Pflugerville Students' Video On Mentoring To Air Nationally On PBS [Video]

PFLUGERVILLE, TX — A video produced by Pflugerville High School students detailing the importance of mentoring will be nationally broadcast on public television this weekend as part of the network's coverage of American Graduate Day.

On its website, KLRU, the local PBS affiliate, notes the video will be aired during its special programming from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Produced by the Pflugerville High School PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab students, the video features Angela De Hoyos Hart discussing the lasting impact her work as a mentor has had on both her students and her own life.

"Be sure to tune in on Oct. 14th starting at 1 pm for our American Graduate Day programming," PBS officials wrote on their website. "American Graduate Day 2017 is a four-hour, live broadcast and outreach event dedicated to engaging our country around the dropout crisis with special celebrity guests, relevant spokespeople and compelling stories from the students themselves."

Additionally, at 5 p.m. on Saturday, PBS will air "I Am Here," which is also part of our American Graduate project. Produced by the Creative Action Youth Cinema Collective and Youth Rise Texas, “I Am Here” tells the story of Yesenia Martinez, an immigrant teen who grew up in the U.S. whose family is undocumented.

"With a rising wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the city, Yesenia has to grapple with the reality of living as an undocumented immigrant, and what that means for her future," PBS officials explained. "Produced by young people in two of Austin’s most exciting youth programs, the film is an honest and emotional look into the real lived experiences of immigrant youth torn between the future they want for themselves and the future society will allow them to have."

The Pflugerville contribution to the broadcast is the first time a video from the campus has been accepted for airing by PBS. It is the work of PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab students Makayla Moore, Khue Tran and An Nguyen.

KLRU was among 30 stations receiving grants from New York City-based WNET and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to create local stories about mentoring. The Pflugerville High School video is one of 89 submitted and one of just 17 selected for broadcast.

The locally produced video centers on the General Motors Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) mentorship program at River Oaks Elementary school in the Pflugerville ISD. The short video shows the impact of a mentoring relationship between mentor Angela De Hoyos Hart, an IT project manager at GM, and Santonio Villarreal, a student at River Oaks. Santonio's mother, Dalia Salazar, also is featured in the video speaking of the impact the mentoring has had on her son.

Watch the video online or click below:

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