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Arts & Culture

American Graduate Day 2013

Bryant Gumbel, JuJu Chang and Brian Williams will be among the broadcasters and special guests participating in the live September 28, 2013 American Graduate Day broadcast on PBS stations and online.
Courtesy of WNET/ American Graduate
Bryant Gumbel, JuJu Chang and Brian Williams will be among the broadcasters and special guests participating in the live September 28, 2013 American Graduate Day broadcast on PBS stations and online.

Airs Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 9 a.m. on KPBS TV

For the second year in a row, "American Graduate Day 2013" will premiere live on Saturday, September 28, 2013, on public media, marking a long term commitment to helping communities tackle the nation’s dropout crisis and preparing students for success with a high school diploma. Through the power and reach of public media, communities across the county will be invited to take an active role and become an “American Graduate Champion” for local youth by volunteering their time, talent, or other resources.

Watch Online

If you can't watch this on KPBS TV, watch the live stream of this broadcast online beginning at 9 a.m. (Pacific Time) on September 28th.

Participate

Viewers will be encouraged to participate in the event by asking questions and sharing ideas before and during the broadcast on Twitter using the hashtag #AmGrad and on Facebook. Those interested in becoming an “American Graduate Champion” can also call the Toll free number on the day of broadcast or log on to AmericanGraduate.org to find out more about the national and regional organizations and how to help in their hometowns.

Connect

American Graduate is on Facebook, and you can follow @amerigrad on Twitter and Pinterest.

“American Graduate through America’s public media stations, on air, online and in hundreds of communities is working in partnership with teachers, students, educators, business and community leaders to encourage, in measureable ways, our kids to stay on the path to a high school diploma,” said Pat Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “Together with our 1000 local and national partners, we are having an impact and moving toward the national goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by the year 2020. American Graduate Day is just one example of how local public television and radio stations provide content that matters and engagement that counts.”

“THIRTEEN is proud to once again be the producer of American Graduate Day,” says Neal Shapiro, president and CEO of WNET, home to public television’s THIRTEEN, WLIW21 and NJTV. “Creating innovative, inspiring, and informative content that makes an impact in our community and across the country is at the heart of what we do. Using the power and reach of public media, we can make a difference and find solutions to combat the nation’s dropout crisis.”

"American Graduate Day 2013" will once again be broadcast and streamed live from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City. "American Graduate Day" is part of the public media initiative, American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

Last September marked the first broadcast of "American Graduate Day," a multi-platform event featuring local and national programming, community partners, and celebrities focused on improving the high school graduation rates in America.

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The key component of the event is the participation of the community-based organizations. Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City Year, Horizons National, and United Way are among the partner organizations that have already agreed to participate in "American Graduate Day 2013," which will feature nearly 30 national partner organizations, 14 local organizations, and celebrity guests involved in education and youth intervention programs.

"American Graduate Day 2013" employs the same television broadcast format as last fall with a seven- hour “call to action” marathon around critical themes, including Expanded Learning Time & After School Programs, Early Education, Mentoring, Career Readiness & College Completion, STEM Programs, Family Support, and Dropout Re-engagement & Prevention.

Hosted by on-air personalities from PBS, WNET, and other media organizations, the broadcast and online event will feature segments showing how community organizations provide support, advice, and intervention services to at-risk students, families, and schools.

On AmericanGraduate.org, the event will include live viewer generated video content submitted in response to questions such as “How has your life changed, or been changed by the power of volunteering?”

Throughout the day, viewers and online users will be invited to become American Graduate Champions by connecting with their local public television stations and the featured local community organizations.

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