Offair Listings

Host Dr. Robert Putnam (Harvard Professor and author of BOWLING ALONE) spotlights innovative leaders and children, working together in nine communities, who struggle to create and inspire solutions that help to narrow the widening opportunity gap between rich and poor for some 30 million young people denied access to the American Dream. We hope viewers will try to build similar solutions in their neighborhoods. 4/60 minute programs airs Mondays at 2 a.m. beginning 10/28.

• #101 – Riverside, CA & Manchester, NH. The importance of mentors is illustrated in stories like that of a police detective starting a free judo school to “bait and switch” kids onto a better path. A revolutionary accelerated kindergarten program propels disadvantaged children by celebrating their smartness. Living in a homeless shelter designed around the needs of families, a little girl expresses her pride and determination in song.
• #102 – Children living in fractured homes and poverty can’t achieve equally with children who are financially and emotionally secure. Underserved children need extra services to be competitive. Equal is not Equitable. We illustrate this point in Duluth, MN, Boston, MA, Springfield, MO, and Nashville, TN. A grade school offers wrap-around-services including free food, family meals, clothing, laundry, and medical services.
• #103 – Detroit Educational Crisis. With deteriorating class room conditions and the worst test scores in the nation, this alarming episode casts its eye on the current educational crisis in Detroit. In this cautionary tale, both public and unregulated charter schools suffer from high teacher turnover, a shortage of up-to-date textbooks, lack of funding and financial accountability. We visit with students, teachers, parents and educational leaders in their innovative attempts to improve conditions.
• #104 – Seattle, WA & Columbus, OH. Giving hope to the hopeless dominates the stories in Seattle, WA and Columbus, OH. Among those spotlighted are: a program to reform the foster care system, and an organization reuniting children with parents who were incarcerated. Too many poor youth end up in the juvenile justice system. The Echo Glen facility hopes to heal, rather than punish young incarcerated teens.

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The one-hour program is part of the American Graduate: Getting to Work initiative.  JOURNEY TO JOBS is hosted by PBS Newshour’s Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City. Hari will take viewers across the country, highlighting individuals and organizations who are connecting job seekers to employment at each stop. The broadcast will tell the story of how communities are providing support, advice, and intervention services to youth, veterans, and adults in career transition. In JOURNEY TO JOBS, viewers hear directly from job seekers and the newly employed, business and nonprofit leaders, as well as program staff, volunteers and mentors as they work to create pathways to high-demand skilled careers. Each segment is tied to one of the American Graduate content strands, including Barriers to Employment, Career Pathways, Connecting Job Seekers to Networks, Innovative Career Education Models, and Mentorship.

Airs 10/21 at 8 p.m., 10/22 at 1 a.m., 10/22 at 9 a.m., 10/22 at 3 p.m., 10/24 at 10 a.m., 10/24 at 3 p.m. Airs 10/26 at 4 p.m. and 10/27 at 5 a.m.

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The state of education during the industrial revolution in the 17th century is examined.

3/60 minute programs airs Mondays 3 a.m. beg inning 10/14.

• #2 – The late Andrew Coulson, education policy analyst, travels to Michigan’s prestigious Cranbrook high school, one of the top ten private high schools in America, in Push or Pull, the second episode of School Inc. Cranbrook and other excellent private schools in America typically don’t “scale up” to replicate their excellence on a larger stage and serve more students. So, is there some place else where scaling up excellence is happening? The answer is “yes” and it is in America’s Charter schools, but when charter schools are seen to compete with public schools, there can be trouble ahead. From those involved we hear how the Sabis school, tremendously successful in Springfield, Massachusetts, was prevented from operating in nearby Brocton because a school superintendent decided such competition was simply not in the best interest of his public school district. For six years the American Indian Charter School, part of a small network of California charter schools, ranked among the top middle schools in California. However, in the spring of 2013 the Oakland Public School District voted to shut down all three American Indian Schools because the charter school had chosen to use its own special education services and not those controlled by the state, which resulted in a loss of revenue to the public school system. Not every story has a negative outcome. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the city’s vibrant charter schools came to the rescue and provided the facilities and services other schools needed to get back on their feet. Finally, Coulson travels to South America for a comparison of how the success of Chile’s wine industry sets the scene for the growth of the country’s successful private school networks. Chile’s private schools consistently outperform schools in all other Latin American countries, but trouble is always on the horizon. Still, the private school networks of Chile provide a note of optimism in Coulson’s journey to discover the secrets of School Inc.
• #3 – Ten years after Chile reformed its education system, Sweden followed suit. It is the first stop in Forces and Choices, episode three of School Inc. All private schools in Sweden are now fully tax supported and parents can choose between these so-called “free” schools and the local public schools. The global journey continues, visiting highly successful private schools in Sweden, London, and India, where the resistance to education as a business has lessened. The late Andrew Coulson, senior fellow of education policy at Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, is joined by the administrators of these schools to examine the secrets of their success, learning that some of India’s highly successful private schools serve eager poor students and parents at little more than a dollar a week. School Inc. comes full circle to conclude in the English countryside where the Industrial Revolution began. Then as now, Coulson suggests, education was perhaps the only field in which successful entrepreneurship was not celebrated. He concludes: “What if we allowed all education entrepreneurs to put their own money on the line in an effort to better serve us, gaining or losing just as entrepreneurs do in other fields. And what if we made sure that everyone had access to that wide-open market place. Would we then see excellence scale-up in education?”

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The documentary features the impact of service-dog agency K9s For Warriors on the lives of three American veterans struggling with trauma sustained in service overseas. Founded by Shari Duval and her son Brett Simon, who served two tours in Iraq, K9s For Warriors matches veterans Adam, Shilo and Louis with companion dogs. Each learns to manage issues such as flashbacks, hypervigilance, and invisible psychological damage.

Airs 10/26 at 5 p.m.

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The documentary features the impact of service-dog agency K9s For Warriors on the lives of three American veterans struggling with trauma sustained in service overseas. Founded by Shari Duval and her son Brett Simon, who served two tours in Iraq, K9s For Warriors matches veterans Adam, Shilo and Louis with companion dogs. Each learns to manage issues such as flashbacks, hypervigilance, and invisible psychological damage.

Airs 10/26 at 5 p.m.

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Songwriting With Soldiers operates from a simple principle  – pair veterans and active-duty service members with professional songwriters to craft songs about their military experiences. With a focus on collaboration and building trust, this innovative program, founded by Austin, Texas singer-songwriter Darden Smith, offers a unique path to helping soldiers, their families, communities and our nation cope with the aftermath of combat duty and the challenges in returning home.

Airs 10/25 at 10 p.m.

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Explore the inspiring relationship between two sisters-both dancers: Kiera Brinkley, a quadruple amputee who lost her limbs at age two, and Uriah Boyd, who was born a month before her sister contracted pneumococcal sepsis. Featuring beautiful and moving dance sequences, the documentary celebrates the extraordinary ways that Kiera has learned to adapt-as a dancer, choreographer and medical assistant. It also reveals the deeply loving relationship between the sisters and how Uriah dedicated her life to helping Kiera adjust. Over the course of three and a half years, SOAR follows the lives of these two remarkable young women, capturing moments of revelation about themselves, and their frustrations with each other as they mature as individuals, dancers and sisters. Tension arises, though, when Uriah steps away, finally admitting her need to define herself as an individual. After a period of discord, a dance concert reunites them, rekindling their powerful bond. SOAR offers an intimate look at how dance helps these remarkable sisters to define themselves, together and separately, and the idea of what is possible.

Airs 10/30 at 2 a.m., 10/30 at 10 a.m. and 10/30 at 4 p.m.

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a film by: Hannah Engelson. Jonah Bascle was an unconventional mayoral candidate, even by New Orleans standards: artist, comedian, disability-rights activist. Born with muscular dystrophy, Jonah raced against mortality throughout his twenties. Combining humor, political action, and a sense of urgency, Jonah Stands Up challenges stereotypes associated with differently-abled individuals in New Orleans. 

Airs 10/23 at 7 p.m., 10/24 at midnight, 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.,  10/26 at 1:30 p.m., 10/29 at 9 p.m., 10/30 at 1 a.m., 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

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Through the lens of independent documentaries, AMERICA REFRAMED brings to audiences compelling stories that illuminate the changing contours of an ever-evolving America. The social issue series presents an array of personal voices and experiences through which we learn from our past, understand our present and are challenged to seek new frameworks for America’s future. Hosted by Natasha Del Toro.

• #712 “Intelligent Lives” – Narrated by Academy-Award nominee Chris Cooper, INTELLIGENT LIVES follows three young adults with intellectual disabilities: Micah, Naieer, and Naomie, who, with the support of family, educators, and colleagues, work toward a future marked with increased inclusion and independence. Their pioneering lives challenge staid notions of intelligence as they navigate high school, college, and the workforce. Airs 10/22 at 8 p.m., 10/23 at midnight. 10/23 at 8 a.m., 10/23 at 2 p.m., 10/26 at 10 p.m., 10/27 at 2 a.m., 10/27 at 9 a.m., 10/27 at 5 p.m.
• #713 “Perfectly Normal for Me” – Alexandria, Jake, Caitlin and Veronica, ages 5 to 15, reveal what it’s like to live with physical disabilities. Their parents search out opportunities where they are accepted and feel valued, such as an after-school dance program in Queens, New York. With the help of a loving community, including dedicated teenage volunteers, the students prepare for a spring recital. Throughout all, they become eloquent advocates for the powers of inclusion, respect and empathy. Airs 10/29 at 8 p.m., 10/30 at midnight. 10/30 at 8 a.m., 10/30 at 2 p.m.

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A village woman without a high school diploma has become China’s most famous poet. Meet the breakout writer Yu Xihua, a woman with cerebral palsy, poignantly weaving her personal story with that of an ascendant, urbanizing China.

Airs 10/22 at 7 p.m., 10/23 at 2 a.m., 10/23 at 10 a.m., 10/23 at 4 p.m., 10/26 at 5 a.m., 10/27 at 11 p.m., 10/28 at 3 a.m., 10/28 at 11 a.m.

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