KLRU announced a Smart Screen Time / La Pantalla Inteligente Initiative to connect Central Texas families and kids to PBS content, videos, games and apps and to use them to explore the world beyond the screen.  “We know that as school ends more and more kids are going to be watching television, playing games on tablets and using their parents’ phones to play apps,” said Ben Kramer, VP Educational Services at KLRU,“ and we want to encourage families to be smart about their choices.”

Smart Screen Time is about finding good content, using it in smart ways, and knowing when to turn off devices. KLRU has developed five guidelines for parents and caregivers to follow when watching a television show or playing online with their kids.  They are:

• Knowing the difference between “smart time” and “silly time.”
• When the brain slows down, turn the screen off.
• Talk throughout the day with your children.
• Watch and play on screens together.
• Read at home every day.
  Get more details about each of these guidelines

To combat the summer learning loss KLRU will be offering 11 hours of uninterrupted non-commercial children’s programs each weekday as well as launching klrukrids.org.  www.klrukids.org connects learners of all ages 2 and up to a plethora of curriculum-based video, games and apps that teach math, literacy, and more.   These resources in both English and Spanish, will allow kids to have Smart Screen Time while also having fun.  All of the activities featured on klrukids.org embody the PBS Kids spirit that “anytime is learning time” and “learning can be fun.”

For parents, klrukids.org also features a curated list of apps and bookmarks from PBS and elsewhere that the KLRU Educational Services staff recommends for learners of all ages 2 and above.   These resources should be used as a starting point for learning and should be used to encourage families to come together and to explore the world around them.

Throughout the year more than 25,000 families and kids connect with KLRU face-to-face through our workshops and events. Many more do so by watching the award-winning children’s shows on KLRU or visiting a PBS Kids web site.  In all of our work on-air, online, mobile or face-to-face, KLRU encourages Smart Screen Time. As learners of all ages, but particularly the youngest, increasingly turn to smart devices as a primary source of information and entertainment, KLRU wants to share the power of digital learning as well as our cautions for excessive or unwise use.

KLRU Educational Services engages with the Central Texas public in a remarkable number of ways on-air, online and in the community. KLRU and PBS KIDS are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of children through curriculum-based media, using new and traditional platforms to support children in their acquisition of knowledge and critical thinking skills while empowering their imagination and curiosity of the world.

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.

KLRU Q presents a unique half-hour program covering everything from official state news from Asia’s top networks to the trends and conversations rising through Asia’s social media on LinkAsia airing Mondays at 5:30 pm starting Nov. 5.

From Beijing to Tokyo, from Seoul to New Delhi and beyond, LinkAsia takes viewers into media about Asia — from Asia — offering unfiltered insights into one of the most diverse, fast-paced regions of the globe. ELinkAsia’s host, entrepreneur Yul Kwon, serves as your trusted guide to the vast world of Asian media — spanning culture, business, technology, politics, and more. With an award-winning staff of producers from around the world and a panel of experts giving perspective on how the news impacts the rest of the world, LinkAsia will quickly become your source for international news from the region.

The LinkAsia blog takes you even further into the headlines with n-depth analysis from expert contributors and LinkAsia producers, as well as transcripts from NHK Japan reports.

The addition of LinkAsia is part of KLRU’s continuing focus on providing quality public affairs programing to inspire understanding. KLRU Q will continue to add international news programming as news shows from other regions become available.

We appreciate our viewers’ patience during this time and our thoughts are with those on the East Coast.

One thing that I always enjoyed watching on television with my Mom and my sister was the cooking shows on Public Television.  So if you need some new cooking recipes, you might check out the KLRU-TV schedule on Saturdays starting at 1 pm.  There are many new episodes as well as new additions to the cooking block on Saturdays.

Simply Ming at 1 pm.  The James Beard and Emmy-nominated public television series Simply Ming is back for its 10th Anniversary season.  Award-winning host Chef Ming Tsai celebrates the television milestone with 26 all-new episodes in a season full of surprises and new twists and featuring some of his all-time favorite special guest chefs—both in-studio sequences “Cooking on the Fly” and in exotic locales “On the Road.” No matter what the location, Ming brings inspiration and surprise ingredients to create simple, fresh cuisine and delicious dishes on the spot, as well as demonstrate basic culinary techniques that all home chefs should understand. The new season coincides with the October 2012 release of Simply Ming in Your Kitchen, a new book of 80 recipes (published by Kyle Books).

For Season 10, Ming opens each episode revealing fun and user-friendly tips and advice with quick and easy demos. Designed to make cooking fundamentals less daunting for the home cook, these quick and simple demonstrations showcase Ming’s masterful teaching techniques on everything from blanching to caramelizing, thickening to tenderizing, reconstituting to grilling and poaching. Whether it’s creating pan sauces, a reduction or a roux, or making a ganache with panache, Ming and his all-star line-up of guest chefs will serve up a season full of one-of-a-kind recipes that viewers will want to try at home.

Martha Stewart’s Cooking School at 1:30 pm.  In this new series inspired by her best-selling cookbook, Martha Stewart demonstrates classic cooking techniques and basics.  Using her signature, step-by-step how-to teaching process, Martha will illustrate the building blocks of recipes everyone should know — from roasting and poaching to braising and blanching.

Pati’s Mexican Table at 2 pm.  Food writer and chef Pati Jinich guides viewers through the fascinating world of Mexican cuisine.  Pati infuses her recipes with a sprinkling of culture and traditions and demonstrates just how easy it is to make delicious, regional Mexican food at home!

Lidia’s Italy in America at 2:30 pm.  Lidia is returning for an all-new season of exploring America’s Italian heritage through food.  Join celebrity chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich as she embarks on another eye-opening culinary journey. Her series explores the food, artisans and ingredients at the heart of Italian-American cooking. Over the course of 26-half hour episodes, Lidia traces the impact of Italian culture on American food, drink, art, music and fashion. She travels from the East Coast to the South to the Midwest to interview Italian-American families still making wine and vinegar in their garages or curing their own prosciutto, to visit the “Little Italys” keeping old-world traditions alive and to meet third- and fourth-generation Italians putting their twist on authentic recipes.

Cooking Country from America’s Test Kitchen at 3 pm.  This cooking series features new episodes about the best regional home cooking — from potluck dinners and holiday favorites to simple suppers and lost recipes. In season five, the test kitchen chefs Bridget Lancaster, Julia Collin Davison and Erin McMurrer cook a variety of family-friendly recipes with host Christopher Kimball. The Tasting Lab’s Jack Bishop again challenges Kimball to sample supermarket staples, while Adam Ried reveals his top equipment recommendations. Other segments include: “Food History” and “Ask Cook’s Country.”

Simply Ming and Lidia’s Italy in America will start new episodes on October 13th.  So check out these new episodes and new series on Saturday afternoons on KLRU-TV.

The Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is the standard-bearer for excellence in the television industry and the gatekeeper of the prestigious regional Emmy Awards in Texas. The Lone Star Emmy Chapter represents the best and brightest television and media professionals from all disciplines of the industry and from all of Texas’ 19 television markets.

Below is the list of KLRU nominees. Winners will be announced Nov. 10th.

COMMUNITY SERVICE
KLRU: Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project 2012
Sara Robertson, Producer
Betsy Gerdeman, Executive Producer
Maury Sullivan, Community Engagement
Karen Bernstein , Producer
Cookie Ruiz, Project Supervisor

AUDIO
Sharon Cullen Sound Engineer

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT – PROGRAM FEATURE / SEGMENT
KLRU Collective: Asian Occasion
Eve Tarlo, Producer/Editor

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT – PROGRAM / SPECIAL
Arts In Context: Trouble Puppet
Lauren Burton, Producer
Mario Troncoso, Producer

MILITARY – PROGRAM/SPECIAL / FEATURE/SEGMENT
Operation Appreciation
Pat Kondelis, Producer/Editor/Videographer

TEXAS HERITAGE – PROGRAM/SPECIAL
The Daytripper: Goliad, TX
Hogaboom Road, Inc.
Andrew Ramsammy, Producer
Chet Garner, Producer
Richard Lozano, Producer
Kellie Baldwin, Sound
Lindsay DeMoss, Associate Editor
Mary Adolph , Field Producer

INFORMATIONAL / INSTRUCTIONAL – PROGRAM / SPECIAL / FEATURE / SEGMENT
Central Texas Gardener
Linda Lehmusvirta, Producer
Ed Fuentes, Director

INTERVIEW/DISCUSSION – PROGRAM/SPECIAL/SERIES
Overheard With Evan Smith “Chris Isaak”
Paul Sweeney, Editor
Lynn Boswell, Producer
Evan Smith, Host

MAGAZINE PROGRAM – PROGRAM / SPECIAL
SXSW Flashback 2011
Pat Kondelis, Producer/Editor/Videographer
JJ Weber, Executive Producer/ Videographer

MAGAZINE PROGRAM – SERIES
The Daytripper: Marfa, TX
Hogaboom Road, Inc.
Andrew Ramsammy, Producer
Chet Garner, Producer
Richard Lozano, Producer

ON-CAMERA TALENT – PROGRAM HOST / MODERATOR / REPORTER – PROGRAMMING
Chet Garner, Host Of The Daytripper
Hogaboom Road, Inc.
Chet Garner, Program Host

Evan Smith- Skilled Interviewer

We’re approaching the end of our fiscal year with a budget deficit and we need your help to reach our goal by September 30. As of this morning, we’re $185,900 short. More than ever we need the help of our loyal viewers – YOU – to join us. Each and every gift, no matter the amount, from every person who is able to will help tremendously right now.

We hope you’ll consider joining our Countdown Campaign this month. Maybe you’ll decide to renew your support today – make an additional gift for the year – or tell a friend to become a brand new member!

Whatever you do, we appreciate your generosity and support of KLRU-TV, Austin PBS – YOUR public television station.

Look at what you’ve done!
Thanks to support from our community, KLRU has been able to do so much in 2011-2012:

• Threw a downtown block party for our whole city to celebrate 50 years of public television in Austin (Cookie Monster was there, too!)
• Brought Community Cinema back to Windsor Public Library for another great season of independent film – Free every month for anyone to attend.
• Showcased phenomenal women in our community who are changing lives through the national online project Women and Girls Lead (we’ll highlight more women in 2012-2013 so stay tuned!)
• Challenged hundreds of school-aged kids to read this summer with the KLRU Summer Learning Challenge
  
• Brought you new episodes of Downton Abbey, Frontline, Moyers & Company, NOVA, Nature, Antiques Roadshow, Market Warriors, Arts in Context, Central Texas Gardener, Overheard with Evan Smith, Austin City Limits, and many more!

Meet the Creators from Hardly Sound on Vimeo.

In episode one, follow Austin twang wave band, The Bye & Bye in their quest to understand their future through the telling of their past. Future episodes will feature The Bad Lovers, Royal Forest, Emcee Eats, and Ralph White

New episodes air the first Monday of the month at 11pm on KLRU-Q, beginning with the Bye & Bye airing this Monday. To keep up with Hardly Sound visit http://hardlysound.tumblr.com/.