Top of Their Class in Education Drive
By K.C. Neel -- Multichannel News, 9/23/2007 8:00:00 PM
Sixth-grade teacher Paul Wilgenkamp wanted to teach his students about local history by visiting an area cemetery and documenting who was there, when they died and how they lived.
Teaming up with the local historical society and Cablevision Systems' “Power to Learn” educational initiative, Wilgenkamp, who teaches sixth graders at Minnesauke Elementary School in Setauket, N.Y., created a year-long program that ended up winning The History Channel's 2005 “Save Our History” award. At Cablevision's urging, Wilgenkamp also created a set of lesson plans that other schools can access and replicate in their own classrooms.
“It's important that organizations like Cable in the Classroom and Cablevision extend themselves to the classroom,” Wilgenkamp told attendees of the Association of Cable Communicators Forum last March. “I knew Cablevision was in our schools, but without their phone calls to the historical society, which got in touch with me, and pushing me to write lesson plans, this project would have ended up in my filing cabinet somewhere. Instead, because of their prompting and with all their educational initiatives, it heightened awareness of the project and enabled us to share it with other teachers, which is critical.”
Power to Learn is clearly at the top of the class when it comes to educational initiatives in the cable industry, said CIC executive director Helen Soulé. Like most other cable operators, Cablevision wired all the schools in its footprint with video service. But at the prompting of Cablevision CEO James Dolan, the company's initiative — created as an online educational vehicle for students, parents and teachers — took on new life.
Cablevision began delivering high-speed data and digital voice service to every school. Today, schools can choose between a free basic service (video, data and one digital voice line) or expanded packages for a fee. It's not designed as a money-making endeavor, said vice president of education Trent Anderson. Rather, it's a way for schools to best use the technology available to them.
“Power to Learn's Triple Play for Education has made a big difference in my classes,” said Don Cerrone, a teacher at Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications in the Bronx, N.Y. “By integrating these technologies into my classroom, students are more engaged in their learning and better prepared for the future.”
Cablevision also uses its myriad assets to motivate kids, help parents and assist teachers. For instance, the “Knicks Read to Achieve” program capitalizes on the popularity of the professional basketball team to urge kids to read. A similar program with math using hockey's New York Rangers is set to launch this fall, according to Anderson.
The Power to Learn initiative was created in 1998 and “is a great way to demonstrate our commitment to the communities we serve,” Anderson said. “The Optimum brands have great recognition and it's a huge advantage to me to take that to schools. It's a win-win for everyone.”
Cablevision's education initiatives, which also includes a student challenge quiz show that pits school teams against each other on a weekly show televised by News 12, resides in the government affairs division.
The project's initial focus was adding value in the classroom with technology, said Lisa Rosenblum, senior vice president of government affairs and education. “But the interesting thing is that it's also turned out to be a wonderful link with the communities we serve.”
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