WXXI's Sesame Street in Communities Public Media Champions Project

In 2020, WXXI was honored to be selected as one of 20 PBS stations across the nation participating in a special Sesame Street in Communities Public Media Champions project, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The goal of this project was to continue to support our region's rural families and child care providers. 

For the Sesame Street in Communities Public Media Champions Project, WXXI partnered with the Pioneer Library System to further engage our rural libraries with additional resources from Sesame Street in Communities, specifically the brand new Health Emergencies resources. WXXI also partnered with the Child Care Council and Monroe County Library System to reach additional rural librarians, families, and child care providers serving families in Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, and Monroe counties. 

This collaborative project provided WXXI and our partners with the opportunity to:

• Train local child care providers, librarians, and early childhood educators on the use of Sesame Street in Communities resources. 
• Distribute materials to child care providers and families in our region - materials will include make-and-take activities, books, resource kits, and more.
• Host a Sesame Street in Communities Virtual Summit to discuss issues that local families are experiencing related to COVID-19, such as mental health, resilience, health, and more TBD. This summit will include experts from Sesame Workshop as well as our local region.      

This additional round of funding provided an opportunity to extend the work that began in 2019. WXXI collaborated with Pioneer Library System to serve rural families, educators, and early learners in Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, and Livingston counties as part of Sesame Street in Communities Rural Outreach Initiative. Together we celebrated Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary with special events, trained children’s librarians and other early childhood educators, and highlighted important resources from SesameStreetInCommunities.org. 

Sesame Street in Communities provides hundreds of bilingual multi-media tools to help kids and families enrich and expand their knowledge during the early years of birth through six, a critical window for brain development. Sesame Street’s resources engage kids and adults in everyday moments and daily routines—from teaching early math and literacy concepts, to encouraging families to eat nutritious foods, to serious topics such as grief and food insecurity. Through ongoing collaboration, training experiences, and local partnerships, the Sesame Street in Communities initiative evolves and helps make a difference. To learn more about WXXI's Sesame Street in Communities work, visit: wxxi.org/sesame

WXXI's work on the Sesame Street in Communities Public Media Champions project is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting