Biz Kid$

Biz Kids
Starring Lauren Dupree,
Kaelon Horst,
Maia Lee,
Alexander Oki,
Amanda Powers,
Miriam Schwartz,
Austin Siedentopf,
Devon Stark,
Christina Marie Taylor,
Catherine Thompson,
Elizabeth Wright
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 65 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Jeannine Glista,
Erren Gottlieb,
Jamie Hammond,
James McKenna
Running time 26 minutes
Distributor American Public Television
PBS Kids Go! (2008-2013)
PBS Kids (2013-present)
Broadcast
Original run January 6, 2008 – March 25, 2012

Biz Kid$ is an educational television show that teaches financial education and entrepreneurship to a preteen audience. It uses sketch comedy and young actors to explain basic economic concepts.[1] Its motto is: "Where kids teach kids about money and business."

Production

Biz Kids was created by the producers of Bill Nye the Science Guy, the Emmy Award winning science show from the 1990s.

The first season of Biz Kids, comprising 26 episodes, was filmed in 2007. The second season, comprising 13 episodes, began filming in April 2008. The crew traveled to various locations in the United States to film young entrepreneurs. Some local Seattle businesses such as BECU, Kitsap Credit Union and MountainCrest Credit Union have also been used as filming locations. On December 20, 2010, the official Biz Kid$ website announced that episodes 45-52 were in production for season 4, with airing of the new episodes expected to start in April 2011. On March 12, 2012, the show's 5th season premiered. Episodes are expected to roll out through Summer 2012.[2]

Cast

The Biz Kids cast is made up largely of teenage actors from the Seattle area. However, writer John Keister also has small recurring roles.

The original cast members were Lauren Dupree, Kaelon Horst, Bob Jones, Maia Lee, Alexander Oki, Amanda Powers, Miriam Schwartz, Austin Siedentopf, Devon Stark, Christina Taylor, and Elizabeth Wright.[3]

Broadcasting

Biz Kids is produced in association with WXXI of Rochester, NY, is distributed by American Public Television in the United States, and started airing in the United States on January 9, 2007. By June 2008, the show was on 311 of the nation's 343 PBS stations in 50 states.[4] By the launch of Season Two, Biz Kids was airing in all 50 states and was available to over 287 million people.[5]

The show also airs in the United Kingdom.

Curriculum

A free curriculum is available for download for use by teachers and parents to use in classrooms, afterschool programs and at home.[6] Each episode has a specially designed curriculum with activities, reviews and tests, all of which comply with the National Endowment for Financial Education standards. Five core Biz Kids lesson plans will be available in Spanish.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Davila, Florangela. "PBS series features local business whiz kids", SeattleTimes.com. 17 February 2008.
  2. ↑ "Biz Kids in production on Season 4!", BizKids.com at the Wayback Machine (archived August 12, 2011)
  3. ↑ Biz Kid$ at the Internet Movie Database
  4. ↑ http://www.cuna.org/newsnow/printer_version.php?story_id=36369
  5. ↑ "Biz Kid$", WALfeague.org at the Wayback Machine (archived January 23, 2009)
  6. ↑ "Biz Kid$ Teacher Professional Development Kit", WXXI.org.

External links