NEW YORK — January 5, 2012 — Scholastic Media’s Emmy Award®-winning animated series WordGirl® explores the power of words to help and to harm in a timely new one-hour episode, “The Rise of Miss Power,” which stars Emmy Award®-winner Jane Lynch as the voice of Miss Power and premieres February 20th on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings).

The adventure begins when intergalactic visitor Miss Power comes to earth and promises to teach WordGirl everything she knows about crime-fighting. When the lessons don’t go as planned, WordGirl and her sidekick Captain Huggy Face begin to question whether Miss Power is a super hero or a super villain. Besides using strength and speed to defeat villains, Miss Power unleashes a secret weapon: the use of mean words to hurt people. Initially resistant, WordGirl tries the tactic and feels empowered, leaving friends and foes agape at the unpleasant change in her ways. After Miss Power takes bullying to the extreme, WordGirl takes a stand, only to be belittled and stripped of her superhero star. Mrs. Botsford comes to the rescue rallying all of the city’s villains against Miss Power, then WordGirl pledges to use words only for good, sends Miss Power packing, and restores the city to normal.

"WordGirl resonates with children and parents because of its humor, its engaging characters and its robust curriculum," says Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Media, Executive Producer of WordGirl, and Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc., the global children’s publishing, education and media company. "This special provides a unique opportunity to understand just how powerful words can be – entertaining and engaging fans in a way only WordGirl can."

"The Rise of Miss Power" is part of PBS KIDS’ on-going effort to provide anti-bullying programming and resources for parents and teachers. In addition to this special WordGirl premiere, PBS KIDS will feature additional programming throughout the year on appreciating differences and coping with bullies.

>WordGirl airs weekdays on PBS KIDS GO! and has won numerous industry excellence awards since its debut, including seven Emmy nominations and a 2008 Emmy Award win for "Best Writing in Animation." The show has also won two Gracie awards for its portrayal of a strong female character, a Television Critics Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Animation," a KidScreen Award for Best Voice Talent, and an iParenting Media Award. WordGirl books are published by Scholastic, series-related games and puzzles are available from Briarpatch and an app is available for iPhone.

For more information on WordGirl, visitmediaroom.scholastic.com/wordgirl, PBSKIDSGO.org/wordgirl and PBS.org/pressroom.

MEDIA NOTES

• REVIEW SCREENERS AND STILLS Review screeners, stills and clips from The Rise of Miss Power are available upon request.
• INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES Executive Producer Deborah Forte and others (including on-air and behind-the-scenes talent) are available to talk about this special WordGirl episode.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Meghan Newton
mnewton@goodmanmedia.com
212-576-2700 x 245

Katherine Morrison
kmorrison@goodmanmedia.com
212-576-2700 x 238