Thursday, June 19, 2014

Rhode Island Classroom #104: The World Really is a Classroom

On Thursday, June 26 at 8 p.m., Rhode Island PBS presents the fourth episode of its quarterly series, Rhode Island Classroom.

Produced and hosted by Margie O'Brien, Rhode Island Classroom explores the programs, people, and policies that are helping your children receive a better education. 

And, if there's one thing we've learned in our 46 years of experience in education, it's that effective learning is not confined to a traditional classroom, as this episode clearly demonstrates.

For example, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, Rhode Island Classroom takes a field trip to Battleship Cove and the USS Massachusetts, as students learn about D-Day and World War II on the anniversary date. Among several notable accomplishments, USS Massachusetts is reputed to have fired the last 16 in (410 mm) shell fired in combat in World War II.

The RI Department of Health recently announced there have been more than 90 overdose deaths in the first quarter of 2014 alone. In another timely segment, Rhode Island Classroom visits Chariho High School, where former NBA player and heroin addict Chris Herren talks to students about the dangers of drugs and bad decisions.

Then, it's the end of an era at The San Miguel School of Providence: founder and Executive Director Brother Lawrence Goyette, FSC, is stepping down after 20 years. The San Miguel School of Providence is an independent middle school for urban youth from the Greater Providence area. It serves boys from all cultures and faiths in grades five through eight. 

Finally, meet the winning authors in the first Rhode Island PBS Kids Health Living Writers Contest. (Prepare for cuteness!)  More about the winning stories here and here.