Sesame Workshop Chooses Guilford County For Pilot Program

Guilford County has been selected for yet another educational program aimed at helping children achieve. The pilot program is being developed by the organization that produces Sesame Street.

Guilford County was chosen – along with Los Angeles and Kansas City – to be a test site for the “Sesame Street in Communities” program.

The effort is aimed at vulnerable families and at-risk children up to age six, and will provide online resources to help those families with early learning, social well-being, and health matters.

Representatives at the Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that oversees Sesame Street properties, says they chose Guilford because it showed a strong track record of community collaboration and an interest in empowering vulnerable families.

“The amount of support the initiative has already garnered in Guilford County is an indication of the impact Sesame can have in communities across the nation,” said Sesame Workshop's Jeanette Betancourt.

The project comes on the heels of Guilford being chosen as a "Say Yes to Education" community, a major initiative which provides scholarships to high school students and additional resources to younger ones.

Sesame's partner organizations have already begun meeting, and plan to follow up with focus groups this winter to talk about the challenges the community faces.