WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital in Morgantown is one of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s newest Inquire Within locations. Inquire Within is a grant-funded initiative that brings award-winning PBS Kids content along with support from the WVPB education staff.
WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital in Morgantown is one of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s newest Inquire Within locations. Inquire Within is a grant-funded initiative that brings award-winning PBS Kids content along with support from the WVPB education staff.
The addition of WVU Children’s Hospital makes a total of 15 Inquire Within locations across the Mountain State.
On Dec. 15, the WVPB Education staff and WVU Medicine Children’s School Intervention Specialist Courtney Cook teamed up to greet patients, families, and hospital staff with PBS Kids activity bags and a special visit from Nature Cat.
Nature Cat is a fun, and educational PBS Kids show that features a house cat named Fred, who dreams of the outdoors. When his family leaves for the day, he becomes Nature Cat and goes on great outdoor adventures!
Children of all ages were thrilled to see Nature Cat and give him a wave or a high-five. Many hospital staff took a moment from their busy schedule to laugh and take photos with the character.
“Hospital stays are very emotional, especially with children, and we hope the visit brought comfort, laughter, and joy to those we met,” said WVPB Education Director Maggie Holley. “We left the hospital humbled and excited to plan another program in the near future.”
Hmmm… Will Clifford the Big Red Dog fit through the hospital doors?
West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s PBS Kids show, Elinor Wonders Why, is all about exploring and learning. This week, that came in handy for a special Inquire Within event at the Mason County Library.
Six children and seven adults were on hand for a fun lesson about shapes and colors of leaves right as we head into the season for beautiful Fall foliage in West Virginia.
Program coordinator Cindy Williams felt the content provided by PBS Kids and PBS LearningMedia were helpful with this event. “It was so easy to create a fun, interactive lesson using PBS LearningMedia. For my 3- and 4-year-old little explorers, the Ready to Learn lessons are perfect to discover a topic with characters they are already familiar with,” Williams said. “We had so much fun exploring leaves with the Elinor Wonders Why gang! I am currently changing lesson plans to include more PBS content!”
Children in attendance were met with a video introduction from Elinor followed by a pool of leaves to admire and interact with.
Harrison Evans
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WVPB
(L-R): Rowsey Vanscoy, Gracy Blain, Ari Mayes, Lexi McConihay, Beyler Bonecutter, Cindy Williams (program coordinator), Jordan Pinson
Harrison Evans
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WVPB
(L-R): Rowsey Vanscoy, Gracy Blain, Ari Mayes, Lexi McConihay, Beyler Bonecutter, Cindy Williams (program coordinator), Jordan Pinson
Megan Bonecutter thought the leaf activity was a great way for her daughter to understand leaves and associated seasonal changes. “My daughter loved the leaf activity taught by Ms. Cindy. She enjoyed the story and really loved the activity of tracing leaves. When we came home, she immediately headed out to the backyard to find as many different types of leaves as she could to sort and trace,” Bonecutter said. “Another special moment of Beyler’s was discovering the library’s ‘magic tree’ that will change colors. We’ve driven by the library quite a few times in the past few days and every time we pass, we notice small changes happening. This activity with leaves falling has helped Beyler understand why the current season is named ‘fall.’
Megan McConihay enjoyed watching her children learn with Elinor. “I love that PBS has characters like Elinor that my kids can enjoy and imitate during their own play, and they don’t even realize how much they’re learning while they do it! They think they’re just playing,” McConihay said.
Amy Pinson emphasized the importance of story time at her local library, stating that it transforms trips to the library into something more. “Story time has helped us to turn a trip to the library into ‘an event’ and Ms. Cindy is always sure to make it exciting! For example, this past week we went ‘exploring’ outside and found all kinds of leaves,” Pinson said. “We discovered leaves come in all different shapes and sizes just like Elinor in our story! My toddler, Jordan, loves going to story time every week and is always so excited to go to the library. My hope is he will always think of reading & learning as an exciting activity.”
Lacy Blain highlights the importance of the PBS Kids content that Inquire Within provides participating libraries. “My child loves to watch PBS and play on the app. I love it because it’s not just entertainment – my child learns so much,” Blain said.
For more on WVPB’s Inquire Within program, click here. If you would like to see Inquire Within in your local community library, please email education specialist Harrison Evans at hevans@wvpublic.org.
WVPB offers a unique out-of-school program designed to encourage family engagement and highlight the importance of early literacy in elementary school children; sponsors are needed to make it accessible for West Virginia libraries.
Inquire Withinis designed to bring respected PBS Kids educational content to children via their local library. The program, currently offered in 13 libraries, makes learning enjoyable for children throughout the Mountain State. There are 15 libraries — Sutton Public Library, Helvetia Public Library, Lowe Public Library, Southern Area Library, Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, Morgan County Public Library, Ohio County Public Library, Brooke County Public Library, Shady Spring Branch Library, Vienna Public Library, Putnam County Library, Cowen Public Library, Louis Bennet Public Library, Fort Ashby Public Library, and Mary H. Weir Public Library — poised to offer the program once a sponsor is identified to help with expenses.
Current participating libraries are Doddridge County Public Library, Tyler County Public Library, Clay County Public Library, Burnsville Public Library, Mason County Library, Hundred Public Library, Hamlin Public Library, Boone-Madison Public Library, Webster-Addison Public Library, Eleanor Branch Library, Buffalo Public Library, Cabell County Public Library, and Raleigh County Public Library – Beckley Branch.
“Inquire Within is a great program that brings smiles to children’s faces, and makes learning an experience rather than a chore,” said Harrison Evans, WVPB education specialist. “Library staff who are able to offer this program frequently mention how beneficial it is to their libraries and respective communities.”
Since January 2021, 163 children and 73 adults have been served by this program, and Evans is hopeful those numbers will continue to rise. “Family engagement is a focal point of Inquire Within,” said Evans. “This program is meant to supplement the work libraries are already doing, while engaging parents and children simultaneously with PBS Kids content.”
Do you know someone who would be willing to sponsor a library (or more)? If so, connect with Todd Frymyer, underwriting manager, at (304) 556-4905.
If you would like to have Inquire Within in your library, connect with Harrison Evans at (304) 556-4922.
