Presenters: Kate Taylor and Gay Mohrbacher (Mary Haggerty was not able to attend)
In this session, WGBH provides an overview of the PEEP and the Big Wide World curriculum, as well as its approach to science inquiry with young children, and research findings from studies with both educators and children. With the PEEP curriculum as the foundation, WGBH showcases how PEEP resources have been adapted for use in a variety of formal and informal learning settings—from preschool classrooms to family childcare environments, to museums and Spanish-language family play groups.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
Kate Taylor, Senior Executive Producer, WGBH
Kate Taylor is senior executive producer for children’s programming at WGBH and a key architect in the educational children’s series the organization has produced over the past 20 years. She currently serves as senior executive producer of Plum Landing, an NSF-funded environmental science digital hub for elementary schoolers; PEEP and the Big Wide World, an NSF-funded animated science series for preschoolers; and Design Squad, an NSF-funded series for students ages 9–12. (This project recently won an Emmy Award for "new approaches" in television and Web). She was also the executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning shows FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman, ZOOM, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, and was the executive in charge of Arthur. During the early 1980s, Taylor served as the associate director of children’s and cultural programming at PBS in Washington, DC, where she was responsible for developing new children’s series and determining the national children’s programming schedule and agenda. Taylor holds an MS in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and has several years of experience teaching language arts in inner-city elementary schools.
Mary Haggerty, Director of Media Engagement, WGBH
Mary Haggerty co-manages a department that works in tandem with WGBH’s television and interactive productions to develop resources and activities for parents, educators, youth, and lifelong learners, both in and out of school. She also plays a leadership role in overseeing the development and implementation of national education initiatives for non-broadcast and transmedia projects. Her work in STEM includes developing and implementing local and national outreach activities and campaigns for series such as Curious George, PEEP and the Big Wide World, and Design Squad Nation. Before coming to WGBH, she served in Mauritania, West Africa, as a Peace Corps rural health volunteer. Haggerty also held various positions at Reading Is Fundamental, where she focused on outreach to underserved audiences, including American Indian and Latino populations.
