(Jackson, Miss.)— The Parents’ Choice Foundation honored “Between the Lions” with the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, the highest level of recognition. The PBS Kids® Raising Readers television series “Between the Lions” is produced by Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB), WGBH Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. of New York at the MPB studios in Jackson, Miss.
Established in 1978, Parents’ Choice is the nation’s oldest nonprofit guide to quality children’s media and toys. Parents’ Choice Foundation’s panels of educators, scientists, performing artists, librarians, parents and kids identify the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels.
The national Emmy Award®-winning series “Between the Lions,” created specifically to improve literacy, is built on a strong foundation of evidence-based research about how children learn to read.
In addition to its on-screen accomplishments, the series’ educational outreach efforts were recently recognized in a study by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communication showing the Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative significantly improves at-risk preschoolers’ reading skills.
The Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative is a partnership of MPB, WGBH, the Barksdale Reading Institute, Sirius Thinking, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the U. S. Department of Education, and the Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute.
Since 2005, the Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative has impacted over 95 childcare centers, reaching over 1,500 children in central Mississippi by providing a hands-on curriculum, learning materials, professional development and education specialists from MPB who mentor the teaching staff in how to use the content of “Between the Lions” to teach their students language and literacy skills.
For more information regarding MPB’s programs and services, visit www.mpbonline.org.
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Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) provides relevant instructional and public programming to Mississippians through its statewide television and radio network. MPB enhances the work of educators, students, parents and learners of all ages through quality programs, resources and services that educate, entertain and enlighten. Children’s programs constitute a major portion of the daytime and weekend morning schedules. Since 1970, MPB has won over 350 national and regional awards, including Emmys and Parents’ Choice Awards, for its productions.