Community Outreach and Education
WTVI is an essential community resource that connects people in the heart of the Carolinas. A prime example, our Outreach and Education Services connect local citizens, their community concerns and the power of television programming.
Supported by grant funding and donations from viewers like you, WTVI is proud to:
Provide speakers, activities, and curriculums to support teachers in the classroom.
Example: WTVI visits Myers Park Traditional Elementary School to Promote Reading
Students tell Ms. Beverly what characters they dressed as.
View the video on the WTVI News blog.
On Friday, September 25, 2009, Ms. Beverly and Seemore Goodstuff, WTVI's purple elephant mascot visited Myers Park Traditional Elementary School, in Charlotte. They read stories and discussed the creative costumes the children wore to become their favorite storybook characters.
Example: Ready to Learn
The Ready to Learn initiative makes PBS Children’s programming and educational websites a part of Pre-K through third grade literacy, math, and character development.
Example: Super Why Reader’s Festival
WTVI’s community event promotes literacy with storytelling, games, and a special appearance by Super Why and Presto from the PBS show.
Engage citizens to discuss timely social issues and connect them to community resources
Example: In Our Words, produced by the Junior League, NAKA productions, and WTVI shares resources for children and features local testimonies.
| In Our Words is a 30-minute television special that illuminates the stories behind the faces of local children
who share how they coped with losing a mother to breast cancer, family job loss, military deployment of a parent, death of a friend, and domestic abuse. |
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Example: The Campaign for Love & Forgiveness combines public television programming, community activities and events, and on-line discussions about:
- Forgiving yourself for making mistakes
- Offering forgiveness as a response to a difficult situation
- Teaching others about forgiveness (lesson plans are available)
The 2009 campaign began with a kickoff event on September 30, 2009 at Queens University.
Facilitator Robin Edgar (R) with her husband (L)
and participant Fay Greene (center)
Example: Facing the Mortgage Crisis program
WTVI produced a local, three-part television series and community meetings designed to connect residents to foreclosure prevention resources and raise awareness of the impact of the mortgage crisis in our community.
Partner with local businesses to meet community needs
Example: Ms. Beverly provides Cyberchase math tutoring with Ernst & Young
| On Thursday, August 20, 2009, WTVI's "Ms. Beverly" celebrated a successful seven-week project to provide "Cyberchase" math tutoring to children at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club on Belmont Ave. in Charlotte, near NoDa. Beverly acquired grant funding as part of the Cyberchase TV show's commitment to teaching math skills. As a national sponsor of the show, Ernst & Young allowed its accounting staff, and math experts, to volunteer time for the tutoring sessions. |
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Host sneak preview events for popular programs
Support professional development of adult learners
Example: GED on TV
WTVI provides this program for adults to obtain their GEDs by watching television programming and completing chapters in a companion workbook.
Example: Workplace Essential Skills
WTVI provides this program for adults who are looking for a new job or want to improve their skills. The program teaches the viewer how to develop career goals and make plans to attain them.
Upcoming events
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Beverly Dorn-Steele, WTVI's Director of Community Engagement, is an on-air personality, dancer, storyteller and twenty-nine year WTVI veteran playing a key role by developing outreach campaigns that bring together individuals, citizen groups, civic and youth organizations, business leaders, educators and health experts to address community issues and share resources. She also specializes in family literacy, early childhood and multicultural education. A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Dorn-Steele received her Bachelor in Business/Physical Education degree from Winston-Salem State University. She has also obtained an Associate of Arts Degree in Dance from The North Carolina School of Arts, a Certificate of Diversity Training from Wheelock College, in Boston, and Organization Management Certificates from from Duke University’s Diversity & Inclusion Program.
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For more information on WTVI outreach activities or to schedule a speaker, contact:
Beverly Dorn-Steele
704-371-8840
