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Through the New York Dinner Gala, The American Ireland Fund made a gift of $1 million to enable Sesame Street to produce a series for the children of Northern Ireland. The need for Sesame Street’s proven method of promoting understanding and acceptance is acute in Northern Ireland, where research has shown that children as young as three years of age display sectarian attitudes. The Fund is the anchor sponsor of this tremendous project.

We invited the President and CEO of Sesame Workshop, Gary Knell, to give an update on their progress.

On May 9, 1961, Newton Minow made a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters that underscored the state of the quality of television programming. Minow said, “When television is good, nothing—not the theater, not magazines or newspapers—is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set…I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.” Over half a century later, the growth of media outlets and the exchange of information and technologies is making our world smaller and opening the media landscape. In a multi-channel environment and with numerous media choices, the wasteland has dramatically grown. But despite the dismal outlook that Minow set forth, Sesame Workshop is reaching out beyond our borders to harness the power of media and create content that can bridge gaps and make a positive impact.

A few years after Minow’s landmark words were spoken, a group of people came together not only answering the call for better quality programming but also to do something previously untried—using television as a tool to teach. Early research on the way children viewed television showed that they could remember advertising jingles better than information in the programs they viewed. A public affairs producer, Joan Ganz Cooney, and a foundation executive, Lloyd Morrisett, pulled together a team of comedy writers, TV producers, and educators to experiment with the idea that, if children could remember jingles, they could most likely learn other important and more useful information if presented in a similar manner.

They set out to use television to help children, particularly at-risk inner city kids, to enter school ready to learn by channeling their natural attraction to TV, in a positive and purposeful way. They created a revolutionary program called Sesame Street.

Sesame Street instantly stood out because of the way it was designed—a typical urban city street inhabited by people and furry monsters of all different shapes, colors, and ethnicities that reflects the realities of life to help children understand everyday situations that they might encounter in their own lives. In addition to teaching letters and numbers, this neighborhood reflected the same kinds of family events kids and parents experience.

Nearly four decades later, the experiment continues and has extended to over 120 countries—making Sesame Street “the longest street in the world.” Using the same model Sesame Street was built on, Sesame Workshop has created local co-productions of the show in over 30 countries. The Workshop collaborates with local educators and researchers to develop a curriculum and works with local producers, writers, musicians, actors and puppeteers to create impactful programs. Each program captures the fun and essence of the original program while depicting the unique culture of the country and caters to the educational needs of each audience. These productions go beyond teaching letters and numbers, taking on complex and often difficult subjects such as respect and understanding, in the context of our times and with insight and sensitivity.

We cap off our success with the launch of Sesame Tree. As Northern Ireland looks forward to a more optimistic future based on a shared vision, Sesame Workshop is proud to contribute to an atmosphere of renewed hope through a local version of its flagship series. Produced by Sixteen South, part of the Inferno Group, a leading and award-winning creative television production and facilities house based in Belfast, in association with Sesame Workshop, Sesame Tree is set to debut on BBC Northern Ireland in Spring 2008. The American Ireland Fund has been the most generous anchor sponsor for which the project is deeply indebted.

Leading the cast are Potto and Hilda, who together are on an adventure filled with laughter and learning. Potto is a furry character who is gentle, bookish and a brilliant inventor. Hilda is an Irish hare, who is younger and very energetic—everything is new and fresh to her and she races around at great speeds to Potto’s amazement. The duo’s friends include: the Bookworms, two helpful and friendly worm-Muppets who live among Potto’s books; Claribelle, a bright bird and loveable, eccentric auntie character who occasionally visits the tree; and the three Weatherberries—Muppet fruit—who hang together in a bunch on a branch inside the Sesame Tree.

Potto and Hilda will answer questions posed from children around Northern Ireland. Potto uses his library and monster web inside the tree, while Hilda sets off with her mobile phone and her special pink sneakers to locations around Northern Ireland to see what she can find out and who she can meet. This will introduce local live action films that will showcase the diversity of Northern Ireland, where children from different communities will be introduced to their peers. The themes covered in the live action sequences will be presented through the eyes of a child.

For example, in an episode about persistence, we show young girls learning Irish Dancing, and in a show about overcoming fears and being prepared, we see the Boys Brigade gathering all the tools they need for a night walk. A range of voices and faces from across Northern Ireland will be featured, including children from the Polish, Chinese and African communities that add to the richness of Northern Ireland today. Back in the Tree, Potto will occasionally contact his “family” from around the world, allowing local viewers to see their Sesame Street friends like Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster and Elmo.

Colin Williams, Executive Producer for Sesame Tree, said, “It was fabulous to meet the Muppets in the flesh—or should I say fur—for the first time. It has been a real privilege to work on Sesame Tree and we are really looking forward to starting filming their scenes in the next few weeks. And of course, our specially created Northern Ireland Muppets have an important job, too, in the education of young people.”

Designed for children ages 3-6, Sesame Tree will present engaging educational messages through stories and characters keyed to the new Northern Ireland Statutory Curriculum. The series will help to develop children’s self-esteem, love of learning, openness, and curiosity about others to better prepare them for a brighter future.

The program will also serve as a valuable resource for children, parents and educators by:

• Presenting positive images to children of the self and others
• Emphasizing a range of objectives including valuing diversity, developing problem solving skills, and becoming aware of our common humanity
• Helping the early childhood community in Northern Ireland achieve its strategic goals

In addition to the television series, a Sesame Tree website is being developed by BBC Northern Ireland to help extend the engaging and educational goals. The Early Years, the organisation for young children, is working to develop community outreach and distribute materials supporting the project through their vast networks. The materials will be targeted to parents, caregivers, teachers and children.

The Impact of Your Investment

Funding for the series is provided by the International Fund for Ireland, which promotes integration and reconciliation for Northern Ireland and the border counties; The American Ireland Fund, which serves as the project’s anchor sponsor; and the Northern Ireland Fund for Reconciliation, which provides support for projects that promote reconciliation through community development and education.

Our world knows no technological boundaries or borders and cultures, religions and ethnicities intersect in ways previously undreamt. The images we share and the stories we tell have the ability to both reflect and shape reality and the potential to extend far beyond the television set—especially with children, who have a natural attraction to media. Sesame Workshop’s experience continues to see doors opening across the globe in sharing information and technologies. There is no better time to support new efforts which challenge existing limitations, take advantage of the substantial strengths that all forms of media have to offer, and partner locally with producers and experts to create indigenously relevant, inspiring content. Media alone cannot solve the many problems of the world but, we do believe that it would be a terrible mistake not to use these influential tools to contribute to building bridges, finding solutions and transforming “the wasteland” into a valuable resource.

— Gary E. Knell, President and CEO, Sesame Workshop