The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation has announced the latest winners of the annual Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship.  Now in its sixth year, the scholarship, with its $10,000 award and mentoring program, enables students to conduct academic research or produce media honoring Fred Rogers' legacy. The scholarship fund was established in 2004 by the Academy and is generously funded by Ernst & Young as a tribute to Fred Rogers and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood which “…remains the gold standard of how television can be used to enlighten, educate and increase social consciousness and understanding.”   

This year’s scholarship winners:

• Christina Zagarino, studying for a master’s degree in child development at Tufts University, will use the scholarship to produce 3- to 5-minute interstitials to encourage young viewers to participate in physical activity and address childhood obesity during media breaks.
  
  
• Xavier Raphael Vanegas, enrolled in the master’s degree program in motion picture production at the University of Southern California, plans to develop “Fink Forest Friends,” an animated children’s program.
  
  
• Rachel Schechter, working toward a Ph.D. in child development at Tufts, will research the relationship between children’s use of media and learning.

Fred Rogers’ wife, Joanne Rogers, TV Academy Foundation executive director Terri Clark and Ernst & Young partner Lynette Horrell presented the awards at a reception honoring the students during the Fred Forward Conference at St. Vincent College. “The recipients of the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarships represent the future of children’s media,” Clark said in a statement. “The Television Academy Foundation is proud to honor these students, who will be torchbearers of the Fred Rogers legacy by improving the quality of educational programming for children.”

Applications for the 2011 awards in the areas of Research, Development of Program Concepts, or a Professional Internship are available through http://www.emmysfoundation.org/fred-rogers-memorial-scholarship.