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.

Central Falls Comeback Story, Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab

At 1.3 square miles, Central Falls is the smallest city in Rhode Island. In 2010, the smallest city made big headlines nationally when the Central Falls school district fired all of the high school's teachers in a dramatic and bold move to reverse the persistent low scholastic achievement and years of failed attempts at remediation.  

Five years later, the 2014 documentary Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab follows the lives of three high school students who witnessed first hand the scrutiny and negativity brought upon their community. Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab is the comeback story.

 Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab chronicles the once-troubled Central Falls School District’s collaboration with Rhode Island College to overcome barriers to success. Rhode Island PBS will air on WSBE Rhode Island PBS (channel 36.1) on April 26 at 6 p.m., April 28 at 4 a.m. and May 2 at 11 p.m., and on WBSE Learn (channel 36.2) on April 28 at 8 p.m., April 29 at 3 p.m. and April 30 at 12 a.m.

"With this film, we hope the public will understand that making change comes from getting in there on a daily basis and trying to meet needs," said Rhode Island College (RIC) Assistant Professor of Communication Anthony Galvez, who led RIC students to produce the film during the Spring 2014 semester. Galvez and his students created the documentary as part of the Central Falls/RIC Innovation Lab, a holistic, integrated and permanent partnership between the entire RIC community and the entire Central Falls School District. The mission of the Lab is to develop and pilot sustainable and replicable programs in urban education, community development and healthy communities.

Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab partially chronicles the daily life of Lenira Monteiro, a 2014 Central High School graduate. Monteiro immigrated to the United States from Cape Verde just a few years ago and struggled to balance academics and domestic duties while in high school. Monteiro is now a RIC student who recently was initiated into The 3.5 Society, an honor society for freshmen.

Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab also features interviews with Central Falls School Superintendent Dr. Frances Gallo, RIC President Nancy Carriuolo and other administrators and educators who have had integral roles in developing the Innovation Lab.

Of the Innovation Lab, Carriuolo said, “Rhode Island College believes deeply in innovation and community engagement. Through our Innovation lab, our students and faculty will be able to supplement and research the effectiveness of cutting-edge learning and programs designed to meet the diverse needs of the residents of Central Falls.”

David W. Piccerelli, president of WSBE Rhode Island PBS, said Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab is an important story to tell. “Central Falls made national headlines when it took bold steps to improve its schools,” he said. “Now, it’s important to follow-up, to tell the story of the school district’s successes, and share the innovative solutions and partnerships that came of it. Rhode Island PBS is glad to bring attention to this local community story and its enduring, far-reaching lessons.”

Transformation 360: Building an Innovation Lab was partially funded through a Nellie Mae Educational Foundation grant secured by the Central Falls School District.

Click for more information about the Central Falls/Rhode Island College Innovation Lab.

updated April 25, 2015

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

Gefilte Fish Chronicles - Annual Favorite Returns to WSBE

(Re-post of an earlier blog about this annual favorite among WSBE viewers)

With all the wonderful chaos of preparing for a large gathering of extended family, The Gefilte Fish Chronicles honors the rich tradition of Pesach (Passover) with an intimate and candid look at the Dubroff family preparing for Seder.

But don't be misled - no matter what your heritage is, you will find your own family members among these charming and feisty storytellers.

The story began in 1904, when Abe and Minnie Dubroff emigrated from Russia to Brooklyn where they raised seven daughters and a son. For a century, the family has gathered at Passover and celebrated the Seder together, first in Brooklyn, then in Boonton, New Jersey. For the last four decades, Passover has been celebrated in Newburgh, New York.

"Don't Just Stand There… Cook!"

Led by the three surviving sisters, Sophie Patasnik, Peppy Barer, and Rosie Groman, traditional preparations are made for the Seder at Peppy's home in Newburgh. Six weeks before the Seder they shop and chop, taste and season. Using recipes nearly a century old, they begin to put together the gefilte fish, cholent, horse radish, and sponge cake.

"Don't Just Sit There… Eat!"

The Gefilte Fish Chronicles is a funny, touching, and universally familiar story of love, of tradition, and of generational family unity - and it's reality television the way it should be. This is a loving, living photo album.

"I've heard it said many times, and it's the truth:
The family that sits around the table together,
stays together. And we have many tables."

- Peppy Barer

The Gefilte Fish Chronicles returns to WSBE Rhode Island PBS on Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 8 P.M. on digital 36.1; on Cox 1008HD / 08, Verizon 508HD / 08, Full Channel 08, Comcast 819HD; on DirecTV 36, and Dish Network 7776.