-- Phyllis Della Vecchia,
"Every year, more and more students use our distance learning options. Pursuing their educational goals through telecourses, Internet courses and interactive television classes is right in line with their thinking. They are more than comfortable with electronic media; they are very sophisticated users and eager to learn via technology. Distance learning will only grow and grow."
President, Camden County College
The WHYY Friends Network joined the WHYY team this year. The Network is made up of supporters living and working in the tri-state area who have pooled their talents to promote WHYY. These friends aim to become "ambassadors" for WHYY in the community and to sponsor events that encourage membership and donations. The group's first event, "Meet the Stars," attracted close to 200 people who met TV12 and 91FM personalities.
Thousands of audience members connected with each other and with station personalities at more than three dozen community events. This year you could find WHYY at The Book and The Cook Fair, Sunoco Welcome America! and The Old House Fair.
Foster care agencies in the region turned to WHYY to help reach their constituents in conjunction with a TV12 program, Take This Heart. Other outreach projects of note included a Mister Rogers' Sweater Drive, a Reading Rainbow literacy contest for elementary school children, a high-profile presence in the Holiday Parade for the Springfield Mall, Shadowing Day for inner city high school students and a Love Is Reading Together Celebration for preschoolers.
Volunteers at WHYY
This year more than 1,000 volunteers worked more than 6,000 hours for WHYY, equalling close to $88,500 in work hours. Close to 70 college students gained valuable work experience through internships at TV12 and 91FM. The students came from 24 colleges and universities in the tri-state area. Schools, community groups, religious organizations and other groups hosted WHYY staff in formal and informal get-togethers. In this fiscal year alone, 23 WHYY staff members participated in 33 speaking engagements, reaching out to over 1,800 people.
Community Partnerships
Government, business, educational and other non-profit agencies asked WHYY to be their communications partner, including:
- WHYY has forged a partnership with Philadelphia's Fairmount Park Commission, which will result in documentaries on the park's revitalization and environmental programs. Also resulting from this alliance will be brief environmental messages to be broadcast between WHYY's children's shows.
- TV12 hosted the nation's number one business show, Nightly Business Report (NBR), with its week-long visit to the tri-state area. NBR devoted 40 percent of its air time to our area's businesses, reaching millions of viewers around the world.
- Sister public radio stations WXPN and WRTI collaborated with 91FM in what has been called a "national model of cooperation," to bring Philadelphia music aficionados more folk, opera and jazz programming.
- A number of organizations began talking with WHYY about partnership opportunities, such as: Drexel University, Temple University, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Franklin Institute, Foundation for Architecture, City of Philadelphia Aviation Operations, Please Touch Museum®, Philadelphia Orchestra, Liberty Museum and Education Center, Center for Literacy, The Pennsylvania Ballet, the Environmental Protection Agency, American Water Works Association and others.