Austin fifth grader student Chinmay Murthy, from Paragon Preparatory Middle School, will represent Texas in the 2013 National Geographic Bee airing Friday, May 24 at 1 pm, Saturday, May 25 at 5 pm and Sunday, May 26 at 5 pm. By using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society, students from around the country compete in the annual National Geographic Bee. The National Geographic Bee is constructed to encourage teachers to include geography in their class rooms in order to increase student and public interest in the subject.

Prepare for the 2013 National Geographic Bee and take Take a GeoBee Quiz!

The 2013 National Geographic Bee State Winners are:

Alabama – Christopher Lough, 7th Grade, Prattville Christian Academy, Prattville
Alaska – Kenny Petrini, 8th Grade, Central Middle School of Science, Anchorage
Arizona – Cameron Danesh, 6th Grade, Mountainside Middle School, Scottsdale
Arkansas – Christian Boekhout, 7th Grade, Hot Springs Intermediate School, Hot Springs
Atlantic Territories - Leonides Diaz, 7th Grade, St. John’s School, San Juan
California – Tuvya Bergson-Michelson, 6th Grade, Nueva School, Hillsborough
Colorado -Pranit Nanda, 7th Grade, Aurora Quest K-8 School, Aurora
Connecticut  – Michael Borecki, 8th Grade, Middlesex Middle School, Darien
Delaware - Kevin M. Orzada, 8th Grade, The Independence School, Newark
Department Of Defense Dependents Schools - Patrick LeWallen, 7th Grade, Ryukyu Middle School, Okinawa
District Of Columbia – Lars Nordquist, 5th Grade, St. Albans School
Florida – Walker Miler, 7th Grade, James Weldon Johnson Middle School, Jacksonville
Georgia – Sanjeev Uppalari, 5th Grade, Fulton Sunshine Academy, Roswell
Hawaii – Andrew Anderton, 8th Grade, Island School, Lihue
Idaho – Amrit Singh, 7th Grade, Grangeville Elementary/Middle School, Grangeville
Illinois – Conrad Oberhaus, 7th Grade, Daniel Wright Junior High School, Lincolnshire
Indiana – Sean Ives, 7th Grade, Trinity Lutheran School, Crown Point
Iowa – Jonathan Grunenwald, 8th Grade, Ames Homeschool Assistance Program, Ames
Kansas – Preneeta Nalluri, 6th Grade, Overland Trail Middle School, Overland Park
Kentucky – Hunter Watkins, 8th Grade, Calloway, Marshall, & McCracken Cty Homeschoolers, Farmington
Louisiana – Cécile Girard, 7th Grade, Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School, Lake Charles
Maine – Archer Thomas, 8th Grade, Bonny Eagle Middle School, Buxton
Maryland – Abhinav Karthikeyan, 4th Grade, Clearspring Elementary School, Damascus
Massachusetts – Sathwik Karnik, 7th Grade, King Philip Regional Middle School, Norfolk
Michigan – Neha Middela, 6th Grade, Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills
Minnesota – Alexander Conrad, 7th Grade, Valley View Middle School, Edina
Mississippi – Jun Chen, 8th Grade, Margaret Green Junior High School, Cleveland
Missouri – Aviral Misra, 5th Grade, Academy Montessori Internationale, Kansas City
Montana – Grace Rembert, 5th Grade, Morning Star Elementary, Bozeman
Nebraska – Theodore Jansen, 5th Grade, Paddock Road Elementary, Omaha
Nevada – Nick Vazeen, 8th Grade, Challenger School ? Summerlin Campus, Las Vegas
New Hampshire – Neelam Sandhu, 8th Grade, Ross A. Lurgio Middle School, Bedford
New Jersey – William DiGrande, 8th Grade, Warren Middle School, Warren
New Mexico – Huy Tran, 7th Grade, Albuquerque Academy,  Albuquerque
New York – Gabriel Straus, 7th Grade, Collegiate School for Boys, New York
North Carolina – Matthew Janson, 8th Grade, Randolph Middle School, Charlotte
North Dakota – Luke Bowan, 8th Grade, Jamestown Area Homeschoolers, Jamestown
Ohio – Kyle Yu, 7th Grade, Lee Burneson Middle School, Westlake
Oklahoma – Matthew Armor, 8th Grade, Whittier Middle School, Norman
Oregon – Harish Palani, 7th Grade, Stoller Middle School, Portland
Pacific Territories – Jacob Augelli, 7th Grade, Cmd. William C. McCool Elem/Middle, Guam
Pennsylvania – Sai Vaddadi, 8th Grade, Eagle View Middle School, Mechanicsburg
Rhode Island – Jacob Polatty, 7th Grade, Rhode Island Home Educators, North Kingstown
South Carolina – Krish Patel, 7th Grade, Pinewood Preparatory School, Summerville
South Dakota – Mark Vanderzee, 8th Grade, George S. Mickelson Middle School, Brookings
Tennessee – Adithyan Sujithkumar, 7th Grade, Robertsville Middle School, Oak Ridge
Texas – Chinmay Murthy, 5th Grade, Paragon Preparatory Middle School, Austin
Utah – Joshua Nkoy, 8th Grade, Challenger School, Sandy
Vermont – Tyler Jager, 7th Grade, Manchester Elementary/Middle School, Manchester Center
Virginia – Akhil Rekulapelli, 7th Grade, Stone Hill Middle School, Ashburn
Washington – Owen Benda, 7th Grade, Open Window School, Bellevue
West Virginia -Andrew Christy, 7th Grade, St. Francis Central Catholic School, Morgantown
Wisconsin – Asha Jain, 7th Grade, MHLT Elementary School, Minocqua
Wyoming – Garrett Means, 8th Grade, Snowy Range Academy, Laramie

Student reading the interactive e-book, “The Monster at the end of this Book”

As you may have read before, KLRU has been selected as one of five stations to partner with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS Kids to bring educational content throughnew mediato low-income communities. KLRU has also locally partnered with SafePlace, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, and Foundation Communities M Station, which provide affordable housing and other services to low-income families.

Over the last few weeks, KLRU has been preparing to add new technology to both SafePlace and M Station’s already existing, modest computer labs. These new additions included 16 iPads, complete with protective cases, a Mac computer to power the iPads, a projector for large group activities/screening movies, a projection screen, speakers, iPad compatible printers, Bluetooth keyboards, and child-friendly headphones for the iPads.

The new equipment was unveiled to the children and staff at an open house event for both sites, where everyone was invited to explore the iPads and accompanying equipment. Though the children were a little disappointed to learn they wouldn’t be taking the iPads home, they were ecstatic to know that they are available to them and will be used for their upcoming PBS Kids summer learning programs on site.

All of the iPads are jam-packed with PBS Kids content, including videos, e-books, and 50+ apps designed to improve reading, math, science, and even art skills. They can also be set up much like a regular workstation with Bluetooth keyboards so that the students can easily type away school papers, or their own creative work.

Thanks to this Ready To Learn (RTL) project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, both of these new Transmedia Demonstration Stations will provide great new learning tools to SafePlace and M Station, as well as provide valuable lessons for public media at large. Both sites are currently gearing up for official inauguration/summer program kick-off events in June, to share the completed Demo Stations with the children, their families, educators, key stakeholders of the organizations, and the community.

This month, WordGirl will be saving the environment!
Tune in on April 22nd for a special Earth Day episode!

From April 15-19, The Cat in the Hat shows kids some amazing animals, including three premiere episodes April 15-17.

Babies / Fast – Monday, April 15 at 8:30 am & 2 pm
Babies – Sally is looking after some baby hamsters, but how can she and Nick hold them right? Well, different animals hold their babies different ways.
Fast – It’s a race to the treehouse, but Nick and Sally wish they could go as fast as an airplane! How about a peregrine? asks The Cat. What’s that? The fastest creature in the world!

Little Lemmings / Keep The Beat — Tuesday, April 16 at 8:30 am & 2 pm
Little Lemmings – It’s cold outside, but Nick and Sally want to keep playing. Is there a way to stay warm out in the cold? Cat’s friend Lars the Lemming will know! He lives in the Wundra-Bundra-Tundra. It’s cold out, but with Lars’ fur coat, he doesn’t even notice!
Keep the Beat – Nick and Sally have been running around the backyard and now their chests are thumpity thumping! The Cat explains that that is their hearts boom boom booming! But why? wonders Sally.

Gorillas In The Nest / Tale Of A Dragon — Wednesday, April 17 at 8:30 am & 2 pm
Gorillas in the Nest – Sally and Nick have made a sleepover tent on the floor. But it’s not very comfortable. The Cat’s friend Gordon the Gorilla knows how to make a comfortable bed.
Tale of a Dragon – Dragons don’t really exist, but Cat knows some lizard friends who are oh-so like dragons! They can show Nick and Sally how to pretend to be dragons.

KLRU is one of five stations partnering with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS KIDS to provide educational multimedia content to low-income communities.  The station will receive $109,318 from CPB to test the effectiveness of digital content developed through Ready To Learn (RTL), a cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, to test the effectiveness of digital content developed through the program in supporting the development of early math and literacy skills for children ages 2-8 in low-income families.

Over the next year, KLRU will provide RTL content and resources at two sites in the community: SafePlace, which provides residential services to victims of family violence, and Foundation Communities, which offers housing and family-centered educational services to low-income families. The station will train highly qualified educators/education service providers to use RTL content so they can support the children and families who use the facilities at SafePlace and Foundation Communities. Through family-focused community events, KLRU will also demonstrate RTL to other community educators/education service providers, children, and parents/caregivers in the Austin area.

“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has set the standard for investment in the future of our young learners,” said Bill Stotesbery, KLRU CEO and General Manager. “Through initiatives such as this CPB is continuing its leadership into the digital world, and KLRU is proud to be at the forefront of this technology. We’re excited to get to partner with SafePlace and Foundation Communities but also to provide these tools for learning to our entire community.”

Of the more than 25 million American children under the age of six, 46 percent live in low-income households.  Research shows that these children most often struggle with early math and literacy skills that could lead to them falling behind in school.  Working together under the RTL program, CPB, PBS KIDS, KLRU and other public television stations nationwide are supporting the development of dynamic new content – including television series, interactive games, mobile apps and hands-on activities – that encourages learning and gives children an equal opportunity to succeed in school.

“As America’s largest classroom, public media is an important contributor to our country’s ongoing effort to provide children, no matter what their background, with the opportunity to enter the classroom with a strong foundation in math and literacy,” said Debra Sanchez, senior vice president of education and children’s content at CPB.  “This latest Ready To Learn Initiative builds on public media’s history in education and our ability to engage with local communities to ensure that our content provides effective educational experiences for children, teachers and families.”

Additional demonstration stations include:  Nashville Public Television, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, New Mexico PBS and PBS SoCal.

These stations will build on best practices developed by an initial group of 11 public television stations that, over the last year, pioneered the introduction of interactive math and literacy content and games for children with low-income backgrounds.  Results from those initial 11 demonstration sites, together with these five new stations, will provide a the Ready To Learn program with a better understanding of how public media stations can collaborate more effectively with local educators, parents, caregivers and community partners to advance children’s learning.

”PBS KIDS is committed to using the power of media to encourage our nation’s youngest citizens to explore and learn about the world around them, and through the Ready To Learn Initiative, we are building on this effort by developing and distributing content across platforms to help support early math and literacy learning,” said Lesli Rotenberg, General Manager, Children’s Programming, PBS. “PBS stations are vital partners in this, as they work in their local communities to provide PBS KIDS’ educational and engaging content to families who need it most.”

Lead outreach partners in this CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative, including the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) and the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS), will provide technical assistance to the five demonstration sites as they begin using PBS KIDS resources in out-of-school learning settings, which boosts learning time for children who need it most.

Ready To Learn, funded by Congress and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted at preschool and early elementary school children and their families. Its goal is to promote early learning and school readiness, with a particular interest in reaching low-income children.

CPB and PBS received funding from Ready To Learn in 2010 to focus on math, continue early literacy projects and develop innovative new teaching tools over a five-year period.  CPB and PBS were the recipients of previous five-year Ready To Learn funding in 2005 to develop children’s programming with an emphasis on early literacy skills.  Research and findings conducted on the content created under this program are available here.

The demonstration sites’ projects are partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education.   Stations will leverage these funds for Ready To Learn work in their communities through in-kind donations and support from local and regional organizations.

About KLRU-TV, Austin PBS
KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, presents quality multimedia content that engages people in the thoughtful exchange of ideas, the expression of the arts, and enjoyable lifelong learning opportunities, resulting in a more vibrant community and a higher quality of life. In addition to providing locally produced and quality national television programming, KLRU is also a non-profit organization helping to build a stronger community through educational workshops, community engagement projects and public events. Known as the producing station of the longest-running live music television show AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, KLRU has also worked on several other national productions including OVERHEAD WITH EVAN SMITH and documentaries like CITIZEN ARCHITECT and LAST BEST HOPE. Get more information about KLRU at klru.org.

About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,300 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.

About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online, mobile and community-based programs. Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning pbskids.org provides engaging interactive content, including the PBS KIDS video player, now offering free streaming video accessible on computer- and mobile-device-based browsers. For more information on specific PBS KIDS content supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit pbs.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on Twitter and Facebook.

About The Ready To Learn Initiative
The Ready To Learn Initiative is a cooperative agreement funded and managed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement.  It supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted at preschool and early elementary school children and their families. Its general goal is to promote early learning and school readiness, with a particular interest in reaching low-income children. In addition to creating television and other media products, the program supports activities intended to promote national distribution of the programming, effective educational uses of the programming, community-based outreach, and research on educational effectiveness.

Monday-Friday, April 8-12 at 9:30 am

In a week of encore episodes, kids can enjoy the most musical moments of DINOSAUR TRAIN for a week of dance-tastic adventures. Buddy, Shiny, Tiny and Don explore ponds, gardens, oceans and more in “That’s Not a Dinosaur/Tiny’s Garden,” “Remember the Alamosaurus/Sunrise, Sunset,” “Elmer Elasmosaurus/Dinosaur Block Party,” “Junior Conductor Jamboree/Troodon Train Day” and “Buddy Explores the Tyrannosaurs/Rainy Day Fight.” They sing and dance as they encourage kids to get outside, get into nature and make their own discoveries.

Thanks to all the families that joined us for the Sid the Science Kid Movie Premiere at Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek and Slaughter locations on Saturday.

Before the movie, we had fun playing catapult games in the lobby, posing for photos with Sid, and meeting Clifford the Big Red Dog!

See photos from both locations: Sid the Science Kid Movie Premiere | March 30, 2013

Be a part of future KLRU kids events by signing up as a KLRU Explorer.

In a week of episodes set in the rainforest, three new WILD KRATTS episodes featuring rainforest creatures premiere on April 1-3.

Monday, April 1, 4pm
Bugs Or Monkeys? – A miniaturized Martin wants to check out insects in the rainforest, but Chris wants to investigate the world of the Spider monkey. Chris wins when he puts “mini” Martin in his pack back and heads off through the treetops.

Tuesday, April 2, 4pm
Shadow: The Black Jaguar – Martin and Chris are trying to decide on their next wild cat adventure when they learn that Zach Varmitech has decided to “catnap” a Black Jaguar to use as a symbol for his new spybots.

Wednesday, April 3, 4pm
Rainforest Stew – When Chris and Martin go in search of an obscure rainforest creature to add to their Life Lists, the Wild Kratts becomes embroiled in the complex relationships of a tropical rainforest.

Thursday, April 4, 4pm
Walk On The Wetside – When Chris and Martin locate an amazing water-walking Basilisk lizard in Costa Rica, they try to replicate its actions in order to learn how this rare lizard is able to walk on water. They discover that by using its wide feet, churning its legs to create water pockets and keeping up a certain speed, the Basilisk is able to run on water in order to escape from predators. And when Donita Donata begins capturing basilisks, Martin and Chris us their new water walking powers to rescue these rare lizards.

Friday, April 5, 4pm
Kerhonk – When Martin’s and Chris’ Creature Power Suits unexpectedly get jammed in Proboscis monkey mode and the top monkey of the troop is injured protecting a youngster from a crocodile, the Kratt brothers find themselves stepping into the injured monkey’s role. While Aviva nurses the monkey back to health, Chris and Martin must keep the troop together and soon discover the important communication function of the proboscis monkeys strangest feature – his huge, droopy, bulbous nose! They uncover some of the different methods animals utilize to communicate important information to each other.

Monday, March 25 at 8 pm, Episode 1
Tuesday, March 26 at 8 pm, Episode 2

When: March 30, 2013, 9 – 11 a.m.

Where: Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek and Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter

• Come dressed in your best Hollywood glamour or mad scientist outfit.
• Walk the red carpet and take photos in our photo booth.
• Meet Clifford the Big Red Dog.
• Enjoy hands-on science activities in the lobby with the KLRU-TV, Austin PBS education team.
• If you are not already, now’s your chance to become a KLRU Explorers family!

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: Click here to go the Alamo Drafthouse reservation site.

ALL AGES ARE WELCOME, BUT CHILDREN MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A PARENT. PLEASE RESERVE ONLY THE SEATS YOU EXPECT TO USE, AND RESERVE ENOUGH SEATS FOR ALL ATTENDEES, REGARDLESS OF AGE. ALL UNCLAIMED SEATS WILL BE RELEASED TO THE WAITING LIST AT 9:30 AM.

AGENDA:
9:00 Doors open, guest check in, red carpet photos and lobby activities
9:30 Movie starts. Fidgety guests are welcome in the lobby for activities during the show.
11:00 Event ends