New York,
NY (June
1,
2005) --
Up for a challenge? This summer, Scholastic Entertainment’s popular twins Maya & Miguel are bringing their love of soccer and sports to fans everywhere with a sports-themed week of programming on PBS KIDS GO!
sm. The Maya & Miguel™ “Sport-tacular” Challenge models healthy activity and involvement in sports through an on-air special of sports-oriented episodes and online interactive games at pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel. In addition, the special features a grassroots effort in partnership with Major League Soccer’s Futbolito initiative, their community-based soccer tournament program.
MAYA & MIGUEL’S “SPORT-TACULAR” SPECIAL ON PBS KIDS GO!
Beginning on Monday, July 11th, viewers can tune-in for a full week of favorite Maya & Miguel sports-oriented episodes on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings), culminating with the all-new episode “The Slump” on Friday, July 15th. Other sports episodes to air this week include “When Maya Met Andy” (airs Monday, July 11th) “Soccer Mom” (airs Tuesday, July 12th), “The Wrestler Next Door” (airs Wednesday, July 13th) and “Team Santos” (airs Thursday, July 13th).
In the new episode, “The Slump,” Miguel's baseball batting average drops off the charts and bad vibes begin to extend into all areas of his life. In a desperate attempt to help Miguel regain his magic, Andy and Theo put Miguel through a series of slump-busting exercises... but nothing works, and Miguel quits the team. Meanwhile, Maya is on a mission to get the team new uniforms through sponsorship from neighbors. Friends are skeptical when she sets the extremely high goal of signing twenty-five sponsors, but she perseveres and succeeds. When Miguel sees the shiny new uniforms, he is inspired by his sister's determination. He returns to the team just in time to break out of his slump.
ONLINE SPORTS FAN ACTIVITIES
Sports fans can visit Maya & Miguel’s “Sport-tacular” Web site at pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel for more sports fun including an interactive soccer game and printable trading cards where kids get to choose their own character, background and soccer stats. Additionally the site will offer soccer fans the schedule for the MLS’ Futbolito tournaments.
THE MLS MAYA & MIGUEL “SPORT-TACULAR” CHALLENGE
Through a partnership with Major League Soccer’s Futbolito program, Maya & Miguel are bringing the MLS Maya & Miguel “Sport-tacular” Challenge to neighborhood matches across the country from May through October. The MLS youth division is now the “MLS Maya & Miguel Sport-tacular Challenge”, as teams will compete to win cool Maya & Miguel prizes! There will be tournaments in 14 markets across the country, including:
5/14 - Houston, TX
5/21 - San Antonio, TX
6/4 - San Jose, CA
7/9 - Dallas, TX
7/16 - Columbus, OH
7/23 - Washington, D.C.
8/6 - Chicago, IL
8/13 - Miami, FL
8/20 - New York, NY
8/27 - Newark, NJ
9/10 - Denver, CO
9/17 - Salt Lake City, UT
9/24 - Los Angeles, CA
10/1 - Orange County, CA
Maya and Miguel will make special appearances at these tournaments to meet their young fans in person. For more information, please visit
www.MLSFutbolito.com.
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 100 million page views, over 120,000 emails from kids and parents, and almost 400,000 average daily users. In addition, Maya & Miguel has already been honored with several awards including a Parents’ Choice Approved seal, a Corporate Citizenship award from the Hispanic Federation, a Corporate Outreach award from the Puerto Rican Family Institute, as well as a nomination for an Imagen Award for Best Children’s Animated Programming.
Based on an original concept by Scholastic Entertainment President Deborah Forte, 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 coming soon, home video and DVD.
About Scholastic Entertainment
Scholastic Entertainment (SE) is a leading producer of quality, family-oriented feature films, television programming, videos, and web sites and is a major developer and marketer of children’s brands worldwide. In addition to Maya & Miguel, SE produces the award-winning, top-rated animated series Clifford The Big Red Dog® (PBS KIDS®); the Emmy-award winning spin-off to this hit series, Clifford’s Puppy Days™ (PBS KIDS); the Emmy-award winning series I SPY (HBO Family) and The Magic School Bus® (TLC), starring Lily Tomlin; the award-winning Dear America® series; and the popular kids’ adventure series Animorphs® and Goosebumps®. SE’s new series, Maya & Miguel™, debuted on PBS KIDS GO!. Scholastic Entertainment’s critically acclaimed feature films include Clifford’s Really Big Movie, The Baby-sitters Club, The Indian in the Cupboard, and The Mighty. SE also recently announced that it will produce the award-winning Philip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials, for New Line Cinema. Scholastic Entertainment 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 commercial-free 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 (pbskids.org), PBS KIDS GO! online (pbskidsgo.org), PBS Parents (pbsparents.org), TeacherSource, 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.