WFSU receives national award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

WFSU-TV has received a My Source Education Innovation Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in Washington, D.C.

The My Source Education Innovation Awards recognize and showcase how public broadcasting stations use pioneering approaches and emerging digital technologies to serve the educational needs of their communities on-air, online and in the classroom.

“Stations across the country are using technology in creative and innovative ways to deliver educational tools and resources that are making a real difference to teachers, parents and children,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “Public media is the definitive education partner for a new generation of learners and CPB congratulates WFSU-TV for its outstanding contribution to the community.”

For the past four years, WFSU, in partnership with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, has sponsored a science camp for middle school girls called SciGirls. The camp offers hands-on science experiences. This past summer, WFSU provided six FLIP video cameras for the girls to document their experiences. They interviewed each other, the scientists they met, their teachers and anything else that captured their imagination.

Each evening these videos were downloaded onto the WFSU website and linked to the SciGirls Blog. Families and friends were able to experience a day in the life of a SciGirl.

“By documenting their own experiences with a series of video diaries, the girls reinforced particular science content that had meaning for them and were engaged in a wholly unique way,” said Kim Kelling, director of Educational Services.

The award was presented to WFSU-TV by Pat Harrison at the Council of Chief State School Officers/Public Media Executive Summit. WFSU-TV will receive a $3,000 grant to further support the project.

About WFSU-TV

WFSU-TV is part of the University Communications Group at The Florida State University in the University Relations Division. WFSU-TV is the PBS affiliate serving 20 counties in north Florida, southern Georgia and southeastern Alabama.

About CPB

CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 and is steward of the federal governments’ 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.