South Carolina ETV
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Mt. Pleasant 11 Year-Old Named Finalist in National Search
for New Character for the PBS Kids Program, "Arthur"
Emily Pruitt Was Selected Out of 8,500 Entries for Her Character
Bubby and His Service Dog Aubrey
For Immediate Release
June 30, 2009
Columbia, SC… Emily Pruitt, age 11, of Mt. Pleasant, was selected as one of nine finalists out of an overwhelming 8,500 entries in the “ARTHUR/All Kids Can Character Search.”
In February, ARTHUR, the award-winning children's television series (airing weekdays on ETV), and CVS Caremark All Kids Can called on children across the country to help find a new friend for the beloved character, Arthur. The ARTHUR/All Kids Can Character Search, invited children ages 6-12 to mail in their ideas, with a drawing and a description of what made their character special. The process was designed to educate children about the importance of inclusion and how children of all abilities can play together. It also encouraged parents and children to think about what life is like for someone they know who has a disability.
Emily was selected for her character “Bubby and his service dog Aubrey.” Bubby, is based after Emily’s twin brother, Smith, who was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old. Aubrey is Bubby’s autism service dog, and Bubby enjoys taking Aubrey for walks and feeding her.
Emily explained that “I am glad you are doing a contest like this because I think my brother and other children with disabilities are special people.”
As a finalist, Emily received a prize package including CVS gift cards, and ARTHUR merchandise. Additionally, CVS Caremark All Kids Can has presented a donation of $1,000 to Emily’s school, the James B. Edwards Elementary School. To celebrate her achievement, the school honored Emily during a school assembly on Friday on May 22 as well as at the 5th grade graduation on June 5.
ARTHUR can be seen on ETV Kids weekdays at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Since its premiere in 1996, ARTHUR has celebrated the importance of friendship and the value of accepting and including kids with different abilities from all walks of life. Buster proves that kids who can manage their asthma can do anything, Marina shows her friends what it’s like to be blind, George succeeds as a student with dyslexia, and Carl—in an upcoming season—will share what it’s like to have autism.
About ARTHUR
ARTHUR, based on Marc Brown's best-selling books, is the highest rated weekday children’s series on PBS among children 6-11 (Source: For PBS, NTI Pocketpiece, October 2007-June 2008). ARTHUR has won numerous awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, a BAFTA and six Daytime Emmys—four for Outstanding Children's Animated Program. ARTHUR is produced by WGBH Boston and Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. Executive producers are Carol Greenwald (WGBH), Toper Taylor (Cookie Jar), and Marc Brown (Marc Brown Studios). Directed by Greg Bailey.
Funding for ARTHUR is provided by public television viewers. Corporate funding is provided by Chuck E. Cheese's® and CVS Pharmacy, Inc.
About CVS Caremark All Kids Can
All Kids Can, a program of the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust and CVS Caremark, is a five-year, $25 million commitment to support children with disabilities. The goals of All Kids Can are to support children with disabilities by raising awareness in schools and in local communities about the importance of inclusion, creating greater opportunities for physical activity and play, and providing access to medical rehabilitation and related services. CVS Caremark and its more than 210,000 employees help children with disabilities learn, play and succeed through partnerships with leading local and national nonprofit organizations such as Easter Seals and many others across the country.
South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.
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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.
Photos may be downloaded for the sole purpose of publicizing this program. To download an image, click on the picture below. A new Web page will open containing the hi-res version. Right click on the hi-res image, and select "Save As" or "Save Picture As."
Emily's Drawing of Bubby and Aubrey
Photos may be downloaded for the sole purpose of publicizing this program. To download an image, click on the picture below. A new Web page will open containing the hi-res version. Right click on the hi-res image, and select "Save As" or "Save Picture As."
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