Maya & Miguel Partners With Community Organizations.

Scholastic Entertainment announced partnerships with seven leading national organizations to help translate the excitement of the TV series into meaningful, community-based activities and events across the country. Among the growing list of key organizations that have committed to this effort are: The ASPIRA Association, Inc., the Cuban American National Council, the Hispanic Federation, the National Center for Family Literacy, the National Latino Children’s Institute, the National Recreation and Park Association, and Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.

In collaboration with PBS KIDS’ Ready To Learn service, Scholastic Entertainment will develop and distribute outreach materials designed so that parents, teachers and caregivers can easily use them with their children to extend the series’ educational mission on and off the air. Through special events, workshops, and participation in festivals the community partners will help bring Maya & Miguel wherever children are.

“These partnerships offer an opportunity to touch children in a meaningful way in their daily lives and present an exciting and important way to build awareness for the series. It is particularly gratifying that this brand new series is being embraced by such credible and established community organizations,” said Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Entertainment and Executive Producer of the series. “Each organization brings to our initiative a unique way of extending our impact on the lives of children.”

Maya & Miguel is a broad-based Scholastic initiative comprised of television, print media, school and community outreach, dynamic Web sites at www.pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel and www.scholastic.com, publishing, and a host of ancillary materials. The series chronicles the adventures of 10-year-old twins Maya and Miguel Santos and features their family, friends and a richly diverse neighborhood. The goals of the series are: (1) to promote the value of a culturally diverse society; and (2) to support English language acquisition and usage in personal, social and cultural interactions.

Maya & Miguel debuted to rave reviews on October 11, 2004 and airs Monday-Friday on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings). Based on an original concept by Scholastic Entertainment President Deborah Forte, the series is designed to present culture and language learning as fun, relevant, and rewarding for all children, with a special emphasis on the Latino population.

Scholastic Entertainment was awarded the largest single grant ever given to a children’s television project by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to develop a children’s multi-media project. Additional major funding is provided by a Ready To Learn Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education through the Public Broadcasting Service.

The ASPIRA Association, Inc. is the only national nonprofit organization devoted solely to the education and leadership development of Puerto Rican and other Latino youth. Since 1961, ASPIRA has pursued its mission of empowering the Latino community through the development of its youth. All of ASPIRA’s goals and activities spring from one basic belief: Puerto Ricans and Latinos have the collective potential to move their community forward.

The Cuban American National Council is a private non-profit agency that serves immigrants, emerging leaders and individuals in need from all races and nationalities. The Council delivers education, housing and economic development services through a network of non-profit corporations.

Established in 1990, the Hispanic Federation is a membership organization of 85 Latino health and human services agencies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Each year, these agencies serve more than one million of the tri-state area’s most underprivileged and vulnerable Latinos working in a variety of areas including education, health, elderly services, child care, HIV/AIDS, housing and economic development.

The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) works to ensure that all families have opportunities to improve their education and social well-being through quality, family literacy services. NCFL provides and supports literacy development in adults and children of all ages by providing leadership for program development nationwide, promoting policies at the national level, and offering professional development and best program practices for literacy programs throughout the country.

The National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI) focuses the nation’s attention on Latino children and empowers communities for the full and healthy development of young Latinos in a culturally relevant environment. Using the National Latino Children’s Agenda as its guide, NLCI develops programs, provides training, and conducts research on the most effective strategies for creating bright futures for young Latinos.

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, is a national not-for-profit organization devoted to enhancing park, recreation and conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all Americans. The association works to extend the social, health, cultural and economic benefits of parks and recreation. Through its network of recreation and park professionals and civic leaders, NRPA encourages recreation initiatives for people of all ages and abilities, the promotion of healthy lifestyles, and conservation of natural and cultural resources. For more information, log on to www.nrpa.org.

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, works to build a literate nation by helping young people discover the joy of reading. RIF’s highest priority is to serve the nation’s underserved children and families through the development and delivery of literacy programs and campaigns that motivate youth to read regularly. Through a national, grassroots network of 450,000 community volunteers at 25,000 RIF program sites, 5.1 million children are provided with 16.5 million new, free books and other essential literacy resources each year.