With severe cutbacks in funding for the arts and music education in Pasadena Schools, Charter teamed with the VH-1 Save the Music Foundation (STM) and the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to restore music instruction in five elementary schools. But this partnership went way beyond the typical instrument donation program and helped polish a local image for Charter that had been tarnished due to tensions generated by earlier management. The partnership generated $105,000 in instruments for four schools through STM and innovative fundraising spearheaded by Charter. Another $25,000 in instruments was generated for the fifth school through The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Charter fundraising.

For the third year, Time Warner Cable has conducted the PSA script writing competition, the Young Director’s Cut, for students 17 & under. In order to capitalize on the initiative’s focus on the media and community, Time Warner Cable added a media literacy category. Time Warner Cable received more than 100 entries for the Young Director’s Cut in 2006 from students in 11 different schools. The winners and finalists were announced at an MTV-like awards show in front of an audience of 300. It also featured a media literacy theme and showcased the positive elements of today’s media and cable industry.

The “Time Warner Cable Hang Tough Video Contest” provides hundreds of middle school students an opportunity to use cable television as a positive medium to prevent violence and drug abuse. It allows students to communicate with their peers by producing their own thirty-second PSA, which airs on over 20 cable networks weekly. Students write, act, and direct, creating a great overall learning opportunity. This year, 550 entry scripts from 60 schools were submitted with the top 20 scripts produced into PSAs. The top 20 PSAs are judged by local media during an awards ceremony attended by 1,650 students, educators, parents, and public officials. The awards ceremony airs on local broadcast channels, cable access and Wisconsin on Demand.

Read to Achieve @ powertolearn.com is Cablevision’s Power to Learn’s literacy program in partnership with the New York Knicks. The program is designed to help young people develop a life-long love of reading through the use of incentives to motivate students to reach their reading potential. After a very successful pilot year involving eight classes, the program expanded in its second year to 43 classes totaling 1500 students. Now in its third year, the Read to Achieve @ Powertolearn.com program began the 2006-2007 school year on November 1, 2006. This year 100 classes for a total of 2500 students are participating in the program.

From MySpace to YouTube, kids are originators of video content viewed around the world. They not only consume television content, but also are creators and distributors of it. FSN New England recognizes the growing interest in media and has developed the FSN FanCaster program to foster interest in media careers. As a regional sports network, FSN has the unique ability to leverage the exciting sports industry to create one-of-a-kind insider experiences that educate kids on the large number of careers in front of and behind the camera. Through the power of television, FSN also has the ability to affect the lives of at risk-youth by presenting exciting media careers that are truly achievable regardless of a student’s race or economic status.

The Rap-It-Up teen forums were developed as the grassroots component of the campaign to encourage dialogue among secondary school students (grades 6-12) related to HIV/AIDS. BET conducted 11 Teen Forums engaging more than 6,000 students in discussions regarding abstinence, safe sex practices, HIV testing, and the importance of knowing their status.