FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 8, 2014

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – How are North Texas teachers challenging and inspiring students to succeed? Innovation. KERA, the North Texas public broadcasting station, premieres Teaching the Future: A KERA American Graduate Special on Thursday, January 16 at 7 p.m. on KERA TV.

For a teacher, education is so much more than just taking attendance, assigning homework and administering tests; it’s figuring out creative ways to motivate kids. In Teaching the Future, you’ll see a group of cutting-edge North Texas educators in action as they bring their innovative approaches to the classroom and hear their thoughts on the future of education in a roundtable discussion led by KERA’s Krys Boyd.

“The passion of these four educators is evident as they describe the creativity and hard work happening in their classrooms,” said KERA Executive Producer Jeff Whittington. “Teaching isn’t just a job or a career for these teachers, it’s a mission. And we’re excited to tell their stories.”

As part of KERA’s larger American Graduate initiative – a public media project spotlighting the high school dropout crisis – Teaching the Future features both a roundtable discussion and one-on-one interviews with teachers Maribel Cantu, Lewisville ISD; Kecia Dennis, Birdville ISD; Ted Munger, Dallas ISD; and Kevin Ng, Plano ISD. From implementing background music into the classroom to piloting a new engineering curriculum, the teachers explain how they’re innovating to engage and connect with their students.

Meet the educators of Teaching the Future.

Teaching the Future is the second installment in a two-episode television series focused on education in North Texas. The first episode, Students Speak Out: An American Graduate Special, aired in August of last year. After the television premiere, Teaching the Future will be available at https://www.kera.org/graduate/teaching-the-future/ as an educational resource.

KERA News also has launched a multi-year education project following a group of North Texas teens. The Class of ‘17 blog is the centerpiece of an in-depth education series by KERA News following a diverse group of North Texas students on their very personal journeys to graduate from high school. The series includes on-air news reports and online video profiles by KERA News education reporters Bill Zeeble and Stella Chavez as well as reports, blogs and video from the students themselves.

Meet the students in KERA News’ Class of ‘17.

ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. The station’s extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman. KXT 91.7 FM, KERA’s new music station, KXT 91.7, is streamed online at www.kxt.org.

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