Cricket Media and Smithsonian Launch the 2nd Annual Global Folklorist Challenge

The Challenge invites kids 8-18 globally to explore and share cultural traditions and learn professional folklorist investigation, interview and reporting skills.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Cricket Media, an education media company and Global Learning Network, today announced the launch of the 2nd Annual Global Folklorist Challenge, produced in partnership with the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The challenge, now open to kids eight to 18 worldwide, asks participants to explore a local or regional tradition through the eyes of a community tradition bearer and create a video or slide show to share the story.

Cultural traditions students might explore include dance, games, handicrafts, cooking, storytelling, customs, distinctive jobs and more. Comprehensive supporting materials reinforce real world folklorist skills by defining terms, providing examples, tips, and organizational tools, and walking students through professional interview and story-shaping processes. Participants can also have their questions answered by Smithsonian experts.

"This is our fourth year of working with the Smithsonian to engage kids worldwide and get them talking about their communities and what makes them special," says Cricket Media CEO, Katya Andresen. "We are delighted to work with the team at the Smithsonian to inspire students around the globe to learn about and share their cultural heritage."

Accompanying teacher or parent materials include lesson plans, global collaboration opportunities, a standards-alignment chart and scoring rubric. The process reinforces a range of 21st century skills, including the use of digital technologies, as well as U.S. and international social studies, language, and interdisciplinary curriculum standards.

"The global folklorist challenge invites students to explore their community's rich traditions and cultural heritage and share their discoveries with others," says Michael Atwood Mason, director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. "This collaboration extends the reach of the Center and engages thousands of students in cultural heritage around the world."

The challenge deadline is Nov. 30, 2015, with winners chosen by a panel of Smithsonian and Cricket Media judges. Among the prizes for student winners whose entries best demonstrate the folklorist process of investigation and reporting are a publishing opportunity in Cricket Media's Faces magazine, digital cameras, box sets courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways and more. For details and a submission form, visit: http://challenges.epals.com/folklife2015/the-challenge/.

About Cricket Media

Cricket Media (TSXV: CKT) is an education media company that provides award-winning content on a safe and secure learning network for children, families and teachers across the world. Cricket Media's 11 popular media brands for toddlers to teens include Babybug, Ladybug, Cricket® and Cobblestone®. The Company's innovative web-based K12 tools for school and home include the ePals community and virtual classroom for global collaboration as well as In2Books®, a Common Core eMentoring program that builds reading, writing and critical thinking skills. Cricket Media serves approximately one million classrooms and millions of teachers, students and parents in over 200 countries and territories through its platform and NeuPals, its joint venture with China's leading IT services company Neusoft. Cricket Media also licenses its content and platform to top publishing and educational companies worldwide. For more information, please visit www.cricketmedia.com.

About the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Rooted in principles of cultural democracy and social equality, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage supports the understanding and sustainability of cultural heritage and diversity in communities across the United States and around the world. The Center produces the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, maintains and makes accessible the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, produces extensive research and educational materials and promotes cultural heritage policy for the benefit of communities around the world. For more information, visit folklife.si.edu.

SOURCE Cricket Media Inc.