Wendell Bass: Equity Champion

Growing up, Wendell Bass was often told by his parents, “You’re on this earth to serve other people so find you something that you can do that will allow you to serve others.” Coming from a long line of educators, he naturally found that thing in teaching and school administration.

A lifelong learner and educator, he finds joy in seeing the light come on for children when you tell them they are brilliant. His goals of helping children understand their value, their place in the world, and their capabilities to achieve are echoed in the stories he shares with Gabriela Delgado and Lisa Bass in this wide-ranging interview. Hear his unique perspective on building family centered schools, creating an environment where students are understood and appreciated, and how we create equitable and inclusive education.

The Creative Conversations series invites experts across a variety of disciplines to share their perspectives and how they hope to see our world evolve.

Watch Building Equitable Learning Environments with Wendell Bass – Creative Conversations.

UCTV’s Education Channel offers expertise, inspiration for a lifetime of learning

Whether you’re a preteen exploring robotics, a high schooler filling out college applications, a parent struggling with distance learning or a teacher looking for videos to engage your students, UCTV’s Education Channel has something for you. In fact, the new channel offers high-quality resources for learners of all ages.

“The Education Channel as it stands today attends to the needs of a diverse global audience, providing engaging, leading-edge educational programming across the lifespan,” said Morgan Appel, assistant dean of UC San Diego Extension’s Education and Community Outreach (ECO) Department, which supports the channel’s programming.

The Education Channel evolved from UCTV’s STE+aM Channel, which focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and math. The new channel incorporates STEAM-related content but covers a much broader range of education-related topics and serves a wider audience.

“The Education Channel can perhaps be best characterized as the next logical step in our work in television,” Appel explained. “This transition was in the works but was given a sense of urgency and accelerated as a result of the onset of the pandemic.”

Content for the channel draws on an impressive pool of experts, including faculty from UC San Diego and across the University of California System, as well as Extension instructors. Contributors also include community partners, such as schools and nonprofit groups, and recognized authorities in education, public policy and more. Most programming is underwritten by ECO; the Girard Foundation and other organizations also provide support.

Here are a few examples of resources you’ll find on the Education Channel:

  • Staying Sane: Tips for Parents in Unprecedented Times – This video series from educators Shelli Kurth and Nicole Assisi offers advice, encouragement and inspiration for families struggling with distance learning. Topics range from “Reading with Your Kids” to “Your Self Care Toolkit.”
  • College Admissions – Extension instructor Steven Mercer hosts a series of videos to help with the college planning and application process, ranging from “College Tuition Costs” to “The UC Application and Admission Process During COVD-19.”
  • College Transition – A series of videos from the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) at UC San Diego shares tips for the transition to college. Subjects include “You Got into College! Now What?” and “Navigating College as a First-Gen Student.”

The Education Channel is available on the UCTV website and on a variety of other platforms, including YouTube, Amazon and Roku. Videos are categorized for ease of access. Companion guides are available for some topics, such as remote learning during the pandemic.

Appel emphasized that ECO strives to provide educational resources in a wide array of formats. “Our work in television is part of a more comprehensive approach to instructional delivery that includes courses and workshops, companion guides, podcasts, and video in English and Spanish,” he noted.

The Education Channel is helping ECO reach the broadest possible audience, Appel added: “We serve pre-kindergarten to post-retirement with programming designed to meet viewers where they are – be that creating a home-learning environment for elementary students, applying to college in uncertain times, exploring careers in education, or gaining insight into the state of education and workforce development in the 21st century.”

Browse all programs available on the Education Channel.

By Margaret King

Investing in the Future

How do we connect youth who are struggling to the possibility of a brighter future? We meet them where they are with opportunity and compassion. Youth advocates from the spheres of education, non-profit, and health come together in this engaging conversation to talk about how they implement programs, how they navigate challenges, and how they found their career paths.

This panel is part of the Global Empowerment Summit that aims to activates changemakers around collaborative solutions in the areas of empowerment, education, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and social impact.

Watch Guiding Lost Youth to a Better Future – Global Empowerment Summit 2019.

To watch more, please visit https://uctv.tv/global-empowerment-summit/

Taking the Lead

Madeleine Albright was born in Czechoslovakia and emigrated with her parents to the United States at age eleven. She first rose to public prominence in 1993 as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and in 1997 she was appointed as the nation’s first female Secretary of State by President Bill Clinton. In 2012 she was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Barack Obama. Now a professor of diplomacy at Georgetown University, Albright has remained active as an author, lecturer, and international envoy.

In her Commencement address to UC San Diego graduates Albright stresses the need to build communities, both locally and globally, and the importance of public service – topics on which she is eminently qualified to speak, having spent her adult life as a diplomat and dedicated public servant. As Secretary, Albright was an articulate advocate for democracy, human rights, fair labor practices, environmental protection, and global trade, and in her talk she notes that these core values align precisely with UC San Diego’s institutional philosophy and mission goals.

She urges the assembled students to become actively involved in public life and to assume leadership roles in addressing such serious issues as income inequality, climate change, nuclear proliferation, peace in the Middle East, terrorism, and, of course, immigration reform, noting that in addition to being the first female Secretary of State she is herself an immigrant. Albright emphasizes that the interconnectedness of today’s world heightens the need for thoughtful communal consensus in formulating new strategies and policies, and that UC San Diego graduates are well-disposed to effect those changes.

Watch — UC San Diego All Campus Commencement 2019 with Madeleine Albright

Women in Leadership 2019

“Where on an imagined clock of equality do we now stand?” asks veteran journalist Lynn Sherr at the start of this year’s Women in Leadership panel.

Listen in as Sylvia Acevedo, Chelsea Clinton, Jedidah Isler answer that question and share their thoughts on the present and future of the role of women in America. Each panelist reflects on her road to leadership and details the support mechanisms and mindsets needed to get there when faced with adversity.

This is the second annual Women in Leadership panel – convened to celebrate and honor the legacy of Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space.

Watch — A Conversation with Sylvia Acevedo, Chelsea Clinton, Jedidah Isler, and Lynn Sherr