME STREET has won more Emmy Awards than any other show in TV history.⁸ More information about SESAME STREET is available at pbskids.org/sesame.

Credit: Sesame Street and PBS Kids.

“Pirate and Princess: Power of Doing Good,” a pro-social touring event to introduce kids age 2-7 to the value of doing good, including caring for nature and animals and helping others, will begin THURSDAY, JULY 17 in Philadelphia before carrying on to Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Designed for kids and families, the tour is sponsored by Disney Junior, ASPCA, Youth Service America (YSA), National Wildlife Federation and First Book.

Tickets are required — they are free to the public and available now at DisneyJunior.com/powerofdoinggood.

“Through the power of our stories and characters, we can help the youngest of children imagine a better world and reflect on what they can do to help others within their own communities,” said Nancy Kanter, Executive Vice President, Original Programming and General Manager, Disney Junior Worldwide. “Our ‘Pirate and Princess: Power of Doing Good’ summer tour will do exactly that by engaging kids and parents in activities that not only highlight community service but also empower them to take these learnings and continue the work amongst their friends, families and neighbors.”

The event will engage kids in positive actions that benefit others through the benevolent characters and stories in Disney Junior’s popular series “Sofia the First” and “Jake and the Never Land Pirates.” Each tour stop will include opportunities to create a storybook at “First Book’s Jake and Sofia’s Storytelling Maze,” share acts of kindness or service at home or school in “YSA’s Enchancia Castle,” participate in the “ASPCA’s Sofia’s Animal Friends” activities, engage in interactive lessons of environmental conservation in the “National Wildlife Federation’s Jake’s Beach Treasures” and to pledge continued service at the “Forever Tree.”

Each “Pirate and Princess: Power of Doing Good” event will culminate with a musical celebration, hosted by Radio Disney, featuring special live appearances by Jake and Sofia.

The tour schedule includes the following:

• Thursday, July 17 (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) in Philadelphia at the Please Touch Museum
• Monday, July 21 (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) in Washington D.C. at The Yards Park
• Friday, July 25 (8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) in New York City at Riverbank State Park
• Wednesday, July 30 (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) in Chicago (Joliet, IL) at Joliet Memorial Stadium
• Monday, August 4 (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) in Houston (Sugar Land, TX) at Oyster Creek Park
• Monday, August 11 (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) in the San Francisco Bay Area (Hayward, CA) at Kennedy Park
• Friday, August 15 (8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) and Saturday, August 16 (11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) in Los Angeles (Pasadena, CA) at Kidspace Children’s Museum

Parents nationwide can visit DisneyJunior.com/powerofdoinggood to download activities inspired by the event and educational materials, including “Get Out & Get Moving” nature guide and YSA’s “Families in Action” kit. Families are then encouraged to make a pledge of service within their community and post about it on Twitter and Facebook throughout the summer using the hashtag #PowerOfDoingGood.

Disney Junior’s “Pirate and Princess: Power of Doing Good” tour is part of Disney’s Summer of Service. The 2014 Service of Summer Awards, in collaboration with Disney Friends for Change, is an initiative that inspires kids and their families to make a lasting, positive change by helping people, communities, and the planet. Winners receive a $1,000 award to assist them in continuing their good work. To learn how you can apply for a Summer of Service award visitwww.YSA.org/beinspired.

 Self Disclosure: No compensation was received to post. Credit: Disney Junior.

If you’re a sci-fi fan and are tired of the same old thing then, this film might be just the thing for you. A trio of MIT students take off on a road trip and are drawn to an isolated area by a computer genius. When everything suddenly goes dark, Nic regains consciousness – only to find himself in a waking nightmare. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Raven D., age 16 comments, “This is one of the weirdest films I have ever seen but, I love it.” See her full review below.

The Signal

Reviewed by Raven Devanney

Best friends Nic and Jonah embark on a road trip with their close friend Haley to help her move to California. Along the way, Nic and Jonah continue corresponding with a computer genius known to them as Nomad. Nomad previously hacked into their college’s computer system and, being computer programmers themselves, they aim to one-up this mysterious hacker. They trace the IP address from the emails they’ve been receiving and intend to confront who ever is “messing” with them. But when they are lead to a small abandoned home in a desolate area, things take an unexpected turn. When Nic awakes from unconsciousness he finds himself in a government testing facility and what he learns is more shocking than anything he could have ever imagined.

This is one of the weirdest films I have ever seen but, I love it. The cinematography is absolutely incredible. Most of the film is centered more around the visuals than the  dialogue. This film shows a lot of flashbacks and memories throughout that are shown mostly in slow motion and the film work is very artistic and thoughtful. The soundtrack is incredible. Since there is little to no dialogue, at times the music often carries the emotion and intent of the film. The music contains quite a bit of ambient noise and definitely has a spooky sci-fi feel to it. Not only is the music a vital part to the film, but there are almost always strange, off-setting, whirring sounds that play in the background. It gives the feel that something is about to happen which is a nice way to add some edge and unease.

The reason I say this is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen is because I can honestly say there were very few moments when I completely knew what was going on in the film. This movie does not explain what is happening throughout the whole thing, it gives no real background info on the characters, what happened to them, where they really are, nothing. Throughout the movie I kept thinking that there would be a big reveal and everyone would say “Oh, I get it now!.” But, that came in a very surprising way. There is a big reveal at the very last minute of the film but honestly, it left my friend and I with more questions than before. Although I spent the 95 minutes of this film terribly confused, it isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s brilliant. Director William Eubank only gives the audience as much information as the character Nic has in this film. And, after suffering major head trauma and being told very little, Nic has barely any information to work off of or any idea what is going on. So in a sense, the audience is being forced to feel what Nic is feeling complete with his frustration and confusion. It’s a very immersive movie experience and, like I said, it’s brilliant.

Unfortunately I can’t share my favorite scene, or any scene really without taking away from actually watching the film. But I can talk about the incredible cast and characters. There are very few speaking roles in the film, only six actually. But these six characters are fantastic. Of course there is the main trio, Nic, played by Brenton Thwaites, Haley, played by Olivia Cooke and Jonah, played by Beau Knapp.

Nic is an interesting character and also the main one. I’m assuming he suffers from MS or some degenerative disease because in the beginning of the film he is walking around with forearm crutches and mentions that he’ll need a wheelchair but, in flashbacks you see him running and walking around freely. However this is never explained. He is such a great character because as I mentioned before, he is confused about what is going on throughout 95% of the film. Brenton does a phenomenal job portraying this sense of panic and frustration at being so lost. His actions and reactions seem so authentic to his character and he has a wonderful way that invites the audience to join him in his ups and downs. Jonah is also a really great character. He is very quirky but also crazy intelligent and, although he is not in a large portion of the film, he is able to shed some light on what is potentially happening to them. I love Haley because Olivia Cooke plays my favorite character on “Bates Motel” so it is really cool to see her playing a more mature role. Haley is what drives Nic to do pretty much everything he does in the film because the two of them are in a relationship. It is very nice to have such sentimental and caring interactions throughout this film since everything else is quite intense. I can’t discuss the rest of the characters without, again, taking away from your movie watching experience.

I wholeheartedly recommend this film for ages 13 to 18 because of the difficulties around following the plot, some very intense and violent situations and also, there is a lack of dialogue. You’re just viewing images from the past and present which may be confusing and not very entertaining for a younger audience. At first, I was very hesitant about this film because it starts off a bit slow and is, as you know, confusing as heck, but after watching it all the way through I give The Signal 5 out of 5 stars and am eager to see it again. If you’re into sci-fi film, aliens or just want a mind-bending experience, then check out The Signal in theaters now.

Credit:  KIDS FIRST! Coming Attractions, www.kidsfirst.org