08.03.11
News

MSNBC and W.K. Kellogg Foundation Partner on education initiative: “Stronger America: Making the Grade”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is partnering with MSNBC on “Stronger America: Making the Grade,” a programming initiative that includes a week-long focus on education and culminates in a two-hour education town hall. Broadcasting from Detroit and grounded in the issues vulnerable children and families face, “Making the Grade” will feature daily segments during the week of August 8-14.

Making The GradeThe Kellogg Foundation welcomes MSNBC, NBC’s cable news station, to Detroit so that reporters can take a closer look at the challenges the city and the state of Michigan face and the progress made in addressing these challenges.

Through profiles of success and struggles on topics ranging from school readiness and early learning to high school graduation and meaningful employment, “Making the Grade” has the power to shift national perceptions about education.

This initiative aligns with the foundation’s focus on early learning and at-risk youth, and “Making the Grade” represents an unprecedented opportunity for the foundation to build national support for the vulnerable families and communities we serve.

Stakeholders and supporters can tune in to the live-broadcast, two-hour town hall education special on MSNBC on Sunday, August 14. Hosted by MSNBC Anchor Tamron Hall and co-hosted by MSNBC Contributor Jeff Johnson, the special will ask tough questions about the country’s education system and will spotlight innovative solutions that are helping to address the inequities that pervade it. The town hall will also bring together a roundtable of notable figures in the education community to discuss parenting and early education, student competitiveness on a global scale, the effects of race, poverty and the economy on education, and other essential topics.

In late September, the foundation will participate in Education Nation, NBC’s signature leadership summit and news broadcast initiative. “Making the Grade” comes as a precursor to MSNBC’s participation in Education Nation, a week-long event beginning September 25 across all NBC News platforms.

The foundation and MSNBC are working in partnership to raise awareness about ways communities can improve the lives of vulnerable children in America.