Middle school educators from around the state attended Connecticut Public’s first Education Ideas Forum on August 11 and discussed how public media can be used to enrich the classroom 
experience. Hosted by CPBN Senior Vice President of Education Donna Sodipo and Newman’s Own Foundation fellow Rose Pierre-Louis, teachers were encouraged to brainstorm and share their insights about how public media can create resources specifically aligned with middle-school students and Connecticut’s curriculum.
Teachers in attendance enjoyed the opportunity to communicate with other educators who had similar experiences. “As someone relatively new to using digital resources in my classes, I greatly appreciated hearing how others enhance their curricula by using digital media,” said Carol Mamlok of Carmen Arace Middle School in Bloomfield. “We were pleased with the amount of information shared via the collaboration process with all the professionals in the room,” agreed Ana Bosman of the Waterbury Arts Magnet School.
Senior Vice President of Education Donna Sodipo addresses Connecticut middle school teachers at CPBN’s first Education Ideas Forum in August.
Some takeaways and thoughts from the discussion included:
• Teachers want their students to feel empowered and confident to develop their own voices and opinions.
• Students want to “see themselves” in the content they are learning about.
• Students who participate in making content (“creators”) are more invested and excited than students who are passively “consuming” content.
The Education and Digital/Interactive departments at CPBN are working collaboratively to develop new ways in which public media can be used to excite, inspire and engage the adolescent and young adult audiences to enrich their educational experiences and their daily lives. The CPBN “Education Ideas Forums” are the first step in this process, giving our teams the opportunity to listen and gain insight from some of Connecticut’s most creative and committed teachers.
The next Education Ideas Forum will be held on September 21st at 6:00 p.m. in Westport, Connecticut. For more information, contact Rose Pierre-Louis at rpierre-louis@ctpublic.org.