New York, NY (March 3, 2006) -- Scholastic Media’s Maya & Miguel ™ and everyone’s favorite “Tres Amigas” will be taking charge of the television this March in week-long “Girl Power” themed episodes to air on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings). In honor of Women’s History Month, “Maya’s Girl Power Week” will feature 5 episodes of fun and friendship starring Maya and her best friends, Maggie and Chrissy (a.k.a. Las Tres Amigas). Each day the dynamic-trio will use the power-of-three to entertain, empower and encourage fans to team up with friends, dream big, get involved and help the community.
 
Fans and friends can watch power-packed episodes everyday starting, Monday, March 27th through Friday, March 31st. 
 
“Maya’s Girl Power Week” highlights the importance of friendship and that finding strength in “Girl Power” can not only be fun but can help you achieve even the most difficult of tasks,” said Deborah Forte, creator and executive producer of the series and president of Scholastic Media. “Maya and her best friends will inspire and hopefully empower their fans to believe they can do anything they set their hearts and minds to.”
 
“MAYA’S GIRL POWER WEEK” EPISODE SYNOPSES:
 
MONDAY, MARCH 27
“FRIENDS FOREVER?”
 "Las Tres Amigas" get into an argument and split up.  Miguel, Theo and Andy watch their breakup with amusement.  As the girls return each other’s borrowed belongings and try to avoid each other in the lunchroom, the boys smugly believe that such a thing could never happen to them.  But when Theo and Andy discover that Miguel has been secretly coaching each of them for an open position on the soccer team, that's exactly what happens.  The guys find themselves doing the exact same splitting-up routine, returning all their borrowed stuff.  Before long, however, the girls and the boys realize that no kid is an island; each person is different from the other, but it makes the whole group better.
 
TUESDAY, MARCH 28
“SURPRISE, SURPRISE”
Chrissy is down in the dumps because the pop star Enrique has not answered the hundreds of fan letters she has sent.  So Maya decides to cheer her up with a surprise birthday party.  When all the party preparations — from the cake to the décor to the entertainment — go awry, Maya reasons there’s only one way to salvage things: get Enrique himself to show up!  With Miguel and Abuelita at her side, Maya braves hordes of Enrique-maniacs in an effort to convince the megastar to make an appearance at her friend’s birthday.
 
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29
“CHRISSY’S BIG MOVE”
Maya's friend Chrissy discovers that her father has been transferred and is moving the whole family to Hong Kong.  Chrissy is so distraught that she doesn't want to go.  Eager to help her friend adjust to a very different culture, Maya enlists Miguel and the gang
to "introduce" Chrissy to Hong Kong.  They stage an imaginative (and homemade) "voyage" to show her a variety of interesting places: a restaurant that serves dim sum, a pink dolphin-watching cruise, and the dragon boat races.  By the end, Chrissy is so enchanted that she can't wait to move to Hong Kong.  Unfortunately, the transfer falls through... and Chrissy doesn't move.  But at least "las tres amigas” get to stay together!
 
THURSDAY, MARCH 30
“FASHIONISTAS”
When the girls decide that the school needs a fashion show, Miguel agrees to help out.  The problem is, he didn’t know he agreed to actually be a model.  What’s more, the new coach of the local soccer travel team is going to be in the audience – which Miguel is trying out for!  Miguel, worried that the coach won’t want a player who dresses up in outrageous clothes for a fashion show, has to decide whether to participate or whether to “take a dive.”
 
FRIDAY, MARCH 31
“CHEERY CHIPPER CUPID SISTERS”
Maya and her friends are in love with the new girls’ action cartoon, “The Cheery Chipper Cupid Sisters”.  They join the fan club, wear the t-shirts, chant the chants, and begin to drive their friends and families up a wall.  Things only get worse when their efforts to spread sweetness, happiness and love in the manner of their two-dimensional idols seem to backfire.  Only a very surreal experience of trying to find a bird-napped Paco makes Maya realize that perhaps she’s taken this latest fad a bit too far.
 
Maya & Miguel made a stellar debut in fall 2004, quickly becoming the # 1 new show on PBS KIDS GO! and establishing an immediate and powerful connection with its audience. To date, the Maya & Miguel website at pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel has received over 265 million page views, and gets an average of 30,000 emails per month from kids.  The series is designed to present culture and language learning as fun, relevant, and rewarding for all children, with a special emphasis on the Latino population. The goals of the series are: (1) to promote the value of a culturally diverse society; and (2) to support English language learners through the presentation of language in a natural context with a special emphasis on vocabulary. Maya & Miguel is a broad-based Scholastic initiative comprised of television; print media; school and community outreach; dynamic Web sites at  pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel as well as scholastic.com; publishing; and a host of ancillary products including apparel and accessories, and DVDs.
 
About Scholastic Media
Scholastic Media (SM) is a leading producer of quality, family-oriented content across multiple platforms, including feature films, television programming, videos, interactive products and web sites, and is a major developer and marketer of children's brands worldwide. Among SM's award-winning and top-rated productions are the animated series Clifford The Big Red Dog® (PBS KIDS®); the Emmy award-winning spin-off series Clifford's Puppy Days™ (PBS KIDS); I SPY (HBO Family); The Magic School Bus® (TLC), and the newest series Maya & Miguel™ (PBS KIDS GO!).  SM's critically-acclaimed feature films include Clifford's Really Big Movie, The Indian in the Cupboard, and The Mighty. SM is also producing the forthcoming film His Dark Materials, based on the award-winning Philip Pullman trilogy, for New Line Cinema. SM is the entertainment and media division of Scholastic.
 
About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology.  Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys.  The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and the Company's Internet site, www.scholastic.com.
 
About PBS KIDS® and PBS KIDS GO!sm
PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! are committed to providing the highest quality non-commercial content and learning environment for children across the country.  Providing age-appropriate, diverse programming for kids, PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! programs consistently earn more prestigious awards than any other broadcast or cable network.  Only PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! have earned the unanimous endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and teachers.  With additional PBS resources to complement its programming, including PBS KIDS online (www.pbskids.org), PBS KIDS GO! online (www.pbskidsgo.org), PBS Parents (www.pbsparents.org), PBS TeacherSource (www.pbsteachersource.org), Ready To Learn services and literacy events across the country, PBS is providing the tools necessary for positive child development.  PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 348 public television stations, serving nearly 90 million people each week and reaching 99% of American homes.  

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