The first episode of the BBC/OU series Chinese School premieres today, November 24, on Link TV at 7:30PM Eastern/4:30PM Pacific!

Continuing in the vein of African School and Indian School, Chinese School follows the lives of families, teachers, and children in the small rural town of Anhui over the course of an academic year. The individual stories of hardship, joy, and success create an extraordinary portrait not only of the children, but of a nation in the midst of enormous change. Visit the official website of Anhui to learn more about the region.

This week's episode, The Year of the Golden Pig, follows headmistress Mrs. Zhang from Ping Min Primary School, as she heads deep into the Anhui mountains in order to recruit new children to start on their long march through the Chinese education system.  As a charitable foundation, her school is able to present an opportunity to some of the Province's most disadvantaged children, and give them the chance of a better life.  For these very poor children, a good education is their best way out of poverty.

Watch a clip from the premiere episode:

Earlier this year Link TV's Know the News project joined with the Poynter Institute's NewsU.org to bring our unique video editing tool to more classrooms. The online course, called Video News Editing: The Remixer Game, allows students to learn about media spin by comparing and editing new stories from broadcasters worldwide.

The start of the school year has brought many new schools and organizations to the Know the News remixer thanks to the partnership.

Here's a list of schools and orgs now using Know the News, which is funded by the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation:

Check out the Remixer Game at NewsU.org. For more information on the tools visit Know the News.