Category Archives: community partner

Community Cinema Solar Mamas

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Learn how a group of women in impoverished areas throughout the world are changing their community by becoming solar-energy engineers at the November Community Cinema screenings November 6 in Austin and November 29 in Round Rock.

SOLAR MAMAS by Jehane Noujaim
Rafea, who lives in a small Jordanian village, is 30 years old with four children and a husband eager to take a third wife. With the encouragement from her country’s Ministry of Environment, she attends the Barefoot College in India to train to become a solar-energy engineer. The Barefoot College provides training to the rural poor to empower them to make their communities sustainable. Students include rural women from Kenya, Burkina Faso, Columbia, and Guatemala.

Screenings will be held in Austin at the Windsor Park Branch Library (5833 Westminster Dr.) and in Round Rock Public Library (216 E. Main Street). All screenings will start at 7 pm, are free and open to the public.

KLRU at Texas Book Festival 10/27, 10/28

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KLRU will be at the Texas Book Festival this weekend, October 27 and 28th, with a special guest …  Clifford The Big Red Dog! Bring your camera and get your photo with Clifford and experience the rich resources of PBS KIDS by playing games on our ipad stations.

KLRU will be in a tent near the Children’s area from 2-3 pm on Saturday and from 12:30 – 1:30 pm Sunday.

We’ll also have standup images of Big Bird, Elmo and Thomas the Tank for additional photo opportunities.

Biscuit Brothers plan Fine Arts Farm in South Austin

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Jerome Schoolar, co-creator and producer of the Emmy Award winning PBS show “The Biscuit Brothers”, is calling on fans to support the building of a new Fine Arts Farm in South Austin that will be designed to provide music and arts education to the entire community. The proposed facility will include concert and theatre space as well as multiple classrooms, a themed outdoor area, and plenty of Magical Musical Farm décor. Support the project online now

“I want to create a space where we can entertain and educate kids and families of all ages in all sorts of ways,” said Schoolar, who plays Dusty on the show and has served as a City of Austin Fine Arts Coordinator for Children. “The vision includes regular classes, special concerts, theatrical guests, and more, with much of it low-cost or even free to Title 1 AISD schools and other at-risk members of our community.”

The Biscuit Brothers have a long history of providing inexpensive or free shows to the public – often benefitting other local organizations – and hope the new building near Slaughter Lane and I-35 will help sustain those as well as the TV show which is given to PBS for free.

$50,000 is needed to secure the property and begin upgrades. Schoolar says he hopes to raise at least $25,000 online and another $25,000 from corporate sponsors.

“We’ve got some amazing rewards for our supporters, including free classes and invitations to participate in the permanent decorations of the building. For our top donors or corporate sponsors, we’re offering chances to name classrooms and more. And for everyone, we’re offering the chance to help build a facility that has the potential to make a lasting impact across our entire community.”

Schoolar points to multiple studies on both the national and local scale that highlight the importance of Fine Arts training in education. “There’s ample evidence showing that children who are actively involved in Fine Arts Education are smarter, healthier, and happier, and that exposure needs to begin as early as possible with reliable consistency. The Biscuit Brothers have always been about fostering musical education for young kids, and now we want to broaden that to a fully artistic and really fun Fine Arts Farm.”

The campaign will begin on October 16 and end on December 16. The URL will be available at launch, or by searching for The Biscuit Brothers at http://www.indiegogo.com/BiscuitBrothers.

Community Cinema: As Goes Janesville

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The October 2012 Community Cinema film is As Goes Janesville with screenings and discussions in both Austin and Round Rock. All screenings will start at 7 pm, are free and open to the public.

As Goes Janesville by Brad Lichtenstein records two years in the lives of laid-off workers, business leaders, and elected officials trying to reinvent their lives and their Midwestern town amid the closure of their GM plant and America’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Screenings take place October 2 at Austin’s Windsor Park Branch Library (5833 Westminster Dr.) and October 25 at Round Rock Public Library (216 E. Main Street).

For the Sake of the Song screening 10/5

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DATE: Friday, October 5
TIME: 7 pm
LOCATION: KLRU’s Studio 6A
RSVP: Please RSVP by Sept. 28, 2012, to rsvp.cah@austin.utexas.edu or 512.495.4609

The Briscoe Center invites you to attend a screening of For the Sake of the Song, followed by a special musical performance, on Oct. 5, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the KLRU studio.

For the Sake of the Song is an award-winning documentary about Anderson Fair, the legendary Houston music venue that has cultivated some of the most notable songwriters and performers in America. Co-sponsored by the Briscoe Center, the film documents the story behind one the oldest folk and acoustic music venues in continuous operation in the United States.

The event concludes with a special musical performance by award-winning artists featured in the film.

Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

In The Studio: Civic Summit "Why Bother? Voices of a New Generation" 10/2

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Young Texans Gather to Explore Causes and Solutions for Low Civic Engagement
When: 7-8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 2
Where: KLRU’s Studio 6A, 2504-B Whitis Ave. (map)
RSVP: Please RSVP to be part of the studio audience/discussion. RSVP now

The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, KLRU and KUT News 90.5 are hosting an interactive dialogue among young Texans — those who are engaged and those who aren’t — about the causes of low civic participation in Central Texas and how to boost it. “Why Bother? Voices of a New Generation” will explore:

  • Why some young people are passionate community volunteers but disengaged voters,
  • Why others are opting out of a presidential election that offers radically different visions for the future of the country
  • What it will take to magnify the influence of the largest potential voting bloc in America in the political process.

Featured panelists include: Jeanne Goka, principal of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders; Paulina Sosa, University of Texas student and ONE Campaign Austin leader; Ann Beeson, Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life; and other young leaders and community members.

This episode will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4, on KLRU  and KUT 90.5, and again on KLRU at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 7. KUT News is producing a series of reports on the crisis of civic engagement, which will air leading up to and following the Oct. 2 forum. Listen to the stories at KUT.org

Sponsored by the Strauss Institute for Civic Life, KLRU and KUT, this event is part of “Why Bother? Engaging Texans in Democracy Today,” a news and public dialogue series intended to get people talking about why Texas has one of the lowest rates of civic engagement in the world, and what we can do about it.

Future public dialogues this fall and next spring will address the impact of changing demographics on civic participation in Central Texas, how to get your voice heard by the Texas Legislature and what it will take to get more citizens involved in Austin city government and planning. For more information about the series and the civic engagement crisis in Central Texas, visit whybothertexas.org.

Access News returns 9/23

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Access News returns for a second season on KLRU this month. Access News is a unique half-hour program hosted by Tamara Suiter-Ocuto. Tamara interviews congressional leaders, Nobel Prize laureates, law enforcement officials, New York Times best selling authors, community activists, and more. Each episode is presented in American Sign Language, English, and captioned! The civic-learning featured segments, called “A More Perfect Union” are hosted by Professor Don Miller. Both Tamara and Don are Deaf. The program is designed for total access-ibility. The issues discussed are engaging, topical, relevant, and important for all viewers Deaf and hearing alike.

Access News airs Sundays at 1 pm on KLRU. Here’s what’s coming up:

9/23
Lloyd Doggett, Congressional Representative 25th District

9/30
Jim Harrington, Civil Rights Attorney

10/7
Esperanza “Hope” Andrade, Texas Secretary of State

10/14
Donna Howard, Texas State Representative

10/21
Art Acevedo, Austin Chief of Police

10/28
Sanford Levinson, Author and Professor of Law at UT

11/4
Andres Tijerina, Author, Activist, Professor of History at ACC

11/11
Benjamin Gregg, Author, Professor of Government at UT

11/18
Robert Jensen, Activist, Author, Professor of Journalism

KLRU joins Dell in Powering the Possible!

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KLRU Educational Services is thrilled to join the launch of Dell’s Powering the Possible initiative in 2012! Thanks to the generosity of Dell, we have acquired 20 brand-new, sleek Dell XPS 13 Ultrabooks for use in two pilot projects close to the Dell campus, at Walnut Creek and Graham Elementary Schools. We will work with Extend-A-Care staff and their kids to bring the best of our digital media resources to enhance after-school learning opportunities in order to strengthen academic skills through high-quality, trustworthy shows, games, and other activities. Apart from the Dell laptops, another brand-new resource for this project is PBS Learning Media, the user-friendly portal to PBS’ treasure trove of educational content.

www.eackids.org

klru.pbslearningmedia.org

KLRU invites you to attend Mariachi High

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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, KLRU will present a special screening of the acclaimed film Mariachi High at Crockett High School on Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m.  Crockett High School’s own Mariachi de Oro will perform and Kelly Sheehan, Executive Producer of Mariachi High, will be in attendance. Mariachi del Sur from Bedichek Middle School will also perform. The screening is free and light refreshments will be served.

Mariachi High presents a year in the life of top-ranked members of Zapata High School’s championship ensemble Mariachi Halcon in the South Texas border town.   This is an exuberant coming-of-age documentary about the brightest, most driven and talented Mexican American teenagers never seen on screen. At a time when the Latino dropout rate is the highest nationwide, intolerance towards immigrants is growing and public school funding is being cut, Mariachi High turns a much-needed affirmative lens on teens who are pursuing excellence through a connection to their cultural heritage.

Mariachi De Oro, made up of students from Crockett High School, is a nine-member band and will perform at the screening.  Led by Joseph Baird, the group has performed at Gov. Rick Perry’s inauguration, at the University of Texas and for Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell.