East Coast Antiques Season 3 Begins October 2

East Coast Antiques returns to Rhode Island PBS on Sunday, October 2 at 3:30 p.m. The series is part reality television and part destination show, with host and series creator Mike Rossi acting as the guide on a behind-the-scenes tour through the twists and turns of the antiques world.

As a licensed auctioneer, antiques store manager, and antiquities collector himself, Rossi brings a unique insider perspective to the new season. A television veteran with more than 25 years of broadcast experience, he is also the creator and director of the show.

Traveling from festivals to flea markets, Mike and his crew of hunters put theory to the test as they buy and sell, wheel and deal, haggle and handshake. Along the way, antiques insiders – including Rossi himself – share observations from their booths and shops up and down the east coast. East Coast Antiques presents the people and items that continue to make collecting antiques one of the hottest pastimes today.

This season of East Coast Antiques will air on Rhode Island PBS on Sunday afternoons at 3:30 p.m.  In addition to Mike Rossi, the returning cast includes antiques dealer Steve Mariorenzi, Jolie Stewart, and first season host, Margie O’Brien. Amy Miksis is the newcomer to the cast this season.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on RI cable: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; on MA cable: Comcast 819HD, Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36, Dish Network 36. 

Join Us in the Studio Audience for "Inside the Author's Studio" with Kate DiCamillo

Teachers, librarians, and children's book enthusiasts are invited to be part of the live studio audience for the taping of Inside the Author's Studio, a new Rhode Island PBS production featuring stories of local talent.

In this first episode, Rhode Island PBS host and producer Margie O'Brien Reed will interview Newbery Medal winner, Kate DiCamillo, the 2014-15 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. DiCamillo is the author of Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, the 2015 Kids Reading Across Rhode Island selection.

Friday, May 8th at 7 p.m.
Rhode Island PBS Studios
50 Park Lane, Providence, RI

Light refreshments will be served. $10 includes a copy of the 2015 Kids Reading Across Rhode Island selection, Flora and Ulysses. Inside the Author's Studio with Kate DiCamillo is underwritten by a grant from TD Charitable Foundation to the RI Center for the Book at RI Council for the Humanities in support of Kids Reading Across Rhode Island.



CLICK HERE to get your tickets for this special event.

Rhode Island Classroom Features Innovative Ways to Reach and Teach

Rhode Island Classroom is the Rhode Island PBS quarterly production that spotlights the technology, lessons, and people that are making the grade in Rhode Island K-12 classrooms. 

The April 9 episode of Rhode Island Classroom, produced in connection with the 180 Days: Hartsville community engagement project, will present three stories of innovative ways to reach and teach children.

One segment is about the use of therapy dogs in classrooms in a 4-week program called TailstoTeach.  In the program, dogs help children practice non-violent solutions to conflict, focus on the benefits of positive behavior, enhance the human-animal bond and encourage responsible pet ownership. Children also practice proven dog-bite prevention techniques.

In another segment, host Margie O'Brien visits the one-room schoolhouse for all of six students on the small Prudence Island in Narragansett Bay. 

The third segment explores how one local musician is changing students’ lives through song.

The full episode of Rhode Island Classroom will air on Thursday, April 9 at 8 p.m.

*UPDATE* Full episode is viewable online:

Updated: April 10, 2015 Episode #105

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.

Take a Field Trip with Rhode Island Classroom #4

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.

No Hero in Heroin

**UPDATE** Scroll down to see the program in its entirety.


On Thursday, April 3, at 9 p.m., Rhode Island PBS takes a hard look at what Rhode Island health officials are calling an epidemic: the skyrocketing deaths by heroin overdose.

No Hero in Heroin presents a spectrum of perspectives on the story. Health officials, addiction counselors, recovering addicts, and family members put the intimate, human faces on the startling statistics. As of this writing, there have been 69 overdose deaths in Rhode Island since January 1, more than twice as many as last year.

What may be most surprising about this story is who is dying - and the profile might not be what you expect. Addiction too often begins with prescription drugs taken to soothe legitimate injury or pain. Opioids - most notably Oxycodone - are popular pain killers and are safe and effective on a short-term basis. But pain sufferers who take them for an extended period can become addicted. Some soon opt for the lower cost and wider availability of illicit drugs like heroin. These addicts are our neighbors, work colleagues, family members, or friends.

Produced by WSBE Rhode Island PBS and hosted by Margie O'Brien, No Hero in Heroin will include filmed segments and in-studio discussions. Panelists will be Dr. Michael Fine, director of the RI Department of Health; Fred Trepassi, director of Phoenix House; Michelle McKenzie, director of the Prevent Overdose and Naloxone Intervention at Miriam Hospital; Steve Reid and Abbie Stenberg, former addicts; Jim Gillen, director of Anchor Recovery; Dr. Peter Friedmann, Lifespan Alcohol and Addiction Studies; Craig Stenning, Department of Behavioral Healthcare at the RI Department of Health; and Elise Reynolds, who lost two sons to overdose.

Off camera during the one-hour broadcast of No Hero in Heroin on April 3 only, addiction counselors will staff a phone bank in the Rhode Island PBS studios to answer viewers' questions about intervention and treatment referrals, and other addiction recovery information. Subsequent broadcasts will include referral phone numbers posted at the end of program.

No Hero in Heroin will air on:

WSBE Rhode Island PBS 36.1

4/3/2014	9:00 PM
4/5/2014	1:00 PM
4/5/2014	1:30 AM
4/17/2014	10:00 PM
4/19/2014	2:30 AM

WSBE Learn 36.2

4/15/2014	9:00 PM
4/16/2014	4:00 AM
4/17/2014	1:00 AM
4/20/2014	9:00 PM
4/21/2014	4:00 AM
4/22/2014	1:00 AM

See the program here:

NO HERO IN HEROIN WSBE RHODE ISLAND PBS from WSBE Rhode Island PBS on Vimeo.

Rhode Island Classroom #3 Debuts February 6

On Thursday, February 6 at 8 p.m., Rhode Island Classroom explores three new stories about the latest technology, lessons, and personnel who are making the grade in Rhode Island Kindergarten through grade 12 classrooms. The 30-minute quarterly series is hosted by Margie O'Brien. 

Resilient Kids is an independent, secular program brought to inner city schools in Rhode Island that teaches students tools to cope and deal with life’s challenges. Innovative and adaptive Yoga and Mindful Practice are two of the approaches used in helping to empower students and increase self esteem and self awareness. Margie and crew visits three different elementary schools and talks with students, teachers, and school officials, who have embraced this practice wholeheartedly. Kids “love their yoga” and have learned how to “take deep breaths in a difficult situation to calm down.” Teachers love the universal language Resilient Kids has brought to their classroom and the peace it has created. 

How To Get In To College and Pay For It – Margie hosts a round table discussion with professionals about how students are “standing out” on their college applications, how schools go about choosing an incoming freshman class, and how families can afford to pay for an education. Joining the conversation are Anne-Marie Flaherty, a guidance counselor at East Greenwich High School, Cynthia Bonn, dean of admissions for University of Rhode Island, and Catherine Capolupoas, vice-president for enrollment management at Roger Williams University.

Getting your GED –as if it wasn’t challenging enough already.  As of January 1, 2014, the GED test has taken on a whole new look and is more costly.  Applicants will only be able to take the test online and will now pay $120 as opposed to the old fee of $55. Margie talks with a class of students at Dorcas Place about the changes and what they’re doing to prepare to pass the new GED.

After the premiere on February 6 at 8 p.m., Rhode Island Classroom will encore on:

Rhode Island PBS

2/8/2014 12:31 AM 

2/9/2014 6:30 PM 

2/11/2014 4:30 AM 

2/15/2014 11:30 PM 

Learn

2/11/2014 10:30 PM 

2/11/2014 8:30 PM 

2/12/2014 5:30 AM 

2/12/2014 3:30 AM 

2/13/2014 2:30 AM 

2/13/2014 12:30 AM

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable services: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable services: Comcast 819HD, Verizon 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 36.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on cable: Cox 808, Verizon 478, Full Channel 89, Comcast 294 or 312.

New Rhode Island Classroom Proves Instructive

Rhode Island Classroom explores the latest technology, lessons, and personnel who are making the grade in Rhode Island Kindergarten through grade 12 classrooms. The new 30-minute quarterly series, hosted by Margie O'Brien and produced by WSBE Rhode Island PBS, premieres Thursday, May 23 at 8 p.m., with rebroadcast Saturday, May 25 at noon.

Five independent stories are woven into the first episode, giving viewers insight into programs, projects, and initiatives that are sparking learning excellence in Rhode Island classrooms.

"I’m excited to be part of Rhode Island Classroom," said host Margie O'Brien. "It gives me an opportunity to profile the best programs and teachers in Rhode Island."

One of those programs is a statewide mentoring initiative aimed at empowering first-year teachers. The Rhode Island Classroom segment features a seasoned educator using his experience and enthusiasm to help elevate first year teachers from a status of 'good' to 'excellent' at a faster pace.

O'Brien also sits down with Education Commissioner Deborah Gist. Back to work after a life-threatening prognosis, Gist is ready to transform education here in the Ocean State. With critics fighting her every move, Gist is moving forward with standardized tests, teacher evaluations, and even pushing for full day Kindergarten.

Imagine the stimulating conversation 100 educators could create if they were able to chat for an hour? It's happening, weekly, thanks to social media and technology. Every Sunday night, EDChatRI, a Twitter site, allows teachers, administrators – even students – to discuss pertinent lessons and policies. Rhode Island Classroom introduces the faces behind the Tweets.

O'Brien said viewers will be dumbfounded over how students at Community Prep solve math problems. The Calculator Club, founded by Dan Corley, challenges students to solve problems in their heads before the calculator gets the answer.

Rounding out the first show is a visit to a school where the lines are blurred between the stereotypical cliques of nerds, jocks, geeks, and popular kids. Rhode Island Classroom shows what appearing in a school play can do for the acceptance and confidence levels of a high schooler.

Future episodes of Rhode Island Classroom will explore new programs, people, and policies that are improving education.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable services: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable services: Comcast 819HD, Verizon 18 / 518HD; on satellite: DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 7776. WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; on cable: Cox 808, Verizon 478, Full Channel 89, Comcast 294 or 312.

About host Margie O’Brien

Margie O'Brien is a proven communications professional. She has worked as a news reporter and anchor in both the Providence and Boston markets for 16 years. She has hosted TV shows, been a political campaign spokesperson, and served the communications coordinator for a Rhode Island-based non-profit.

Margie is active with McCauley House, as well as serving as a volunteer coach with the YMCA and local Recreation Department. 

Ms. O'Brien received a Bachelor’s degree from St. Anselm College and a Masters Degree in Communications / Broadcast Journalism from Emerson College. Margie lives in Barrington with her husband, three children, and golden retriever, Callie.

About WSBE Rhode Island PBS
WSBE Rhode Island PBS is operated by the Rhode Island PBS Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, established in 1987 as a public charity to raise funds and provide support services for Rhode Island’s public television station. WSBE-DT is a viewer-supported member of the PBS system of public broadcasting stations, and transmits on two channels: Rhode Island PBS (digital 36.1) and Learn (digital 36.2). Committed to lifelong learning since 1967, WSBE Rhode Island PBS uses the power of noncommercial media to educate, engage, enrich, inspire, and entertain viewers of all ages in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and eastern Connecticut. For more information about the programs and services at WSBE, visit www.ripbs.org.