KOCE wants schools on air

TV station forms a committee to help create programs with educational themes.KOCE-TV, Orange County’s only public television station, has formed an education committee to improve the station’s connections with the local school community.

The 16-member committee, chaired by Marian Bergeson, a former state senator and assemblywoman, had its first meetings late last year. Melinda Gann, director of communications for KOCE, said the committee would officially launch its work in January.

KOCE, in forming the committee, aims to work with universities and school districts in creating education-themed programs.

“We’re going to be putting a great deal more focus in terms of promoting programs and giving the community a much greater awareness of what’s going on in schools,” Bergeson said.

Other members of the committee, which began forming last summer, include Newport-Mesa Unified School District board member Martha Fluor, Orange County Supt. Bill Habermehl and UCI Assistant Vice Chancellor Juan Francisco Lara.

KOCE, whose call letters stand for “Orange County Education,” has long involved itself in the educational community, interviewing faculty members on its news programs and spotlighting teacher of the year award winners. One recent show, “Rock Our World,” featured students from New Zealand, Germany, Israel and other countries connected by Internet-based video.

In another broadcast from last April, “Beat the Greeks,” Orange County high school students attempted to determine the earth’s circumference by comparing shadows from different locations. The students ultimately found the right answer -- just as the ancient Greeks had centuries ago, without the benefit of technology.

“They did it within the hour, and the Greeks probably did it much slower than that,” said Janet English, director of educational services for KOCE.

English said the committee hopes to do a sequel to “Beat the Greeks” in March for the spring equinox.

Other ideas for the coming months are a project on the Holocaust and a program on Mendez vs. Westminster, an influential 1946 court case that helped to set a precedent for racial integration in schools.