Planet Classroom Network Announces Schedule For First-Ever Multicultural Channel For Youth Voices

The Planet Classroom Network has launched its programming schedule with 28 Cultural Organizations committed to Global Programming. Organized by CMRubinWorld, the Season 1 Line-Up presents a 6-month World's Fair of Learning on YouTube for youth by youth which includes original video programming.

The Network's Spring programming will focus on Global Stewardship, Indigenous Voices, Celebrating the Identity Spectrum, Keeping Creativity Alive and Prescriptions for Global Unity.

Podcasts for the Planet Classroom Network will be hosted by "Orb," who will be the audience's virtual guide through the Planet Classroom podcast shows in connection with VoiceAmerica. UNESCO's Assistant Director-General, Stefania Giannini, will be joined by youth around the world for the inaugural show. Youth will discuss video programming appearing on the Network and share their passions, ideas, and solutions for creating the future they want. Podcast themes will include how youth are tackling the societal challenges the world is experiencing, now amplified by a global pandemic. How can empowered youth voices push our governing institutions to make choices that promote the wellbeing of the many, rather than the few? What are youth's solutions to a polarized world? What are their solutions for strengthening the links between creativity and society at a time when art and artists are needed more than ever?

Planet Classroom Network Season 1 programming will represent creators from over 50 countries and include over 150 films, dance, music, video game, and art videos as well as VidOps and workshops featuring innovative youth start-ups, all of which have been created for youth or by youth.

Notable film and video presentations in Season 1 include Director Christopher Carpenter's Stephen Hawking and Me, which showcases our potential to do anything we set our minds to. SIMA Classroom presents Lucan Guilkey's BAFTA Award winning film, What Happened to Dujuan Armstrong, about holding officials accountable for the inhumane treatment of young African-Americans. Eric Simon's What to Do About Climate Disruption explores solutions for making progress on the Climate Crisis. Directed by Nicky Newman, From the Same Soil portrays the lives of two gay men and one transgender woman who left their home countries because of discrimination and persecution. Adam Loften and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee's Counter Mapping challenges the western notions of geography and the arbitrary borders imposed on the Zuni World.

Audiences will have free access to a global collection of films which champion the voices and efforts of youth around the world.

"NFFTY is pleased to partner as a Curator for Planet Classroom. Each year we showcase the best emerging youth filmmakers from around the globe, with youth programming and selecting work by their peers. Planet Classroom is a natural extension of those efforts - we're excited to share these stories and perspectives with young people everywhere," said Dan Hudson, Executive Director of NFFTY.

"Commffest is excited to share the compelling stories from talented directors on Planet Classroom. We hope audiences everywhere will be able to learn from the insightful works by these important filmmakers," shared Sandie De Freitas, President at Commffest.

Moreover, the network boasts workshops created exclusively for Planet Classroom including videos by Materials for the Arts that teach communities how to make use of everyday household items to produce original art.

"We also have the privilege of presenting Book Creator as a curator," says co-founder and author C.M. Rubin (Cathy). Over 100 million ebooks have been created in 90+ countries on this platform." Book Creator's Write a Story in One Page challenge will be seen on the Planet Classroom Network. Additionally, winners of the poetry awards for Scholastic's Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, one of the most prestigious programs for talented youth, will recite and discuss their poems on Planet Classroom.

Planet Classroom will also be a channel committed to gaming. Games present a unique medium for interactive storytelling and learning innovation. Planet Classroom will present workshops and demos for some of the most important games for youth.

"Games have become a dominant form of entertainment worldwide," noted Harry Rubin, Planet Classroom co-founder and former video game industry pioneer responsible for launching some of the world's biggest games. "Games and game-like designs are part of our global culture, today and in the future."

"Psyon Games is building a better world by gamifying scientific information. We look forward to sharing the powerful ways gamification can add incentives to any activity on Planet Classroom," stated CEO of Pyson Games, Olli Rundgren.

"Planet Classroom will help to level the global learning playing field and remove biased boundaries facing today's youth. And using a platform that speaks directly to today's youth will inspire them to become tomorrow's creative leaders," said Lorne Lanning, co-founder, Oddworld Inhabitants.

Planet Classroom curators and content contributors include Global Nomads, Global Oneness, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Commffest, KIDS FIRST!, Dream a Dream Foundation, OddWorld Inhabitants, Psyon Games, Challenge 59, LXL Ideas, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers/Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Creative Visions Foundation, Battery Dance, SIMA Classroom, Young Voices for the Planet, Bard Conservatory, Taking It Global, Materials for the Arts, Book Creator, XTalks, NFFTY, Young People's Chorus of New York City, The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace, Ryan Wong Classroom, The Global Search for Education, Voice America, Rocketium and Brandartica.