Whether accepting an award before a celebrity-studded audience or demonstrating the art of tying shoe laces to his young viewers, Fred Rogers taught with love and imagination.
As a result, children loved him. A recent article in the online periodical JSTOR Daily, Long Live Mr. Roger’s Quiet Revolution, tells how in 1969 children across the country sent in dollar bills and pennies totaling $4,000 to keep their favorite neighbor on the air.
Fred Rogers would have been 90 years old on March 20, and to honor him there are plans for a commemorative stamp, a film starring Tom Hanks, and a documentary.
From television’s humble beginnings Fred Rogers knew the power of technology to teach, so perhaps the best way educators can honor him is with resources from the Fred Rogers Company programs that build on his legacy to benefit children. At PBS LearningMedia you’ll find hundreds of classroom resources from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Peg + Cat, Odd Squad and Through the Woods, programs you can also search individually.
To read the entire article, Long Live Mr. Roger’s Quiet Revolution, click here. You can also search Mr. Rogers on this blog to find more inspiration about this powerful educator.
I have forever identified with Lady Elaine Fairchild. My children and I watched Mr. Rogers every weekday afternoon on WNET from the very beginning. It was a pleasant interlude in all our hectic daily lives. Thank you and bless you, Mr. Rogers!
Thanks for your comment, Lady Jeanne. It’s wonderful to hear how you imaginatively engaged with Mr. Rogers while watching him with your children. You might enjoy watching Mr. Rogers and Me, an inspiring film by a man who was once a young neighbor of Fred Rogers on Nantucket. (It’s available on PBS Passport.)