EART OF AMERICA - KANSAS CITY June 1, 1944 Broader Education · I Columbia "American School of Air" Program Provided Looks Ahead lo 15th Year with KMBC In KMBC Expansion Long recognized by leading authorities as the most signif­ icant contribution of radio in educational service, the Colum­ bia Broadcasting System's "American School of the Air" has One of radio's most compre­ just completed its fourteenth consecutive year over KMBC. hen:-iive expansion program:-; 1 Plans are already under way at KMBC for the fifteenth for post-war completion was season, beginning in October. --~-- ______ _ announced last month by "Most expensive educational pl'O­ gra_· m on the air" is Billboard's es- I Arthur B. Church, president timate of the Columbia-KMBC of KMBC of Kansas City. Ap­ feature. With an annual budget of $125,000, the series reaches at least I proval of KMBC's application , 5,000,000 students, through 177,000 for an increase in power to , classrooms. 50,000 watts on 540 kc will Sponsored by ~.E.A. Broadcast at 2 :30 each school day answer a long-existing need in from October to May, "School of, midwestern America for high­ the Air" is used in both elementary / and high schools, and is officially I power broadcasting service. DR. CHARLES F. CHURCH, JR., who is sponsored by the National Educa­ conducting on extensive study of the tion Association. It is also utilized Particularly will this brnadening potentialities of education by radio for. of KMBC's facilities prove of great KMBC. by the United States Government. as an official channel for the Office 1 value in the educational field, which of War Information, to convey has long been one of KMBC's pri­ news, information, and instructions mary civic interests. for civilian activities for children, teachers and patrons. Advantages of Radio KMBC Undertakes Next year's schedule for the In radio, human beings have the school will continue to rotate the most effective medium devised for study of science on Monday; music the mass transmission of ideas. Nation-wide Survey I on Tuesday; history and geography I on Wednesday; literature on Thurs- The cultural possibilities of this . day; and current history on Friday. new tool, both for formal class­ With radio's responsibility to Changes for 1944-45 room use, and in supplementary ap­ R. EDWIN BROWNE, JR., head of the proaches, transcend those known to America's cultural needs becoming• Certain changes in the series for more significant in a swiftly- I 1944-45, as recommended by the education department of KMBC, who civilization since the invention by handles KMBC's participation in the Gutenberg, in 1453, of printing changing war-world and with the! National Board of Consultants of from movable type. increasing need for adequate post- the school, under the chairmanship CBS "American School of the Air." of Dr. William C. Bagley, emeritus Radio's mass transmission af­ war planning, KMBC of Kansas professor of Teachers College, Co- fords distinct advantage in the edu­ City has retained the services of i lumbia, will be made. cating of peoples, not only in this country but throughout the world. Dr. Charles F. Church, Jr., to con- I Chief among these is the stress­ From such interplay of ideas and duct a nation-wide survey and: ing of social sciences in the Mon- KMBC Coordinates ideology as it affords, the world day science programs, and a greater may find a way to la;;ting peace. study. concern with the future of science; Traveling from city to city, Dr. ' concentration on American war the­ One of the most significant of all Church, by personal interview and aters in the history and geography Educallonal Plans KMBC's educational projects is the observation is obtaining first-hand sessions; and the use of more of CBS "American School of the Air," ·I the classics in the book-dramatiza- "The well-educated listener" is which has completed its fourteenth , information on how America's radio tions heard on Thursday. The the goal of KMBC's department of consecutive year over KMBC, and stations are meeting present needs, j Tuesday and Friday programs, education and its director, R. Ed­ is now looking toward an improved 1 1 and what they plan for the peace. "Gateways to Music" and "This win Browne, Jr., as plans get under curriculum for the fifteenth season, With the survey completed I Living World," will offer the same way for the 1944-45 school season. beginning next October. KMBC's educational services will I, type of material presented during Plans formulated in conference Small Schools Aided the season just closed. with Dr. Charles F. Church, Jr., be implemented to the needs of its I KMBC' d t·o I r h To the "American School of the Teachers' Manual Issued s e uca I na resea c con- Air," with its $125,000 budget for listeners in the light of the best sultant, and others, include pro- the eight-month series, KMBC adds techniques currently practiced, and · A School1 · ofbl" theh d Airb CBSteachers'' d grams to meet the needs of both its own local program, "The Class­ manua 1s pu 1s e Y , e- children and adults. room of the Air," a weekly discus­ the best plans currently projected. tailing information on each of the Early in the year a Radio Educa- sion for and by fourth graders in According to the announcement 130 programs in the series, and of- tion Institute will be held in coop- Kansas City schools. "Classroom of the plans, Dr. Church will obtain' fering suggestions for classroom t· "th th K c·t p bl" preparation and follow-up. era 1011 w1 e ansas I y u 1c of the Air" last season was broad­ from public school educators spe- Teachers and administrators Schools, under current plans. Na­ cast every Friday in mid-morning. cifically and educators generally,' · h" t th· 1 t tionally-known leaders in radio With an increase of power to information as to how (1) the :1;s~~gari a~t~d t~s r~~~~~f re:~:._ education would meet with all \n- 50,000 watts, KMBC can reach pre­ . f th · · f th 1 4 4 , terested teachers and school admm- schools can be better served by va t rnn ell' copies O e 94 - 5 · · t t · KMBC' · viously isolated areas with both edition °now, from Edwin Browne, ; 18 ra ors m s primary ~ov- these programs-areas almost com­ Kansas City broadcasters and (2) educational director of KMBC.; erage ar~a, for a two-day sess10n. pletely inaccessible to other sources Kansas City broadcasters can bet- Approximately 175 000 copies were Included m _the conference would be of educational assistance. ter serve the public generally with distributed in the' United States dem_on:'tratrnns of proper use of the The remote rural school, often this year. i rad10 m the classroom. seriously understaffed, the smaller educational programs. .. I In addition to its regular features city schools, lacking educational Among other accomplishments, · Popular ,, 1th Adults as listed in the program schedule contacts, will benefit immeasure­ Dr. Church is co-author of "Educa- As evidence of the influence of on the back page of "Listening ably when, by a spin of the dial, tional Music Broadcasts of 1941," the "School of the Air," Billboard 'I Post," KMBC plans to set aside at they can participate in the same reports in an article, "Air Educa- least one quarter-hour period a day, radio classrnom discussions that are published by Ohio St ate University, tion Grows Up," regular library-· at the same time each day, for being used by the nation's greatest and is founder of the Ohio Inter- runs on books covered by the programs especially designed for metropolitan school systems. , collegiate Orchestra Association. Thursday literature broadcasts. listening in the classroom. ------------ 2 LISTENING POST LISTENING POST 3 CBS News Coverage K. C. Radio Council Insures Complete Why "Listening Post" Works for Higher With this issue of "Listening Post", KMBC's Educational Story of Invasion Department initiates a service which will be available to teachers, Program Standards parents, and other interested listeners, each month during the To insure complete and accurate school year. In the interest of a "cooperative coverage of the invasion of Europe, The purpose of the publication is to give news and informa­ relationship" between radio stations the Columbia Broadcasting System tion about programs of an educational and cultural nature which and the listening public, the Radio has 15 full-time seasoned corre­ will enable listeners to rnake the best possible use of their radios. Council of Greater Kansas City has spondents reporting regularly on Listening to learn, research has indicated, requires a men­ been formed by members of various battle fronts throughout the world. tal attitude which is distinctly different from listening to be clubs and civic organizations inter­ Nearly a score of other experienced entertained. The listener, in the habit of passively accepting and ested in the democratic function of newsmen stand ready to broadcast enjoying the entertainment programs which comprise the major radio. to KMBC listeners from neutral portion of radio fare, finds it difficult to change his attitude to Created almost a year ago, the capitals whenever an important one of active listening to learn-a change which is necessary if grnup now has more than fifty or­ story breaks. he is to obtain the best results from educational programs. ganizations including the Kansas Into the newsroom of CBS head­ City radio stations represented in quarters in New York pours a swift Just as it is necessary to attack a weighty book on science its membership.