Warm Farewell To Reading Rainbow…You'll Be Missed

Below you will find the email I received moments ago as a response to a petition I signed and sent to PBS in regards to the end of Reading Rainbow. The show aired from 1983 to 2009, making it the third longest running show on PBS behind Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I, like many others in my generation, loved and still love Reading Rainbow, and appreciate the impact that it has made in our culture. I am saddened by the loss of the show. However, all good things must eventually come to an end, and the true value of something is based on its legacy. Help keep the spirt of Reading Rainbow alive by doing what you can to promote literacy.

Lavar Burton and Reading Rainbow, thank you for the years of teaching us how to learn to love reading.

Dear Mr. Maine:

Thank you for contacting PBS about READING RAINBOW. PBS and member station WNED, the producer of READING RAINBOW, have been contacted by a number of individuals inquiring about returning the series to our schedule. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to do this.

Production ended on READING RAINBOW several years ago, viewership for the show had declined dramatically and now broadcast rights have expired. Off-air educational rights for the series are still currently available for the classroom and remain in effect for a year following the last broadcast of each episode.

Nationally-recognized stories authored by children for the “Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest” will be available online until December 2009, at which point the READING RAINBOW Web site on pbskids.org will end. PBS and WNED are discussing plans to continue the contest on a national level as well as plans to build a literacy Web site for school age children.

PBS KIDS continues to be committed to leveraging the power of media to further children’s development cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically. As a non-profit media enterprise, our limited financial resources are focused on new and current productions that promote literacy education as well as math, science, the arts and overall healthy living. Series such as SUPER WHY!, WORDGIRL, MARTHA SPEAKS, the all-new THE ELECTRIC COMPANY and others encourage a love of reading and books and help guide children through literacy skill development.

We are proud of the success of READING RAINBOW and the way in which it touched the lives of so many children and adults over its 26 years on the air. PBS, WNED and all PBS member stations are dedicated to building on its legacy in the 21st century.

Thank you again for contacting PBS. We appreciate your interest in our programs.

Sincerely,
Mackenzie
PBS Viewer Services

Resources:

Publicadministration.net

Literacy.org

The International Reading Association

National Adult Literacy Database

LiteracyNet

National Center For Family Literacy

Two Social Networks I Find Useful

I too have a Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn profile. For me, all three seem to serve their individual purpose well. I use Myspace and Facebook to keep up wth friends, aqcuantences, and events, and LinkedIn for my professional networking. Although these sites are beneficial, I have found two other social networks that have have truly become valuable to me. These networks are Goodreads and Change.org.

I am constantly on Goodreads. It’s a social network focused towards authors and readers. You can follow what people are reading, make suggestions, leave reviews, maintain several reading lists, etc. I find it interesting to see what my friends are reading. I’ve ordered several books lately as a result of suggestions by friends and reviews on the site. Also, if you are an author, you can maintain an author profile, a blog, and promote your books on the site.

Change is one of the largest activist networks that I have come across. With blogs, donation modules, news feeds, and social networking aspects, it is truly making a difference. I have become somewhat active in promoting the National Marriage Boycott, whose main premise is to promote equality among marriage rights. I became aware of this movement as a result of reading a blog post on the site. If you are looking for ways to support a cause, you can definitely find it on Change.org. If you don’t you can add it there.

Resources:

Homepages: Change.org | Goodreads

My profile links: Change.org | Goodreads

Introduction to the Shout Out Series

I have been fairly fortunate, in that I have very positive people in my circle. Life, well to me anyway, seems so much easier and happier when the people with whom you associate are genuinely supportive, happy, and positive. Not only are they good to each other, they’re good to their communities. For all you positive people out there, this is my humble attempt to remind you, that you are not taken for granted. I appreciate you and so do your communities.

It seems to me like, when we talk about people in our daily lives and in the media, we focus so much on the negative aspects, we tend to neglect the positive things that people are doing. In this blog I will be posting blurbs about those who have made a positive impact in my circle.

This is just me trying to give props where props are due.



National Marriage Boycott wins $10,000 from ideablob.com

The National Marriage Boycott, mentioned in a previous post, is making tremendous progress with their movement. Recently, the NMB won a competition hosted by Ideablob, adding $10,000 to its pocketbook. With permission from Greg Goldgof, the NMB Executive Director, here is a copy of the press release attributed to the NMB Press Team, that appears at the NMB website.

Same-sex marriage advocacy student movement, National Marriage Boycott, wins $10,000 for best small business idea in national ideablob.com contest

According to Seal, the money from the contest will go towards “the cost of incorporation, outreaching to more schools, producing promotional materials, and maintaining a presence at progressive and LGBTQ events around the country.” Sarah Masimore, the organization’s Chief Operating Officer further explains, “The money will enable us to accelerate our growth. Today we are in ten states. In a year we plan to be in every state, demonstrating that Americans care about equal rights regardless of where you live or whom you love.”

A student-driven movement to urge Congress and President Obama to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act has won ideablob’s $10,000 prize for the month of August. Hoping to organize and empower the millions of Americans who support same-sex marriage, the group will use the money to open chapters in all fifty states in the coming year.

SPRING HOUSE, Penn., (September 15, 2009) Advanta Corp. announced today that Kenzie Seal, Stanford University undergraduate and CFO of the National Marriage Boycott, has been named August 2009’s ideablob.com monthly contest winner for the best small business idea, as voted on by the ideablob community. The announcement that the group had won $10,000, came within twenty-four hours of Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introducing the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

The National Marriage Boycott is a student-driven movement to urge Congress and President Obama to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Members sign a pledge to boycott marriage until DOMA is repealed and wear an Equality Ring to symbolize their commitment. The organization is quickly growing, increasing from a single campus to twenty campuses in over ten states in the past year.

The organization supports itself financially through the sale of $10 stainless steel ‘Equality Rings,’ that members wear on their ring finger as a symbol of their commitment not to get married until the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed. People who are already married take off their wedding ring and replace it with the Equality Ring in solidarity.

The group’s co-director, Laura Wadden, explains their business model, “We wanted to create a movement that enabled straight people to show their support for LGBT rights, and we wanted this movement to have the capacity to rapidly expand in a financially sustainable way. The rings allow us to finance our expansion, while creating a recognizable symbol for our cause.” By funding its advocacy through ring sales rather than donations, the group brings a social entrepreneurship model to LGBT advocacy.

Greg Goldgof, the group’s other co-director explains a second motivation behind the rings, “We hope the spread of Equality Rings across the country will show closeted youths that they have supportive allies and decrease the rate of LGBT teen suicide. According to the Trevor Project [an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization], LGBT and questioning youth are four times more likely to commit suicide than the national average. Perhaps together we can decrease that number by bringing greater visibility to the millions of people who support LGBT rights.”

Congratulations NMB! That’s quite an accomplishment. I will continue to support the movement anyway that I can. If you would like to become involved as well please to do so. Here are some resources that you might find helpful. Also, if you are involved with a university, school, or other organization who could lend a hand, open a chapter, or want more information, please reach out.

Resources:
NMB Website
NMB Pledge
Order Your Equality Ring
Facebook Fan Site
NMB Twitter Page