Granny Ranny's Coming Attractions

June 5 – 7 New York City Free and open to the public, this conference provides an open forum for exploring media, education, and youth within an international context. It includes screenings of youth-produced media, as well as panels on media literacy education initiatives from the Arab and Gulf region, Asia, and Europe.

Earth Day 2008 was an overwhelming success and helped move the needle substantially on the climate change issue. A diverse coalition helped raise the bar for climate action and Earth Day Network’s Call for Climate rallied millions across the country and across the globe. Tens of thousands called their government to ask for tough and fair action on climate change, and took action in their own lives to reduce their carbon footprint. Now more than ever, Earth Day has put the climate change issue at the forefront of public policy and has set the stage for global political action.

In the U.S. the momentum from Call for Climate will be carried into the next year as Congress considers proposals to reduce greenhouse gases, which we will be working to strengthen. Already, the Presidential candidates are discussing this important issue.

In the U.S., some 320,000 people turned out for the eight Earth Day events in major cities plus club events over the weekend of April 19 and 20, co-produced by Green Apple Festival and sponsored by Chase. In Washington DC, 50,000 came out to hear inspirational speakers such as Chevy Chase, Edward Norton, Thomas Friedman, and James Hansen of NASA deliver a strong global warming message and call for tough and fair climate action by Congress. Top-tier talent such as O.A.R., Umphrey’s McGee, Warren Haynes, Mambo Sauce and Blake Lewis of American Idol entertained enthusiastic crowds, and the event was covered live by CNN and The Weather Channel.

Tens of thousands also turned out in New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco to hear global warming speakers and artists like Joan Baez, Los Lonely Boys, the Neville Brothers and Ricky Scaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network and other staff urged crowds to call the switchboard number of Congress on Earth Day as part of the Call for Climate.

In an effort to bring together environmental awareness and public art, ten globes from the Cool Globes exhibit were on display at the National Mall. The globes will be in Washington, DC throughout the summer and then auctioned-off to benefit Earth Day Network’s Green Schools program.

A highlights video program will be coming to Earth Day TV in the next few weeks! Earth Day Network’s campus program had a record 1,100 campuses rally behind Earth Day this year, and tens of thousands of students joined the Call for Climate and signed Sky Petition, which calls for a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants, renewable energy, efficient buildings and protection for the poor and middle class in the new green economy. At Earth Day events across the country hundreds of students signed up to vote in the upcoming elections, creating a new green youth voting force. Earth Day Network exceeded its goal for the campus Presidents’ climate challenge with 539 campuses signing the pledge for carbon neutrality and investment in the new energy future.

EDN also ran a media campaign urging editorial cartoonists to use global warming themes for Earth Day. During Earth Week, editorial cartoonists around the US published environment-themed cartoons to raise awareness about the lack of action on global warming. Earth Day Network’s thousands of partner organizations around the world also rallied millions to demand a cleaner, healthier environment in their communities and to spur action on global warming. From Barcelona, where 100,000 people attended the Earth Fair, to Pakistan, where a school commemorated Earth Day with educational activities for their students, Earth Day 2008 succeeded in bringing together people from all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities with a strong message of action for our planet.

Also during Earth Week, Earth Day Network’s staff was hard at work on school greening projects in Denver, Chicago and New York, co-produced by Green Apple Festival and sponsored by Chase. At Denver’s Ellis Elementary, volunteers created an outdoor classroom with a garden of native species, monitored water and air quality, and addressed energy efficiency and waste in the cafeteria. Earth Day Network installed an 8-panel solar energy system that will save the school $48,000 over the next 30 years. In Chicago, students at Percy Julian High School held an “Earth Fair” with displays including solar panels that the school will be installing, organic fruits and part of a green roof that Earth Day Network hopes to place on the school building. In New York, students at Merrick Academy were greeted by a new “living wall” made of plants that filter air and water, and students helped paint an eco-mural using “green” paint. Some 3,000 students and faculty were exposed to key environmental issues through these events. Green schools will help improve students’ well-being and academic performance, while reducing the impact on the environment.

Earth Day Network reached out to the religious community this Earth Day by bringing attention to our environmental message. The opening of our Earth Day 2008 event in Washington, DC featured a religious convocation with leaders from the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths. In light of the opportunity provided by Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States this year, Earth Day Network reached out to Roman Catholic parishes across the country, inviting them to participate in Earth Day Sunday, April 20, 2008.

Earth Day Network reached out to thousands of parishes, and the response was overwhelming. Many churches pledged to join Earth Day Sunday ceelebrations by including climate change and equitable sustainability in their homilies, post information in their weekly bulletins, and/or offer intentions for the environment during Mass; others filled us in on their year-round parish green programs. Many parishes enacted environmental measures, such as the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tempe, AZ, which posted information in their weekly bulletin for Earth Day Sunday and limited their electricity usage in the church.

For more information, visit http://www.earthday.net/

Bob the Builder™ and his Can-Do Crew welcome friends Meg MacDonald, a Scottish dairy farmer, her assistant Piper and their hilarious dairy truck Dodger to Sunflower Valley in five delightful new adventures in Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks, delivering onto DVD May 13. Includes the following episodes:

Dodger the Milk Truck – Bob and the team are under the clock to finish Meg’s new house so they can give her milk truck, Dodger, a proper reception before he arrives. Problem is, she’s mixed up the days and Dodger shows up not only to no greeting party but no townsfolk anywhere! Sadly, he carries out his duty of delivering the milk. When everyone realizes what’s happened, they work together to greet Dodger and welcome him enthusiastically to the team.

The Three Musketrucks – A big new shipment is arriving at the docks. Inspired by the famous motto “All for one, and one for all,” Scrambler, Packer and Dodger become the Three Musketrucks and vow to deliver the goods. Despite a mix-up caused by a hasty decision and a brief ride trapped aboard a ferryboat, the trio proudly and successfully completes its mission.

Dodger’s Dairy Disaster – Bob and the team are building Sunflower Valley’s new creamery so Meg and Piper can make a variety of cheeses using local flavors. Dodger, sent to pick up the ingredients, is feeling pressure to be liked as much as fan-favorite Packer. He decides to use his funny horn sounds to make people laugh during his deliveries, but in his haste to win them over he accidentally mixes everything together. All’s well though when Meg uses the new blend to make a delicious tasting cheese everyone loves.

Scrambler the Goat Herder – Everyone is off to Snowcap Mountain to turn an old barn into a new weaving studio for Meg. Bob asks Scrambler to play herder and lead Giddy the goat down from the peak to the shearing station so Meg can use his wool in her loom. It’s no easy task but eventually Scrambler figures out exactly how to get his goat!

Packer’s Big Delivery – Sunflower Valley is getting its first General Store! While Bob and the crew get to building it, store owner Barbara sends Packer and Scrambler out to retrieve the wares, including seaweed, sunflower oil and pineapples. When Meg calls down from Flowery Ridge asking for her goat’s milk to be picked up, Packer insists he can make it up to her despite the treacherously paved mountain road. It’s not long before Packer gets stuck and it’s Bob and Scrambler to the rescue!

Every episode of Bob the Builder finishes with a job well done and a lesson learned about the value of positive attitude, problem solving and teamwork. Bob the Builder and his machine team always demonstrate that The Fun Is In Getting It Done.

PBS Kids Sprout celebrates Mom with two special live programming blocks, hosted by Nina from The Good Night Show, on both Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11, 12 noon-3p. On Saturday the block will feature mom-themed episodes of Berenstain Bears, Angelina Ballerina and Pingu, as well as showing viewer-submitted Mother’s Day cards, craft ideas and so on. Sunday will showcase preschoolers calls talking about their moms. Throughout the weekend Sprout will air live-action video in which real moms talk about being moms.

KIDS FIRST! sponsor, Qubo has created a set of nutritional guidelines designed to “dictate advertising decisions” (on-air and online) for the qubo channel and its like named programming blocks on NBC, Ion Television and Telemundo. This effort builds off of Ion Media Network’s advertising and media initiative to fight childhood obesity unveiled last summer for both qubo and Ion Life. Developed with an expert in childhood obesity, qubo will now only accept ads from those company’s that meet the acceptable nutritional intake criteria set out in its new guidelines, which includes limits for meals and snacks broken down by calories, grams of fat, as well as saturated and trans fat, sugar, protein, fiber and sodium. Last week qubo introduced a new series of kid-aimed healthy eating and exercise Public Service Announcements with partners US Dept. of Health & Human Resources, the Ad Council and the US Olympic Committee.

The beloved Eloise books will come to live in a new live-action feature film, Eloise in Paris from HandMade Films, directed by Charles Shyer with Australia actress, Jordana Beatty (9) in the lead role. The cast includes Uma Thurman, who plays the Nanny. Filming is set to begin August 12 in Paris, NY and the south of France. The movie is based on the Eloise books by author Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight.

National Geographic Kids Entertainment and Kidtoons will launch National Geographic Kids’ Big Screen Safari nationwide in theaters this June in 100+ theaters.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will announce the award-winners for the 35th Daytime Emmy awards in the kid categories on June 20 at 8p. Kid category nominees include:

Design Squad (PBS)
Greatest Inventions with Bill Nye (Discovery Channel)
Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild (Syndicated)
Postcards from Buster (PBS) Children’s Animated Series
Arthur (PBS)
Charlie and Lola Disney Channel)
Curious George (PBS)
Little Einsteins (Disney Channel)
Peep and the Big Wide World (Discovery Kids) Preschool Series
Between the Lions (PBS)
Blue’s Room (Nick Jr.)
Jack’s Big Music Show (Noggin)
Sesame Street (PBS)
Super Why! (PBS) Writing in a Children’s Series
Between the Lions (PBS)
Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman (PBS)
Sesame Street (PBS) Writing in Animation
Arthur (PBS)
Curious George (PBS)
Jakers! the Adventures Of Piggley Winks (PBS)
Peep And the Big Wide World (Discovery Kids)
Wordgirl (PBS)

The Federal Trade Commission today released the results of its latest nationwide undercover shop of movie theaters and movie, music, and video game retailers. The FTC conducted a survey with 13-to-16-year-old undercover shoppers to collect data about the extent to which retailers prevent unaccompanied children from buying tickets to R-rated movies, R-rated DVDs, Unrated DVDs of movies that were R-rated in theaters, M-rated video games, and music CDs labeled with a Parental Advisory Label – “PAL” – for explicit content.

The survey found that 20% of underage teenage shoppers were able to buy M-rated video games, a major improvement from all prior surveys, and down from 42% in 2006. While CD and DVD retailers demonstrated some improvement since the 2006 survey, roughly half of the undercover shoppers still were able to purchase R-rated and Unrated movie DVDs and PAL music CDs. The fact that so many children were able to purchase Unrated movie DVDs – some of which contain content that, if rated, might result in an NC-17 rating – indicates that retailers need to re-double their efforts in this area. Although movie theaters have improved since the 2000 shop, they still sold R-rated movie tickets to unaccompanied children 35% of the time, demonstrating no statistically significant improvement in ratings enforcement since 2003.

The survey found that results of the undercover shopping varied by retailer and product. Three movie chains – National Entertainment, Regal Entertainment Group, and American Multi-Cinema – turned away 80% or more of the underage teens who tried to buy a ticket to an R-rated movie. Wal-Mart did the best of the major retailers shopped for movie DVDs, denying sales of R-rated and Unrated DVDs to 75% of the child shoppers.

With regard to M-rated video games, Game Stop rejected an impressive 94% of underage shoppers, while Wal-Mart and Best Buy spurned 80% of them. Some stores had very different results for different media. For example, while Best Buy rejected 80% of underage buyers of video games, it turned away underage shoppers for PAL music only 47% of the time, R-rated movie DVDs only 38% of the time, and Unrated movie DVDs only 17% of the time. Similarly, Target refused to sell M-rated games to underage buyers 71% of the time, but refused sales of PAL music only 40% of the time, R-rated movie DVDs only 35% of the time, and Unrated movie DVDs in only 23% of the cases.

For the complete press release go here.

Staples, Inc., and Do Something.org’s Do Something 101 have partnered with recording artist Jordin Sparks (American Idol) for a teen-targeted public service announcement effort. The PSAs feature Sparks encouraging teens to get involved with their communities this summer by collecting school supplies, and dropping them off at Staples stores, which will then be distributed to kids in need during back to school season.

More than 11 million kids in the US live below the poverty line and don’t have the basic supplies that they need to succeed. So, let’s Do Something about it!
Led by teens nationwide, Do Something 101 is a campaign to collect new school supplies for kids in need. Drop off new supplies at any Staples store during July and August, and Do Something and Staples will make sure that they’re delivered to people who need them. Start thinking about your summer collection drives and be sure to check back for more details!
Watch the PSA
Watch the Outtakes
11 Facts About US Education
How to Run a Supply Drive
11 Most-Needed Supplies

It’s pretty easy to see that poverty is a cycle that’s hard to break. The donations you collect will help kids who want to learn and can’t afford the basic school supplies they need to succeed.
What is the Poverty Line, anyway? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, it’s a family of four (two adults, two children) that earns less than $19,157. Still, $35,000 is basic-needs budget for a U.S. family of four (two adults, two children), as calculated in An Atlas of Poverty in America.
In 2006, nearly 37 million people Americans lived in poverty; 12.8 million were under the age of 18. In the US, poverty is still tied to race: 33% of black children live below the poverty line while 10% of white children do. School budgets are tied to property taxes. This is why schools in poor neighborhoods get about half as much money per student than schools in affluent neighborhoods.
Three-quarters of the nation’s schools (almost 60,000) report needing repairs, renovations or modernization in order to reach good condition. Not surprisingly, most schools in bad condition are in cities where at least 70% of students are below the poverty line. Urban students are less likely to graduate than their suburban counterparts. In 2004, the overall graduation rate for urban districts was 60.4% compared to 74.9% in suburbs. Graduation rates are also lower among certain groups, particularly ethnic minorities and males. In 2004, the graduation rate among African-Americans was 53.4% compared to 76.2% for whites. In 2004, 17 of the nation’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50%, with the lowest rates reported in Detroit (24.9%), Indianapolis (30.5%) and Cleveland (34.1%). Children of poor families are up to six times more likely to drop out than wealthy children. Are you inspired to make a difference? Check out our tips for your drive!

11 Most Needed Supplies
Some supplies are definitely in higher demand than others. Here is a list of some supplies you should encourage people to bring to your drive. Remember to only accept new donations.

• Pens & #2 Pencils
• 3-Ring Binders
• Box of Colored Pencils
• Loose-Leaf & Copy Paper
• Book Covers
• Spiral Notebooks
• Planners
• Highlighters & Markers
• Index Cards
• Folders with Pockets
• Calculators

How to Run a Supply Drive
Get your friends on board You don’t want to do this alone so recruit all your friends to help you out. Make it fun! Spread the word You need to market your drive! Make posters and flyers with all the details and hang them in local stores, at sports fields and around town. Don’t forget Facebook events and Myspace bulletins!

• Get attention. Be creative and decorate collection boxes. You can even put the Do Something 101 logo on t-shirts, banners, whatever!
• Make it easy. People are more likely to help if it’s simple, so go where the people are. Baseball games, the pool, summer camps – you know your community best.
• Make sure they are new – We all know that having “new” supplies for back to school is important to everyone, so make sure not to accept anything used or damaged.
• Finishing up – Officially end the drive by letting everyone know how many supplies were collected and give a special thanks to everyone who helped.
• Tell Do Something about it and you could be featured on the homepage!
• Dropping them off – Donate the supplies you’ve collected to a Staples store in your area in July and August. Drop off bins will be located near the registers.

DOWNLOADS Supply Drive Poster (blank)Supply Drive Poster Do Something 101 logo