• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

2016 common sense media awards Illustration courtesy of Olaf Hajek OUR MISSION Common Sense is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology. WELCOME TO THE COMMON SENSE MEDIA AWARDS We’re thrilled to be back in New York City, where so much great media and work for kids and families originate. Tonight’s event is all about helping young people harness the power of technology for creative expression, learning, and making the world a better place for the next generation. It’s amazing to see how both the world and Common Sense have changed in just the past few years. We’ve always known that media and technology inform how our kids perceive, play, and learn. Yet groundbreaking developments over the last few years have solidified the notion that today’s technological revolution is changing the very nature of childhood. Today’s “always on” generation is connected to everyone and everything, whether it’s through the computers in their homes, the increasing presence of laptops and tablets in their classrooms, or the mobile devices in their pockets. In a world where our kids now create as much media as they consume, it’s essential that parents, educators, and policymakers do everything they can to ensure that our children will be safe, responsible, and savvy digital citizens. And that’s why we’re here: to be the unparalleled champion that America’s kids and families need to make their lives better in the 21st century. As we always say: We rate, educate, and advocate. Common Sense’s unique ratings and reviews platform evaluates media and technology for quality, age-appropriateness, and learning potential for more than 45 million users annually. Similarly, our trusted advice and research helps parents, educators, and policymakers manage media and technology’s day-to-day effects on our kids. And finally, through our expanded advocacy platform, Common Sense Kids Action, we’re the nation’s leading voice focused on making kids and education America’s top priority. Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate the visionaries and leaders who are embracing media and technology to make our world a better place for kids. We’re honored that you’ve joined us, and we’re excited to show you all the ways in which Common Sense has grown and changed. As always, thank you for your extraordinarily generous support for our work for kids, families, and schools across New York and the entire nation. Jim Steyer Amy Guggenheim Shenkan Bill Price CEO and Founder COO and President Board Chair 2016 HONOREES Nza-Ari Khepra Social Change Catalyst Award Zootopia Best Family Media Award Marie Belle Vargas Educator of the Year Award Bill Nye Educational Creator Award SPECIAL GUESTS The Honorable Julián Castro Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Tom Wheeler Chairman, U.S. Federal Communications Commission PERFORMANCES BY Robert McDuffie Grammy-nominated violinist PS22 Chorus TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2016 6:00 PM Reception 583 Park Avenue 6:45 PM Awards Show New York City 8:15 PM Supper Buffet The Common Sense Media Awards pay tribute to the innovative media creators, educators, policymakers, and visionaries who are transforming the way kids learn, grow, and thrive in a 24/7 digitally connected world. HOSTED BY Claire Shipman Journalist, author, and public speaker HOST Claire Shipman is a journalist, author, and public speaker. She is an expert on confidence and women’s leadership, and her latest book, The Confidence Code, was a New York Times best seller and the subject of an April 2014 Atlantic magazine cover story co-authored by BBC journalist Katty Kay. Womenomics (2009), also by Kay and Shipman, was another New York Times best-seller. Shipman joined ABC in 2001, where she reports on women’s issues; her stories have covered everything from politics to international affairs and social issues. Before ABC she covered the White House and the Clinton administration for NBC. She also spent a decade at CNN, where she covered the White House and spent five years at the Moscow bureau covering the collapse of the Soviet Union. She’s received numerous awards for her reporting, including a Peabody, a DuPont, and an Emmy. Shipman holds a graduate degree in international affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a bachelor of arts in Russian studies from Columbia College at Columbia University. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Jay Carney, and their two children, Hugo and Della. SOCIAL CHANGE CATALYST AWARD Nza-Ari Khepra is a student at Columbia University, majoring in economics. During her junior year of high school, her friend Hadiya Pendleton lost her life to gun violence. In response to Hadiya’s death and Chicago’s growing gun violence, Khepra and her close friends founded a youth-led awareness campaign called Project Orange Tree to educate kids about violence and the social structures that lead to it. The tree, they say, represents life and prosperity. They chose orange as a way to symbolize the value of human life, because hunters wear the color to warn other hunters not to shoot; Khepra and her friends wanted to apply that same concept to the violence in our cities. Project Orange Tree’s symbolism became the inspiration behind 2015’s annual Wear Orange campaign, which aims to end gun violence across America and marks June 2, Hadiya’s birthday, as National Gun Violence Awareness Day. That simple call to action has grown into a national movement, and, increasingly, orange is becoming the symbol of gun safety. The New York Mets, Julianne Moore, Padma Lakshmi, Russell Simmons, Jason Bateman, Amnesty International, and other well-known organizations and individuals have become participants in this effort. By using social media to turn tragedy into a meaningful violence-awareness effort, Khepra has become a role model for kids and for people of all ages. BEST FAMILY MEDIA AWARD Accepted by: Clark Spencer, Producer Nate Torrence, voice of “Clawhauser” The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprising habitat neighborhoods such as ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together —a place where, no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when optimistic Officer Judy Hopps arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde, to solve the mystery. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia is a comedy-adventure directed by Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, The Simpsons) and co-directed by Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero). It opened in theaters on March 4, 2016. Upon its release, Zootopia was awarded the Common Sense Seal, which recognizes movies and TV series and specials that offer families an exceptional media experience and meet our highest editorial standards for entertainment, in addition to offering worthwhile themes, messages, and role models. Common Sense Seal honorees such as Zootopia have the potential to spark conversations, entertain families of all types, and make a significant, lasting impact on individuals within a family or on the culture as a whole. EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD Marie B. Vargas, the library media specialist at PS1x in New York City, is determined to help close the digital divide. She holds master’s degrees in library and information science and in bilingual education and has more than 20 years of experience working with bilingual and English-speaking students. Early on, Vargas realized that for high-poverty, high-need schools with bilingual students, integrating technology in the classroom would present a challenge that could not be solved by simply providing schools with computers. Many of her second- through fifth-grade students did not have Internet access or computers at home and didn’t know how to use new technologies. To tackle this challenge, she made her library available to students before and after school and held special events to allow children, as well as their parents, the opportunity to learn more about the safe and responsible use of technology. From there, Vargas began working with teachers across New York City to help develop creative ways to integrate technology in all classrooms. She has presented at Lehman College and various educational technology conferences, including the 2012 ISTE conference with the Bronx Office of Educational Technology. She is an Edmodo Certified Trainer, Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified Educator, and the 2015 NYCDOE Excellence in School Technology Award recipient. Her dedication to finding a whole-community approach to digital citizenship has set her apart as a champion and ally for students and their families in New York City and around the nation. EDUCATIONAL CREATOR AWARD Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society to help people everywhere understand and appreci- ate the science that makes our world work. His early fascination with how bicycles, airplanes, and other things work led him to Cornell University and a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977. After being recruited by Boeing in Seattle, Nye developed dual careers as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Eventually, he quit his day job to become a writer and performer on Seattle’s homegrown ensemble comedy show Almost Live in 1986, where “Bill Nye the Science Guy®” was born.

Load more

  48

Copy Link