ROANOKE, Va. – As simple as a click on a remote or a mouse, children will now be able to learn through new educational shows on Blue Ridge PBS, including one from a local teenager featured on the Food Network.
Blue Ridge PBS says they are the only station in the country developing educational programming like this.
At a push of a button, Blue Ridge PBS launched its new education channel called ECHO.
The channel will host a variety of shows to teach children science, personal development and explore Roanoke adventures.
One Roanoke native will get her own baking show.
Teaching people how to add a pinch of this and a dash of that, 13-year-old Taylor Pusha will host “Taylor Thyme.”
Pusha was a contestant on the Food Network’s Kids Baking Championship.
“I was 10 years old when I first thought of signing up for the show,” Pusha said. “So any age, young, old, just go for your dreams.”
As a former educator, the First Lady of Virginia Pam Northam said this new channel could play a key role in early childhood development, especially after facing the coronavirus pandemic.
“It means everything to lifelong learners in the community,” Northam said. “From our littlest learners, to what I like to say, our most mature. So we can learn throughout our whole lifetime through this creative content.”
Though Echo will play on channel 15.5 it will also stream online 24/7.
Using a digital-first approach, Blue Ridge PBS President and CEO William Anderson said this is a new method that can reach viewers even beyond the southwest Virginia region.
“It is equivalent to being an astronaut or a pilgrim because I think this is the future of where broadcast is because it’s so easy to do,” he said.
Anderson said they are the first station in the country to develop this advancement in local public media education and hopes it will inspire others.
To learn more about ECHO, click here.