American Graduate Day 2014 airs on PBS 6
Saturday, September 27 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Samir Madden a student at the University of Arizona will be featured on the national program American Graduate Day 2014 this Saturday. American Graduate Day celebrates the exceptional work of individuals and groups across the country who have been named ‘American Graduate Champions.’ These individuals are helping local youth stay on track to achieve college and career success.
Samir Madden, a 21 year-old junior studying history and religious studies at the University of Arizona, is also President of International Child Amputee Network(I-CAN). I-CAN is dedicated to promoting education, support, information, and empowerment to traumatic and congenital limb different children and their families. Madden, who has a congenital quadruple amputation, works to increase awareness of kids with limb differences particularly in schools and classrooms. He teaches and mentors young students with limb differences and their peers on issues of self-esteem, bullying and acceptance. Madden was also featured on Arizona Public Media’s® Arizona Illustrated program.
Two other southern Arizonans were filmed by AZPM and have been featured on PBS 6 to help promote Saturday’s broadcast.
Tamara McKinney's story
Tamara McKinney, program director of the Reading Seed, is a tireless and hands-on advocate for reading proficiency and literacy in the K-3 student population. Reading Seed trains dedicated volunteers to work with struggling readers on motivation, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.
John Kramkowski's story
John Kramkowski, drop-out prevention specialist and Youth on Their Own Liaison at Tucson Unified School District, is a passionate and dedicated student advocate who works to identify, guide and assist at-risk teens in TUSD. Many of the students Kramkowski works with lack the support of a caring adult, have no permanent nighttime residence and no consistent home environment.
American Graduate Day is part of American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen, a public media initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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