From mid-winter to early spring, four students from Springfield’s Putnam Vocational-Technical Academy interned in WGBY’s Community Engagement & Education Department.  At the end of their school day, Ayaan, Flor, Paradyse and Susannah — all of whom are studying early education and care — arrived at the station  to explore books and PBS KIDS resources for weekly class visits to Putnam Day Care.  Also, we traveled to WGBY’s North End Center for Literacy & Learning located at German Gerena Community School to engage 3rd-5th graders participating in a Project Coach after school program.

Interns worked imaginatively to create lessons that integrated reading, vocabulary, and hands-on activities, including tablet and smart board play from the PBS KIDS Lab.  Focusing  on themes like healthy activity and eating, how things grow, and resilience, the interns helped plant positive seeds about wholesome living in the minds of pre-school and elementary students.

WGBY was also able to distribute books regularly to these students, and interns prepared tips and activities, often from PBS Parents, to extend impact from the classroom to the home.

In addition to the weeks of hands-on experience at WGBY and in classrooms, interns  received stipends from the New England Farm Workers’ Council, thanks to a partnership that our station values.