Boston, MA, June 24, 2022 – GBH has announced Cara Pekarcik from North Quincy High School as a member of the 2022 class of educators selected for the PBS Digital Innovator All-Star Program – honoring classroom changemakers who offer fresh ideas and bold approaches to supporting their students’ growth and learning. Nominated by their local PBS stations, 20 educators were chosen from across the country.
Pekarcik is a veteran science teacher at North Quincy High School (NQHS), where she combined her background in marine science with a love for teaching to educate students in biology and zoology. During her 16 years at NQHS, Pekarcik has served as an assistant volleyball coach, National Honor Society Adviser, and member of the school’s Culture and Climate Committee.
Pekarcik was named the 2018 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. She also served as a PolarTREC educator during a 2016 research trip to Antarctica. Pekarcik served as a GBH/NEPM Educator Ambassador from 2020-2022. She holds a MA in Secondary Education (biology) from UMASS Boston and is currently working towards a doctoral degree at Walden University.
The PBS Digital Innovator All-Star program brings together a community of PreK-12th grade educators who are innovators and leaders both in and outside of the classroom. Specifically, Digital Innovator All-Stars are selected from a cohort of educators who are doing extraordinary work supporting student learning by integrating media and digital technology in their teaching environments and inspiring students to use these tools in responsible, effective and empowering ways.
“We are thrilled that Cara has been selected as a PBS Digital Innovator All-Star,” said Seeta Pai, executive director of Education at GBH. “Cara has consistently excelled in teaching, bringing innovative ideas to her work in the classroom and inspiring her students to reach beyond whatis expected. We are looking forward to working closely with her in the upcoming school year.”
In partnership with GBH, Pekarcik will spend the 2022-2023 school year deepening engagement among students, families, educators, schools and GBH
The full list of the 2022 PBS Digital Innovator All-Stars and their profiles can be found here.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. GBH is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services GBH WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station and as a partner to NEPM in Springfield. Dedicated to making media accessible to and representative of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to audience members who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. With PBS LearningMedia, GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide. GBH’s local programming includes Boston Public Radio, Greater Boston, Stories from the Stage, Open Studio with Jared Bowen, Basic Black and High School Quiz Show. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
About PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 126 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS LearningMedia, co-founded and operated by GBH and PBS, is public media’s flagship K-12 digital learning service offering more tens of thousands of free resources to educators and students. Over the 2020-2021 school year, the site had 19M users and garnered over 99M pageviews (including 23M pageviews of interactive lessons on the GBH-developed Interactive Lesson Platform) and 82M video streams. Over the same period, more than 2,000 educational resources were added to the site and users spent over 378 million minutes viewing educational video content.
More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter.
Cara Pekarcik recognized by GBH as an education leader in the Boston community
Boston, MA, June 24, 2022 – GBH has announced Cara Pekarcik from North Quincy High School as a member of the 2022 class of educators selected for the PBS Digital Innovator All-Star Program – honoring classroom changemakers who offer fresh ideas and bold approaches to supporting their students’ growth and learning. Nominated by their local PBS stations, 20 educators were chosen from across the country.
Pekarcik is a veteran science teacher at North Quincy High School (NQHS), where she combined her background in marine science with a love for teaching to educate students in biology and zoology. During her 16 years at NQHS, Pekarcik has served as an assistant volleyball coach, National Honor Society Adviser, and member of the school’s Culture and Climate Committee.
Pekarcik was named the 2018 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. She also served as a PolarTREC educator during a 2016 research trip to Antarctica. Pekarcik served as a GBH/NEPM Educator Ambassador from 2020-2022. She holds a MA in Secondary Education (biology) from UMASS Boston and is currently working towards a doctoral degree at Walden University.
The PBS Digital Innovator All-Star program brings together a community of PreK-12th grade educators who are innovators and leaders both in and outside of the classroom. Specifically, Digital Innovator All-Stars are selected from a cohort of educators who are doing extraordinary work supporting student learning by integrating media and digital technology in their teaching environments and inspiring students to use these tools in responsible, effective and empowering ways.
“We are thrilled that Cara has been selected as a PBS Digital Innovator All-Star,” said Seeta Pai, executive director of Education at GBH. “Cara has consistently excelled in teaching, bringing innovative ideas to her work in the classroom and inspiring her students to reach beyond whatis expected. We are looking forward to working closely with her in the upcoming school year.”
In partnership with GBH, Pekarcik will spend the 2022-2023 school year deepening engagement among students, families, educators, schools and GBH
The full list of the 2022 PBS Digital Innovator All-Stars and their profiles can be found here.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. GBH is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services GBH WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station and as a partner to NEPM in Springfield. Dedicated to making media accessible to and representative of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to audience members who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. With PBS LearningMedia, GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide. GBH’s local programming includes Boston Public Radio, Greater Boston, Stories from the Stage, Open Studio with Jared Bowen, Basic Black and High School Quiz Show. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
About PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 126 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS LearningMedia, co-founded and operated by GBH and PBS, is public media’s flagship K-12 digital learning service offering more tens of thousands of free resources to educators and students. Over the 2020-2021 school year, the site had 19M users and garnered over 99M pageviews (including 23M pageviews of interactive lessons on the GBH-developed Interactive Lesson Platform) and 82M video streams. Over the same period, more than 2,000 educational resources were added to the site and users spent over 378 million minutes viewing educational video content.
More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter.
