Discovery Communications Recognized by Clinton Global Initiative for Commitment to STEM Education

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Discovery Communications was recognized today at the Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative for its multimedia, multi-year science initiative, "Be The Future," which supports President Obama's science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education priorities.  Discovery Communications President and CEO David Zaslav, along with other business and non-profit leaders, were honored by President Bill Clinton before the meeting's technology plenary, which addressed how technology can play a major role in meeting global challenges.

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"Building science literacy among America's next generation of leaders is more critical than ever in meeting the technology challenges that lay ahead," said Zaslav.  "Discovery is proud to work with the Clinton Global Initiative and the Obama administration to use the power of our technology to ensure American students have the curiosity, critical thinking, and reasoning skills that come with a quality STEM education."

In conjunction with today's event, Discovery announced that Science Channel will continue inspiring and exciting viewers about science with HEAD RUSH, the network's one-hour, commercial-free block of programming targeted toward middle-school age students.  In its first four weeks on air, HEAD RUSH posted double and triple-digit gains among key kids demos including P6-11 (+100 percent), P12-17 (+150 percent), P6-17 (+130 percent) and P2-17 (+125 percent) delivery in its weekday time slot.  The Saturday morning airing also posted double and triple-digit gains among key kids demos including P6-11 (+33 percent), M6-11 (+200 percent), P12-17 (+50 percent), M12-17 (+50 percent), P2-17 (+38 percent) and M2-17 (+80 percent) delivery.  

Science Channel will continue airing the block every Monday-Friday from 4-5PM ET and Saturdays from 7-9AM ET.  Science Channel is the only 24-hour network devoted to showcasing the wonders of science in 67 million U.S. homes.

In addition, Discovery Education, the leading provider of high-quality, curriculum-based digital content and professional development resources whose services are available in more than half of U.S. schools, is adding exciting new HEAD RUSH content to its Discovery Education streaming service's STEM Connect module to help science concepts come alive.  Discovery Education streaming includes over 150,000 digital learning objects, including videos, interactives, images, articles, and more, that integrate seamlessly into any curriculum.  Aligned to state standards and assessments, and searchable by keyword, content area and grade level, Discovery Education streaming is scientifically shown to improve academic achievement.  The additional HEAD RUSH content is part of a larger investment to broaden the scope of STEM Connect, Discovery Education's curriculum-based and career development resource designed to fuel teacher and classroom engagement by helping students link science, technology, engineering and mathematics to the real world.  

Other new content, such as STEM Careers for Students, will help ignite the imaginations of today's youth to pursue a STEM related vocation, and expanded content targeted towards K-5 students will be added this fall to help engage children in STEM issues at an early age.  

Hosted by Kari Byron of MYTHBUSTERS, Science Channel's HEAD RUSH is the cornerstone of "Be the Future," which also includes Discovery Education's STEM Connect, a national STEM education program for teachers created by Discovery Education, and Discovery Education annual student science competitions.

About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Since 2005, CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 125 current and former heads of state, 15 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations, major philanthropists, directors of the most effective nongovernmental organizations, and prominent members of the media. These CGI members have made more than 1,900 commitments valued at $63 billion, which have already improved the lives of nearly 300 million people in more than 170 countries. The CGI community also includes CGI University (CGI U), a forum to engage college students in global citizenship, MyCommitment.org, an online portal where anybody can make a Commitment to Action, and CGI Lead, which engages a select group of young leaders from business, government, and civil society. For more information, visit www.clintonglobalinitiative.org.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 180 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Planet Green and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

SOURCE Discovery Communications

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