Behind the Scenes at IPTV: LaShell Staley, Trista Peitzman, and Abby Brown Keep IPTV Sessions Rolling
LaShell Staley has been with Iowa Public Television for over 17 years. Her educational background includes a B.A. in journalism and a minor in English. During her time at the network, she has held a variety of positions that include management of the college-level programming service for the network, sitting on national boards with PBS and Kentucky Educational Television related to Adult Literacy and program development. She also held a seat on the Coordinating Council for Post High School Education. Staley has also worked on a number of grants and on special project teams throughout her years with IPTV. As one example, she developed the iowalearns.org project. In her current position, Staley manages the School to Careers and Transitions Projects at IPTV. She also works on projects related to ABE/GED/ELL and is the network contact for these groups. In addition to these duties, Staley is currently in the middle of her second (three-year) term on a Department of Education appointment to the Special Education Advisory Council (SEAP) for the State of Iowa. She is also currently serving a term on the Iowa Literacy Council and has served on this council in years past.
Trista Peitzman, the PreK-12 coordinator for K-12 Connections, has been a part of IPTV for nearly 10 years. Prior to working for IPTV, she taught elementary school for six years. In her coordinator role, she plans ICN sessions, schedules and facilitates ICN sessions, trains presenters and works with presenters to modify the ICN if necessary. In addition to these duties, Peitzman recently began working with the new Raising Readers program, a reading readiness campaign. PBS KIDS Raising Readers is a national literacy campaign and part of the Ready To Learn initiative, focused on building reading skills at home, at school, in childcare and in the community. Funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the United States Department of Education, the Ready To Learn initiative efforts incorporate the latest research about the most effective ways for kids to build reading skills, with a special emphasis on the needs of children from lower income families. Peitzman is pleased to be part of this worthwhile initiative and enjoys all aspects of her job as she helps teachers to get the resources they need to more effectively teach. For more information about the Raising Readers initiative, check their Web site at http://pbskids.org/read/?station=KDIN.
Abby Brown was hired by Iowa Public Television in the fall of 2005 after completing her B.S. in early childhood education at Iowa State University to work on the K-12 Connections project. Her main role with the project is to coordinate distance-learning opportunities delivered to Iowa schools via the ICN. She works to create opportunities for students in grades Pre-K through 12 as well as educators, administrators, nurses, librarians and other adults who work in schools. To develop and make these opportunities a reality, she works with partners throughout the state of Iowa to deliver educational and interactive sessions across all content areas and grade levels. For Brown, the most enjoyable aspect of the position is teaching ICN sessions for Pre-K and elementary students. She enjoys getting to know the teachers and students, especially those who attend regularly. She also feels strongly about her part in fostering opportunities for children that they might not otherwise get to experience.
