Jim Henson: How To Get To Sesame Street

Thank you Jim Henson; because of you, I can tell you exactly how to get to Sesame Street! November 1969, Mr. Henson was hired by Ms. Joan Cooney and Mr. Lloyd Morrisett of the Children Television Workshop to create a cast of characters that could relate to the preschoolers of America. The idea behind the $8 Million program was to prepare children for the classroom, social interaction and exposure outside of their toddler world (Cashill). According to Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children Television Workshop, the mission of Sesame Street “ is to help kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder (SesameWorkshop).” This mission was accomplished with an urban setting, multi-cultural cast members, parenting tips, becoming of age situations, exploring feeling, compassion and empathy explained to toddlers and children who have extremely limited life experiences (Sesamestreet.org). The show promotes

The shows impact on families is so great that by 1971, just 3 years after the original airing 40% of ‘toddler’ homes were now watching, participating and interacting with the Sesame Street educational concepts (Long). According to Professor Phillip Levine of Wesley College, Sesame Street “…is the largest and least costly intervention that’s ever been implemented (Wong). Alea Wong continues with her article entitled ‘The Sesame Street Effect” published in the Atlantic journal in June 2015 that taxpayers contribute to early education with as much as $7,600 per child per year, whereas, Sesame Street will cost roughly $5 per child annually, and yield the same result if not better. According to Wong, this cost effective manner contributes to Cooney and Morrisetts original vision of “… reducing the educational deficits experienced by disadvantaged youth based on differences in their