FRED ROGERS' HEROES: WHO'S HELPING AMERICA'S CHILDREN (TV)
Summary
This special, hosted by Fred Rogers, documents the activities of four individuals who are committed to helping children in the U.S. Each of the four segments features interviews with heroic individuals and the children they help, as well as scenes of their projects in action. Glojean Todacheene is the first Native American principal of the Mesa Elementary School in the Navajo nation at Shiprock, New Mexico. Born and raised on the reservation, Todacheene brings to Mesa a sense of community and caring. She discusses the importance of providing children with support and emphasizes that discipline comes from respect, not authoritarianism. The next segment profiles Olomenji O'Connor, who has founded an anti-violence program called Project Peace in the West Side Public Housing Developments of Chicago, Illinois. O'Connor says that children are not inherently violent but are taught violence and can therefore learn skills such as mediation and conflict resolution. In this segment, students are elected as mediators by their peers and resolve conflicts before they escalate to violence.
The next segment profiles Carola de la Rocha, a former member of Ballet Folklorico de Amalia Hernandez in Mexico, who has founded a dance school in her old neighborhood in East Los Angeles. She teaches ballet, Mexican folk dance, and contemporary dance, providing a cultural activity in an area lacking comparable programs. She says through dance students learn discipline, self-esteem, and motivation that helps them in life. The last segment profiles Samuel Ross, who has founded a small working farm and treatment center for troubled youths called Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York. Ross says that troubled children can relate to animals when all else has failed. In addition to attending sessions with doctors and social workers, the children help care for the farm's 250 animals and learn about cooperation and responsibility in an accepting, nurturing environment. The program concludes with remarks by Mr. Rogers.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1998.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: September 6, 1994 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:11
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:40171
- GENRE: Specials; Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Children, problem; Dance; Folk songs, Mexican; Indians of North America; Schools; Social work; Specials; Violence in America; Youth; Indigenous Peoples Collection
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 1994
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Fred Rogers … Executive Producer
- Sam Newbury … Executive Producer
- Margaret Whitmer … Producer
- Elizabeth Nadas Seamans … Producer
- Royal Kennedy … Producer
- Lynn Squilla … Producer
- Jean Victor … Producer
- Gary Hines … Director
- Michael Moricz … Music by
- Fred Rogers … Host
- Carola de la Rocha
- Olomenji O'Connor
- Samuel Ross
- Glojean Todacheene