Beginning Monday, June 1, viewers in the Pacific time zone will see a one-hour shift in the broadcast schedule on our PLUS, WORLD, CREATE and PBS KIDS channels. Programs that currently broadcast at 7 p.m. on these four channels, for example, will begin broadcasting one hour later at 8 p.m. beginning June 1.
Programs on our main IDAHO channel, which made the one-hour time shift several years ago, will not be affected by the current change.
This change allows us to broadcast programs across all five of our channels at a consistent time throughout Idaho. It also allows us to simplify our online and print broadcast schedules — eliminating the confusion caused by our current split time designations (5 p.m. Mountain/4 p.m. Pacific, etc.).
Live events such as the governor’s press conferences, presidential State of the Union addresses, emergency broadcasts, etc. will continue to be broadcast in real time across both time zones.
We have launched our new Virtual Book Club for kids grades 3-6. Our first book will be “The Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson. We will meet once each week via Zoom to explore the book together. Learn more and sign up for the book club.
Any child in grades 3-6 can participate in the virtual book club. If you cannot afford a book, please email me at samantha.hill@idahoptv.org. Financial assistance is available and no child will be turned away due to a financial need.
The book club is virtual, via Zoom. The meetings will be password protected so we can ensure the group will stay private and safe. Prior to the first group meeting, we will send you a link to join the session.
3rd grade will meet Wednesdays from 4:00 – 4:30 PM. The meeting schedule is as follows:
May 13th – Introductions
May 20th – Chapters 1 & 2
May 27th – Chapters 3 & 4
June 3rd – Chapters 5 & 6
June 10th – Chapters 7 & 8
June 17th – Chapters 9 & 10
June 24th – Chapters 11, 12, & 13
4th grade will meet Tuesdays from 9:30 – 10:00 AM. The meeting schedule is as follows:
May 12th – Introductions
May 19th – Chapters 1 & 2
May 26th – Chapters 3 & 4
June 2nd – Chapters 5 & 6
June 9th – Chapters 7 & 8
June 16th – Chapters 9 & 10
June 23rd – Chapters 11, 12, & 13
5th and 6th grades will meet together Thursdays from 10:30- 11:00 AM. The meeting schedule is as follows:
May 14th – Introductions
May 21st – Chapters 1 & 2
May 28th – Chapters 3 & 4
June 4th – Chapters 5 & 6
June 11th – Chapters 7 & 8
June 18th – Chapters 9 & 10
June 25th – Chapters 11, 12, & 13
Parents are not required to attend the video call with their child, but are welcome to if they feel more comfortable. We will not be recording the discussions in order to protect the privacy of participants. If you have other children in the house who would enjoy being part of the club, they are welcome to participate. We would love to see entire families be part of this!
Each week, I will email audio recordings of each chapter to support kids who prefer to follow along while listening.
You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon for $7.99.
If you need assistance getting the book, please let us know when you RSVP. No family will be turned away due to financial need.
Idaho Reports, the Northwest’s longest-running public policy show, has always kept you informed with the latest from the Idaho Legislature. This year we’ve expanded our coverage beyond the legislative session to bring you nightly updates on the coronavirus response in Idaho, Q&A sessions with Gov. Brad Little and public health professionals, and Friday round-ups of the week’s developments.
Now Idaho Reports is available on-the-go as a podcast.
You can now get all our Idaho Reports content in audio form on most major podcast players. That includes our Monday-Friday coronavirus updates, our half-hour Friday shows, our live Q&A specials with the governor, and all of our web extras.
You can find us on SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, RadioPublic, and other popular podcast platforms. Search for Idaho Reports, subscribe and get our updates automatically on your feed.
We’ll continue to post videos on our Facebook and YouTube channels. This just gives folks even more flexibility in how they get our information.
Two new documentary films from Idaho Public Television original series Outdoor Idaho and Idaho Experience examine the modern-day legacies of two very different moments in Idaho history.
“Trailblazers“ airs Thursday, May 14, at 8 PM on Outdoor Idaho. Most modern-day “trailblazers” don’t work outside unless it’s their day off. They’re volunteers, but in the woods they look a lot like the nation’s original trailblazers, the Civilian Conservation Corp. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the public works program in 1933 to revive America during the Great Depression. With nearly 300 work camps in Idaho, the Gem State was the heart of the CCC.
“Trail work isn’t any easier today than it was a century ago. Some of the tools are the same and the intensity of the labor is definitely the same,” says Kris Millgate, Outdoor Idaho producer. “A lot of people aren’t interested in such an exhausting effort. We’re lucky here in Idaho to have so many people who are willing to dig in the dirt.”
That dedication to dirt is no longer inspired by the Depression. It’s motivated by access. Those cutting trail now make sure paths across public lands stay open, despite shrinking budgets, by working for free.
Outdoor Idaho discovers how public lands are evolving from a network of trails once curated by the nation’s CCC to a labor of love tended by the many users of the dusty system. They are outfitters in the Palisades and trail runners around Pocatello. They are water bar builders out of Boise and mountain bikers in Salmon. There’s no paycheck for clearing the way. No pat on the sore back for maintaining access. And no recognition for work done before play. From past generations to those yet to come, they are Idaho’s trailblazers.
“Remembering Bear River“ airs Thursday, May 14, at 8:30 PM on Idaho Experience. When independent filmmaker Phillip Schoen started out to document archeology work at the site of the Bear River Massacre, he had no inkling how challenging it would be to tell the story of what happened in January 1863 in what is now southeast Idaho.
“I got into it and realized it was a much bigger project than I had anticipated,” Schoen says. “So I just kept going and going, getting more and more stuff.”
There’s little left today at the place where 350 Shoshone people were killed in 1863 by army troops under the command of Col. Patrick Connor. It’s among the worst atrocities ever committed by federal troops against Native Americans, but the massacre is little known — and wasn’t even officially labeled a massacre until recent decades. Today, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation is raising money to build a cultural and interpretive center there.
Phillip grew up in Victor, Idaho, and is a film student in California. He connected with Idaho Public Television, which uses its Idaho Experience series to give independent documentary makers a place to share their work about Idaho history. “I think what the film really comes down to is … how do we deal with our history? How do we deal with our past?” Schoen says. “Different people have different answers. The tribe feels one way about how we should remember this. And scientists feel totally another way about how we … understand what happened here. And so finding that balance, I think, is really what this film is about.”
Idaho Public Television is excited to announce that Gabriel Garcia, a teacher in the Boise School District, is one of 19 educators nationwide recognized as a PBS Digital Innovator All-Star. Garcia teaches video production at Capital High School and computer science at Riverglen Junior High School in Boise.
Each of the Digital Innovator All-Stars was selected from a cohort of extraordinary educators characterized by their ability to seamlessly integrate media and digital technology into their learning environments and to inspire students to use media and emerging technologies in responsible, effective and empowering ways.
Garcia was named Idaho’s PBS Digital Innovator in May 2019, which put him into consideration for the national All-Star honor. The PBS Digital Innovator All-Star program expands on these educators’ influential work, deepening their roles as leaders in integrating technology and digital media into the classroom — supporting students’ learning through increasingly important media literacy skills.
“PBS is honored to recognize these educators for the invaluable role they play in their communities,” says Sara Schapiro, Vice President of Education at PBS. “We have been especially proud of the work they continue to do in these unprecedented times, establishing new and innovative teaching techniques through distance learning, further solidifying the reasons they were distinguished as PBS Digital Innovator All-Stars.”
In partnership with Idaho Public Television, Garcia will spend the 2020-2021 school year deepening engagement among students, families, educators, schools and IdahoPTV education staff. As an exclusive part of the program, Garcia will have access to virtual and in-person events, including the PBS Digital Innovator All-Star Summit, to connect and learn with peers and station representatives from across the country.
The PBS Digital Innovator All-Stars were chosen based on a variety of criteria, including passion for their role as an educator, outcomes from their time as PBS Digital Innovators, connections to their communities and service to under-resourced families. The full list of the 2020 PBS Digital Innovator All-Stars can be found here.
Looking for some help engaging your little one? IdahoPTV has you covered. Simply text the word IDAHOFAMILY to the number 274448. Bright by Text is a free service offered in English and Spanish. Games and activities to help kids learn at home are tailored to the age of your child and texted directly to you for free 2-4 times a week. For more information visit idahoptv.org/families.
To help parents navigate the latest information and recommendations to ensure the health of families, Bright by Text offers expert tips about community resources, safety protocols and at-home activities to engage children. Bright by Text collaborates with experts like the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), PBS Kids, Nurse-Family Partnership and others to provide an expert-backed health and wellness curriculum.
“IdahoPTV is excited to partner with Bright by Text to meet the needs of Idaho families. This gives us a greater opportunity to get our resources into the hands of parents who may not have the internet or the ability to attend activities with their kids. Bright by Text is a creative way to reach out to families with very young learners and help set children up for success from cradle to career.” — Samantha Hill, M.Ed., IdahoPTV Family Engagement Specialist
Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, neighbor, or babysitter,Bright by Text can make caring for a little one easier! To receive free tips and learning-games directly to your phone, simply text the word IDAHOFAMILY to the number 274448.
Thousands of Idaho students don’t have a computer at home or a way to connect to the internet so they can learn remotely during this coronavirus pandemic. But nearly every family in Idaho has a television set and can watch Idaho Public Television. That is where IdahoPTV’s “Classroom Idaho: Learn @ Home” programming can connect these students with certified Idaho teachers so that they can finish learning for the balance of this school year.
Beginning April 20, Idaho teachers will provide instruction to students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 via Idaho Public Television’s CREATE channel (one of our five free over-the-air broadcast channels).
Third grade instruction begins at 8am MT/7am PT, and will repeat at Noon MT/11am PT; 4th gradeinstruction begins at 9am MT/8am PT; 5th gradeinstruction begins at 10am MT/9am PT and 6thgrade instruction begins at 11am MT/10am PT. The instruction will be aligned with what the students would be learning if they were still attending their brick-and-mortar schools.
The same lessons will also be available in playlists for students with connectivity at IdahoPTV’s YouTube channel.
IdahoPTV’s over-the-air broadcast channels are free to receive. All you need is an antenna. Our signal is available to over 99 percent of the households in Idaho. For information on where to find our CREATE channel and other free channels in your area, or how to re-scan to find our channels, visit our website.
Our full channel lineup is also available on many major cable outlets around the state. Check with your local cable provider.
Idaho Public Television General Manager Ron Pisaneschi shared the station’s enthusiasm for the project noting that “We are pleased to partner with the State Department of Education and Idaho Business for Education to use the power of public television to deliver these lessons to students in homes throughout Idaho. PBS has always been America’s largest classroom, but now we are bringing Idaho’s teachers and their lessons directly into students’ homes.”
“Idaho Business for Education is working during this epidemic to get computers and internet connectivity to as many students as possible who don’t have these resources at home,” IBE President and CEO Rod Gramer said. “But we also know that getting these resources to every student in a timely way may not be possible. That’s why IBE so appreciates Idaho Public TV stepping up and providing “Classroom Idaho: Learn @ Home” so that all 3rd-6th grade students in Idaho have access to instruction from one of Idaho’s great teachers.”
“For the State Department of Education and educators throughout Idaho, a crucial objective during this soft closure has been to find ways to reach all of our students with distance learning, although online access and equipment is a major challenge in many communities and households,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said. “I am thrilled that Idaho Public Television has stepped forward to level the playing field, providing instruction via equipment that virtually all households already have – their TVs.” “Through this partnership with Idaho Public Television and Idaho Business For Education, some of Idaho’s great teachers will provide instruction in math, history and more to students in grades 3 through 6, the key demographic that is not currently reached by educational TV in Idaho. We are thrilled to line up teachers for the project and help bring this brilliant idea to Idaho children and families.”
CLASSROOM IDAHO: Learn @ Home is a partnership of Idaho Public Television, Idaho Business for Education and the State Department of Education.
We have launched our new Virtual Book Club for kids grades 3-6. Our first book will be “The Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson. We will meet once each week via Zoom to explore the book together. 
