FRANKLIN
WHRO Education is the only public media station nationwide to be owned by local public schools; Franklin City Public Schools just happens to be one of them.

At the school board meeting on Thursday night, two representatives from WHRO in Norfolk presented information on what they offer to their members.

They provide an educational portal, “Digital Media On-Demand,” for the educators and students. Over 100,000 learning apps are provided that teachers can use to bring digital learning into the classroom.

There is also a WHRO Education and Professional Development program the teachers can take advantage of by earning their graduate credits and recertification’s at a cheaper price.

Special topic forums are offered where teachers can learn about educational technology services.

There are 24 high school online courses provided by the student services part of the program. Juniors in at Franklin High are required to take an online course in order to graduate.

The Virtual Virginia section is where students can take Advance Placement classes and world language courses. This is owned by the state, but run by WHRO.

The media station also offers a spelling bee, the Great Computer Challenge and other programs students can participate in.

School board chair Edna King said, “This year we can probably organize a team for the Great Computer Challenge – that’s something we’ve never done before.”

These are just some of the benefits that are offered to Franklin schools by WHRO, and it is no extra cost for the schools to use them.

School board member Bob Holt stated how great he thinks this program is and how the schools should take more advantage of the things it offers to them.

The representatives from WHRO then went on to say that in the coming months they will begin to offer work force modules, which will teach students 22 “soft skills” that are needed in the workplace.