PBS Reno to Deliver 70 Thank You Letters from
Local Elementary Students to Reno Fire Department
RENO, NV (MAR 26, 2025) — In the goal to connect our community and thank the numerous individuals in our region making a difference, PBS Reno is set to deliver 70 thank you letters written by elementary school students to the Reno Fire Department on Friday, March 28 at 11am.
The delivery will take place at RFD Station #3 at 580 W. Moana Lane with Reno Fire Department Chief Dave Cochran, PBS Reno President & CEO Kurt Mische, PBS Reno Vice President of Education Nancy Maldonado, and PBS Reno Director of Education Joy Foremaster in attendance.
“PBS Reno enjoys participating in Family Engagement in our local schools,” said Maldonado. “When Huffaker Elementary School invited us to join in with their A Night at the Library fundraiser, we planned a meaningful activity for their school community. Writing thank you letters to firefighters was a great extension to the book we gave to all the participating kids. They were so excited to write thank you letters to their local firefighters.”
Approximately 300 attendees participated in A Night at the Library event on March 13, during which $3,500 was raised for the school’s library. PBS Reno passed out toy firefighter helmets to children and several copies of the book, Fly Guy Presents: Firefighters – which highlights the job of a firefighter with detailed information and colorful illustrations. PBS Reno then invited students to write letters to local firefighters; many of the students thanked firefighters for their work and protection during the September 2024 Davis Fire, which impacted numerous neighborhoods in south Reno with evacuations lasting several days.
“Engaging with our community is one of the core values we have at PBS Reno,” said Foremaster. “We love being involved with schools and other community organizations. This was a very fun project and very worthwhile event.”
PBS Reno is proud to work with several local entities, including Washoe County School District and the Reno Fire Department. PBS Reno delivers thousands of free Curiosity Classroom workshops to students in Washoe County School District and eight additional school districts in the region each school year. As of February 2025, PBS Reno has provided 3,958 Curiosity Classroom workshops reaching 70,000+ students in Pre-K through 4th grade with lessons and activities trusted by teachers and developed with state educational standards. An additional several thousand Curiosity Classroom workshops are planned before the conclusion of the 2024-2025 school year. In Fall 2024, the Reno Fire Department was featured on the PBS Reno series STEM Works, which reaches young audiences with exciting job possibilities in several STEM-related professions in northern Nevada.
"It’s great to see children so excited about the work Reno Fire does; we’d love to ignite a potential future career choice for them,” said Reno Fire Chief Cochran. “We strive to make the Reno Fire Department a positive part of all facets of our community, from our schools to charities to public safety.”
About PBS Reno
As of November 2024, PBS Reno is enjoyed by more than 540,000 monthly viewers in northern and central Nevada and northeastern California across several platforms including three broadcast channels (PBS Reno 5.1, Reno Create 5.2, and PBS KIDS on PBS Reno 5.3), a YouTube channel, YouTube TV, online, livestreams, and digital platforms. PBS Reno provides PBS national programming and award-earning, locally-produced content, with many local segments posted weekly to PBS Reno’s YouTube Channel. PBSReno.org provides engaging interactive content, including the video portal at watch.PBSReno.org that streams all locally-produced content and most PBS national content. PBS Reno serves students, teachers, parents and caregivers through immersive educational services including Curiosity Classroom Workshops that bring classroom lessons to life with standards-based lessons and activities. Through the support of local corporations and foundations, as well as thousands of individual members, PBS Reno has been delivering public television and educational services to the communities it serves since September 29, 1983.
About the City of Reno
The City of Reno government's mission is creating a community that people are proud to call home. In order to achieve that purpose, the Reno City Council has established six overarching goals for the City of Reno. To learn more about the City of Reno, visit Reno.gov or call (775) 334-INFO (4636).
Contact us:
Membership Questions: membership@pbsreno.org
Programming Hotline: programming@pbsreno.org
Phone: 775.600.0555
Address: 1670 N. Virginia St. • Reno NV 89503