"American Graduate Day 2015" Celebrated Over Four Million Champions Committed to Keeping Kids in School

NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Graduate Day 2015 celebrated more than 4.1 million American Graduate Champions across the country who are working in the 52 partner organizations featured and focused on helping youth stay on track to high school graduation. The broadcast reached 84% of US households and generated over 139 million Twitter impressions of the #AmGrad hashtag, WNET and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today.  

"It was an exciting and emotional experience to spend seven hours highlighting the exciting and generous ways people are reaching out to students," said award-winning journalist and American Graduate Day 2015 host Soledad O'Brien. "Getting that message out was so valuable. The next step is for people to engage with both students and these organizations to ensure every student has a life of opportunity and success." 

"As America's storyteller, public media shares the stories of hope, challenge, and success from every community. These 4 million Champions are now connected, joining millions of other caring citizens working together through American Graduate, to showcase that every child can have the opportunity to achieve their dreams when someone is in their corner," said Pat Harrison, President and CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting. "Public media focuses the dialogue on solutions and provides tools for every citizen to play a role – whether it is access to high quality Ready to Learn educational media for young learners or access to mentorships in partnership with a station." 

As part of the national public media initiative, American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, American Graduate Day shined a spotlight on local efforts across the country. This fourth annual multiplatform event featured content from more than 50 public media stations nationwide, who contributed Stories of Champions, mini-documentaries and live remote segments. More than 2,000 people visited the "Seven Simple Steps" online feature to learn how to become an American Graduate Champion themselves.  

"This is the kind of thing that only public media can do: marshal the talents of hundreds of individuals and organizations to highlight real solutions to a difficult challenge," said Neal Shapiro, President and CEO of WNET. "Encouraging children to stay in school and pursue their dreams is essential to our future and precisely the kind of impact WNET is seeking to have on our community."

American Graduate Day increases dialogue on-air and online:

• By the close of the broadcast, American Graduate Day 2015 had successfully recognized the 4,196,760 American Graduate Champions working in organizations across the county to keep kids on the path to graduation. To calculate this number, each of the 52 local, regional, and national nonprofits profiled on the program were asked to provide the number of volunteers and professionals in their organizations that are working specifically to improve students' education.
• National carriage for American Graduate Day 2015 was 84.83% of US households, up from 83.77% in 2014 and 73% in 2013;
• American Graduate Day 2015 was broadcast in 49 states covering 138 markets, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands;
• Leading up to and during the broadcast, over 5,200 Tweets contained the #AmGrad hashtag — earning over 139 million Twitter impressions — including Tweets by People Magazine, Zendaya, Penn Jillette, and American Graduate Day host Soledad O'Brien (data from SimplyMeasured.com and Topsy.com);
• Tweets from @amerigrad, the official Twitter handle for American Graduate Day, generated 9.39 million potential impressions on Twitter with over 1,000 engagements (re-Tweets, Favorites, mentions) on October 3rd (data from SimplyMeasured.com);
• Between celebrity testimonials, Stories of Champions and the official American Graduate Day 2015 trailer, there were over 271,000 American Graduate Day video views on Facebook and YouTube (data from Facebook and YouTube);

Highlights Leading Up to American Graduate Day 2015:

• Representatives from WNET, CPB and the Nine Network of Public Media rang the NASDAQ closing bell on Friday, August 28, 2015, to kick off a month-long engagement campaign around American Graduate Day.
• On Wednesday, September 16, the Empire State Building was lighted blue and white in honor of American Graduate Day. The indie band Echosmith, ambassadors from VH1 Save the Music Foundation, made a special appearance to support the foundation, which is a featured American Graduate Day 2015 partner.
• WNET and CPB hosted an Atlantic Exchange event in Washington D.C., featuring a discussion between Steve Clemons, The Atlantic's Washington Editor-at-Large, and Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary of Education and Chief Impact Officer at 2U.  The event was live-streamed via AtlanticLIVE and attended in-person by more than 100 education leaders.
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a Mayoral Proclamation officially declaring October 3^rd as "American Graduate Day" in New York City.
• PBS offered a special free download of the first episode of 180 Days: Hartsville to American Graduate Day viewers, available on iTunes until October 13, 2015.
• Over 100 Stories of Champions were created by 37 public media stations nationwide for American Graduate Day, and 14 aired as part of the national broadcast. These 37 stations hosted Champion recognition events in their communities leading up to the broadcast.

Programming highlights included:

• Live and taped appearances by renowned celebrities, media personalities and sports figures, such as First Lady Michelle Obama (Reach Higher); President George W. Bush; General and Mrs. Colin Powell (America's Promise Alliance); Jason Derulo (VH1 Save the Music Foundation); Zendaya (Get Schooled); Allison Williams (Horizons National); Shaquille O'Neal (My Brother's Keeper Alliance); Elmo (Sesame Street ®); Billy Bob Thornton (Merrimack Hall); Darlene Love (Little Kids Rock); Paul Shaffer (Little Kids Rock); Dolly Parton (Imagination Library); Echosmith (VH1 Save the Music Foundation); Wendy Williams; Ed Asner (Autism Speaks); Penn & Teller (Opportunity Village); U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (4-H); Regina Carter (VH1 Save the Music Foundation); Sean Casey (The Miracle League); Bob and Suzanne Wright (Autism Speaks); and Cynthia Germanotta (Born This Way Foundation/Emotion Revolution). 
• Other highlights from this year's broadcast included: a special in-studio live performance by Paul Shaffer and Little Kids Rock, and a performance by the New Brunswick School District Band and renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter.

American Graduate Day 2015 is a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC in association with WNET. Michael Kostel is executive producer.  Jennifer Rowe is broadcast producer.  Chris Brande, Anna Campbell, and Helen Maier are producers. From the Education Department, Ashley Dinges is project manager and Carole Wacey is vice president, education. Neal Shapiro is executive-in-charge. Visit the American Graduate Web site for more details on participating PBS stations as well as other television and radio programs: http://americangraduate.org/grad-day.

American Graduate Day is part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen - a public media initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help more kids stay on the path to graduation, with more than 6,000 stories of American Graduate Champions collected so far to help inspire others.

About WNET

As New York's flagship public media provider and the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online. Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. WNET is also a leader in connecting with viewers on emerging platforms, including the THIRTEEN Explore iPad App where users can stream PBS content for free.

About CPB

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,400 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services.

About American Graduate

American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen is public media's long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to help young people success in school and life.  Supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), more than 100 public television and radio stations have joined forces with over 1,400 partners across 40 states to elevate the stories of our youth and the supportive adults that help them succeed. Through American Graduate, public media, with its unique position as a trusted resource and important part of local communities, provides a critical platform to shine a light on pathways to graduation and successful student outcomes. National and local reporting, both on air and online is helping communities understand the challenges and community-driven solutions associated with the dropout crisis.  Public forums, town halls, and community conversations are activating discussions between community leaders, educators, and more.

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