Jenny Buccos Made Honorary Bedouin Man
Jenny M Buccos founded ProjectExplorer.org to foster a new generation of global citizens and found herself meeting Middle Eastern Royalty, having tea with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and even being made an honorary Bedouin Man in the Jordanian desert.
New York, NY, February 06, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Jenny M Buccos founded ProjectExplorer.org and found herself meeting Middle Eastern Royalty, having tea with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and even being made an honorary Bedouin Man in the Jordanian desert.
In 2003 Jenny M Buccos founded ProjectExplorer.org, a nonprofit organization that produces free online global travel series. Designed for family and classroom use via the Internet, ProjectExplorer provides students with access to peoples and places they may never have seen or knew existed. ProjectExplorer’s online film series, photos, travel blogs, and encyclopedia-style research are provided free-of-charge. ProjectExplorer’s programs cover multiple subject areas that foster cross-cultural understanding.
In the process of helping students experience other cultures, Ms. Buccos has had her share of memorable experiences. While filming the South Africa series, Ms. Buccos found herself frantically setting up equipment before an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu to discover the Archbishop wanted to have tea with everyone first. “Before we could respond his staff moved our carefully-placed tripods/cameras aside, and we sat for tea and cookies with the Archbishop. Suddenly what had been a stressful situation became absolutely surreal and wonderful,” recalls Ms. Buccos. While filming in the Jordanian desert, Ms. Buccos was given a status that women are rarely given. Made an honorary Bedouin man for the day, she was spoken to as an equal, offered her the first taste of dinner, and dressed in a man's keffiyah.
Even with all these adventures, the most thrilling thing for Ms. Buccos is that since ProjectExplorer.org launched in 2006 nearly 1,000,000 visitors have used it to become more globally aware. ProjectExplorer.org is used in over 900 classrooms around the world and is used in schools or after-school programs in every state in the U.S.
Most recent programming includes "South Africa" which features world-leaders and visionaries the likes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. John Kani, and Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Greg Marinovich. With South Africa, Buccos has created a rich, unique film and multimedia program to engage and inform school-aged children about South Africa's diverse cultural history while educating about difficult subjects like HIV/AIDS, poverty, and the legacy of apartheid. In June 2008, she was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine for her work in South Africa.
Ms. Buccos and her team returned from the Middle East just weeks ago and expect to launch a new series on the country of Jordan in late February 2009. It is Ms. Buccos’ hope that the Jordan film series will become a springboard for open dialogue on the Middle Eastern culture, religion, and politics both in and out of the classroom.
Recently Ms. Buccos created the Student to Student Program, a hands-on educational program created to train high school students around the world in multimedia production and on-camera journalism. Participating students are taught skills needed to create a short series of news stories and interviews, produced for ProjectExplorer’s own young global audience. The first Student-to-Student program took place in March 2008, at Mpontsheng Secondary School in Katlehong, South Africa. The students enthusiasm for the program became clear to Ms. Buccos when she recalls, “The kids in South Africa did get a little carried away, though - what was to be a simple, 10 minute story became 10 solid hours of footage!” The program is planned to include 3 new schools in 2009.
In addition to working with ProjectExplorer, Ms. Buccos is a contributing writer for AWEARNESS: The Kenneth Cole blog, focusing on issues in Southern Africa and education.
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To set up interviews with Ms.Buccos please contact Christopher Winfield at 877-442-3889.
ProjectExplorer’s Creative Board:
Mario Batali - Chef, Restaurateur, & TV host
Kate Burton - Actor (Three Tony Award nominations; one Emmy nomination)
Michael Cumpsty - Obie-Award winning Actor
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Chair of African/African-American Studies, Harvard
Tony Gerber - Director/Executive Producer, 2 Emmy Awards.
Dulé Hill – Actor
Beth Levison - Producer & Director. Emmy Award winner
Sipho Mabuse – Musician & Director for the Southern African Music Rights Organization
Lynn Nottage – Playwright, 2007 MacArthur Fellow.
Brían F. O’Byrne – TONY Award winning Actor
Paul Rudd – Actor
Michael Stuhlbarg – Drama Desk Award winning Actor
Michael Wood - Writer, Television Presenter, and Historian
In 2003 Jenny M Buccos founded ProjectExplorer.org, a nonprofit organization that produces free online global travel series. Designed for family and classroom use via the Internet, ProjectExplorer provides students with access to peoples and places they may never have seen or knew existed. ProjectExplorer’s online film series, photos, travel blogs, and encyclopedia-style research are provided free-of-charge. ProjectExplorer’s programs cover multiple subject areas that foster cross-cultural understanding.
In the process of helping students experience other cultures, Ms. Buccos has had her share of memorable experiences. While filming the South Africa series, Ms. Buccos found herself frantically setting up equipment before an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu to discover the Archbishop wanted to have tea with everyone first. “Before we could respond his staff moved our carefully-placed tripods/cameras aside, and we sat for tea and cookies with the Archbishop. Suddenly what had been a stressful situation became absolutely surreal and wonderful,” recalls Ms. Buccos. While filming in the Jordanian desert, Ms. Buccos was given a status that women are rarely given. Made an honorary Bedouin man for the day, she was spoken to as an equal, offered her the first taste of dinner, and dressed in a man's keffiyah.
Even with all these adventures, the most thrilling thing for Ms. Buccos is that since ProjectExplorer.org launched in 2006 nearly 1,000,000 visitors have used it to become more globally aware. ProjectExplorer.org is used in over 900 classrooms around the world and is used in schools or after-school programs in every state in the U.S.
Most recent programming includes "South Africa" which features world-leaders and visionaries the likes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. John Kani, and Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Greg Marinovich. With South Africa, Buccos has created a rich, unique film and multimedia program to engage and inform school-aged children about South Africa's diverse cultural history while educating about difficult subjects like HIV/AIDS, poverty, and the legacy of apartheid. In June 2008, she was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine for her work in South Africa.
Ms. Buccos and her team returned from the Middle East just weeks ago and expect to launch a new series on the country of Jordan in late February 2009. It is Ms. Buccos’ hope that the Jordan film series will become a springboard for open dialogue on the Middle Eastern culture, religion, and politics both in and out of the classroom.
Recently Ms. Buccos created the Student to Student Program, a hands-on educational program created to train high school students around the world in multimedia production and on-camera journalism. Participating students are taught skills needed to create a short series of news stories and interviews, produced for ProjectExplorer’s own young global audience. The first Student-to-Student program took place in March 2008, at Mpontsheng Secondary School in Katlehong, South Africa. The students enthusiasm for the program became clear to Ms. Buccos when she recalls, “The kids in South Africa did get a little carried away, though - what was to be a simple, 10 minute story became 10 solid hours of footage!” The program is planned to include 3 new schools in 2009.
In addition to working with ProjectExplorer, Ms. Buccos is a contributing writer for AWEARNESS: The Kenneth Cole blog, focusing on issues in Southern Africa and education.
###
To set up interviews with Ms.Buccos please contact Christopher Winfield at 877-442-3889.
ProjectExplorer’s Creative Board:
Mario Batali - Chef, Restaurateur, & TV host
Kate Burton - Actor (Three Tony Award nominations; one Emmy nomination)
Michael Cumpsty - Obie-Award winning Actor
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Chair of African/African-American Studies, Harvard
Tony Gerber - Director/Executive Producer, 2 Emmy Awards.
Dulé Hill – Actor
Beth Levison - Producer & Director. Emmy Award winner
Sipho Mabuse – Musician & Director for the Southern African Music Rights Organization
Lynn Nottage – Playwright, 2007 MacArthur Fellow.
Brían F. O’Byrne – TONY Award winning Actor
Paul Rudd – Actor
Michael Stuhlbarg – Drama Desk Award winning Actor
Michael Wood - Writer, Television Presenter, and Historian
Contact
ProjectExplorer
Christopher Winfield
877-442-3889
www.projectexplorer.org
Christopher Winfield
877-442-3889
www.projectexplorer.org
Contact
Multimedia
ProjectExplorer.org Press Kit
Media kit contains past project highlights, Jenny Buccos biography, ProjectExplorer background and goals.
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