Local TV channels team up for “Making a Difference” education effort

Local TV channels team up for “Making a Difference” education effort

A host of local public affairs shows and cable news access channels will join forces this Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009, to provide educational programming focused on education in Massachusetts before the opening of Boston Public Schools (BPS).

The focus on education is also supported by http://www.makingadifference
education.tv, a Web site that will provide video documentaries featuring policy-makers, educators and students.

The programs will be aired throughout the broadcasting day this Sunday, starting at 6:30 a.m.

WHDH-TV Channel 7’s “Jewish Perspective” will discuss Rashi schools, “Riviesta” will discuss Boston’s public schools and “Urban Update” will discuss BPS education. WBZ-TV Channel 4’s “Centro” will discuss SAT scores and WCVB-TV Channel 5’s “CityLine” will question education, while WGBH-TV Channel 2’s “Basic Black” will air a conversation with state Secretary of Education Paul Reville and an encore presentation of “Project Dropout.”

Fox TV Channel 25 will contribute news education segments, Catholic Television will provide programming on area Catholic schools, and Spanish-language Channel 62 will present programming focused on Jose Gonzales and state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, a former Boston schoolteacher. Other networks will also contribute programming, and additional segments will be available on the Making a Difference Web site.

The Making a Difference initiative is housed in the South End Technology Center, and was created to help nonprofit organizations facilitate use of, and access to, the media.

ABCD Head Start centers accepting applications for 2- to 4-year-olds

Parents who think their preschool-aged children might benefit from an early childhood development program offering free education, health, social and nutritional services in their neighborhood can apply for their kids to enter Action for Boston Community Development Inc.’s (ABCD) Head Start program.

ABCD Head Start centers serve income-eligible families in every neighborhood in the city, offering part- or full-day early education services to 2,400 children between the ages of 2 and 4 at 27 programs throughout Boston. It also serves 200 infants and toddlers at Early Head Start Centers in Dorchester, East Boston and the South End. At Head Start, qualified professionals provide children with education, health, special education, dental, mental health, social and nutritional services.

The federally funded Head Start program began in 1964 with the mission of providing children from low-income families with educational, health and social service supports. For more information on applying for the program, call 617-348-6272.

Plane makes emergency landing on Mass. highway

MANSFIELD, Mass. — A small plane with engine trouble made an emergency landing on a Massachusetts highway late Tuesday morning, causing a traffic jam but no injuries.

The two men aboard had been practicing stalls – slowing down the airspeed to the point that the wings stopped giving the plane lift, said Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Jim Peters.

“But the engine just quit and didn’t restart,” said Peters.

Around 11 a.m., the pilot called Norwood Memorial Airport to report that he was having engine trouble and would have to land the 35-year-old single-engine Piper Cherokee on Interstate 495 in Mansfield, about 25 miles southwest of Boston, Peters said.

The pilot and passenger were already out of the plane when Mansfield fire officials arrived soon after the landing. The two were evaluated by paramedics as a precaution. State police identified the pilot as Matthew Kleindienst, 24, of Stoughton, and the passenger as Brian Souza, 21, of Stoneham.

The plane wound up nose-down and with a collapsed undercarriage, taking up nearly all three southbound lanes of the highway. Firefighters used foam and sand to soak up leaking fuel.

State police temporarily closed the entire southbound side of Interstate 495 on Tuesday afternoon as authorities removed the plane. The lanes were reopened just before rush hour traffic.

A plane with the same registration number is listed on the Web site of East Coast Aero Club, a Bedford-based flight school and rental entity. Mark Holzwarth, president and owner of East Coast Aero Club, did not immediately return phone calls.

The plane had not been monitoring automobile traffic from above, as initially reported by the FAA, Peters said.

(Associated Press)