Little League to use TV money to expand programs

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First Posted: 2/7/2014 WILKES-BARRE &#8212; When students and staff were working with director Robert May on his &#8220;Kids for Cash&#8221; film, confidentiality agreements meant information about the project was dispensed sparingly, even to top officials, on a &#8220;need to know&#8221; basis.
In conjunction with the finished product, Wilkes faculty have developed a free online course designed to provide information parents, educators and juvenile justice professionals need to know to help kids better handle difficult situations in school. It also has information for adults to make changes in the way behavioral issues are handled at home, in schools and in the juvenile justice system.
&#8220;We&#8217;re trying to get at the root cause of the problems that cause kids to get into the juvenile justice system,&#8221; said Michael Speziale, the university&#8217;s vice president for strategic initiatives.
The Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, is designed for the general public to review at their convenience, Speziale said. While some information already is online, full roll-out of all seven modules is expected to be completed by May, he said.
The modules cover topics such as managing behavior and developing resiliency among children, bullying, decision-making and responsible behavior, poverty, brain-based learning, juvenile justice and modern juvenile law disposition alternatives and zero tolerance policies.
&#8220;Faculty and adjunct faculty worked together to assemble a whole variety resources that deal with child-development, socialization,&#8221; Speziale said. &#8220;The resources really are multi-disciplinary.&#8221;
And it is only the latest collaboration between May, whose film is now showing at area theaters, and Wilkes.
Graduate assistants from Wilkes&#8217; creative writing program, where May serves on the advisory board, provided hundreds of hours of labor and gained valuable experience, working as researchers and production assistants on the film, officials said. And Wilkes&#8217; support during the film also included office and editing space and housing for members of May&#8217;s crew.
&#8220;As the state&#8217;s leading provider of graduate teacher education, developing the MOOC was the perfect way for Wilkes to lend its expertise to this issue,&#8221; Wilkes President Patrick F. Leahy said. &#8220;Partnerships of this kind are part of what makes Wilkes such a unique university. Such partnerships provide our students with real-world experience that extends beyond the borders of our campus.
&#8220;It was important for us to be part of a film that would help the families involved and the community at large to heal from this painful chapter in northeast Pennsylvania history,&#8221; Leahy said. &#8220;Providing the resources in the online course is another way for us to do that.&#8221;
Bonnie Culver, director of the Graduate Creative Writing Program, recalled the excitement &#8212; and secrecy &#8212; that surrounded film production while it was underway. Even some senior figures were aware only of the general outline of what was being done, but not the specific content.
&#8220;They knew it was related to the (county) scandal,&#8221; Culver said. &#8220;But that was all.&#8221;

Wilkes offering free online course in conjunction with ‘Kids for Cash’