WTTW Chicago, Scrappers Film Group, and PBS Digital Studios present the groundbreaking digital series CENTRAL STANDARD®: ON EDUCATION

Premiering on YouTube on April 14; new episodes in nine-part series to be posted weekly

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Apr 14, 2014, 12:38 ET

CHICAGO, April 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- WTTW Chicago, Scrappers Film Group, and PBS Digital Studios have created a new short-form documentary web series, Central Standard®: On Education, presenting everyday experiences within Chicagoland's institutions. This dynamic and groundbreaking web documentary series focuses on education in Chicago and the surrounding region as seen through the eyes of five 8th grade students attending very different publicly-funded schools as they strive to make it into one of the region's top public high schools. The program is designed to provide a close-up view of issues important to local communities within Chicago and across the country.

Central Standard: On Education, new web series premiering 4-14-14 (PRNewsFoto/WTTW Chicago)

The inaugural season of Central Standard: On Education, consisting of nine 15-minute episodes, is scheduled to launch on the PBS Digital Studios YouTube Channel on Monday, April 14, 2014. Each week, a new episode in the nine-part series will be posted.

The students and their schools are:

Robert – Creative Communications (District 149 S.T.E.M.) Academy (Calumet City)
Gina – Marquette School of Excellence, Chicago Lawn (Chicago)
Natalia – UNO Esmerelda Santiago, Humboldt Park (Chicago)
Kyle – Walt Disney Magnet School, Buena Park (Chicago)
Emma – Wilmette Jr. High (Wilmette)

Along the way, we watch them deal with factors that may affect their educational experience, such as participation in extracurricular activities, challenging financial situations, testing, social pressures, and much more. We also hear the perspectives of their parents, teachers, and other individuals involved in the education sphere, in order to provide a window to the on-the-ground reality of education across our region.

At a time when education models are in the national spotlight daily – with closures, strikes, and privatization – Central Standard examines how students and families highly invested in their children's futures make their school choices in fragmented system. This innovative new web series aims to go beyond the clichés that define class and geographic difference between rich and poor, urban and suburban, to provide fresh and useful insights into the contemporary education experience.

Central Standard: On Education is produced by filmmakers Ben Kolak and Brian Ashby of Scrappers Film Group in collaboration with WTTW Chicago. The series is made possible, in part, by PBS Digital Studios, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and supporters of the initiative via Indiegogo.

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SOURCE WTTW Chicago