For Violet Wanta (M.A. 鈥�17), Research & Evaluation Manager with the New York City Department of Education, the word 鈥減rogram鈥� has generally meant academic courses, afterschool initiatives and the like.
Now, thanks to the COVID pandemic, it also refers to , the daily television program that Wanta co-produces for WNET鈥檚 THIRTEEN and WLIW21 stations, which connects New York City鈥檚 youngest remote learners to foundational lessons in math, science, music and, especially, reading.
How did Wanta, who freely admits to having 鈥渘o TV experience鈥� and a seriously wonky background (she graduated from 精东影业鈥檚 Education Policy program and her mom is , Director of Policy & Research for TC鈥檚 ) become a key player in a broadcast project? The answer speaks to her own versatility and that of her DOE colleagues in the weeks after COVID abruptly shut down the city鈥檚 schools last spring.
鈥淲e immediately recognized that most people used laptops and smartphones to interact with remote learning,鈥� says Wanta. 鈥淏ut since that assumed every student had the ability to navigate those spaces, we decided to follow a road that would allow us to deliver education in a different realm.鈥�
The hunch proved right on target, with tens of thousands of viewers tuning in each day to Let鈥檚 Learn NYC! during its initial run from May through August.
Wanta oversees structural content and ensures that segments are completed in a timely manner, reviewing each show for 鈥減roduction worthiness.鈥� Her main job is 鈥渢o look at the big picture to make sure it is consistent with the DOE mission in terms of diversity and content that is accessible to a wide range of student abilities, including different languages.鈥�
We immediately recognized that most people used laptops and smartphones to interact with remote learning. But since that assumed every student had the ability to navigate those spaces, we decided to follow a road that would allow us to deliver education in a different realm.
鈥擵iolet Wanta (M.A. 鈥�17)
But she and her fellow DOE colleagues also take star turns at the head of the class.
Their approach is to break each lesson into segments that align with the attention span of children in the three-to-eight-year-old age brackets.
The emphasis is on reading skills. But episodes also set aside time each day for math, science, social studies, music and movement exercises.
To support social and emotional learning, the show transports viewer on virtual field trips to dance performances, zoos and botanical gardens.
The writing and performing is done by the educators themselves. It is a credit to the star power that exists in the system.
鈥擵iolet Wanta (M.A. 鈥�17)
鈥淭he content areas all pull from a research base that is compatible with the subject matter,鈥� Wanta says. 鈥淏ut the writing and performing is done by the educators themselves. It is a credit to the star power that exists in the system.鈥�
Wanta, for one, has found herself doing on-camera, acappella renditions of children鈥檚 songs. She credits her chops to singing lessons she delivered as a first-grade classroom teacher, to her performances with the TC Community Choir, and to Blues Clues, her favorite TV show when she was a kid and the brainchild of two TC alumnae, (Ed.D. 鈥�98) and (M.A. 鈥�95).
鈥淚鈥檇 always played instruments and had no experience singing before joining the choir,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he experience has helped me feel comfortable performing solo before a camera.鈥�
After a three-month hiatus, and with uncertainty hanging over NYCDOE鈥檚 plans for keeping schools open as the virus spikes again, Let鈥檚 Learn NYC! resumed broadcasting in November, airing weekdays at 11 a.m. on THIRTEEN and at 9 a.m. on WLIW21. Starting this month, the show is airing on public television stations across the nation.