During the COVID-19 lockdown, our team turned to social media as a way to continue providing virtual programming to patrons. But we quickly realized that our reach was limited to broadcasting content and parents were finding it difficult to keep kids engaged in front of a screen for learning sites where children were not actors but only spectators. We also realized that broadcasting content allowed for some audience interaction, but this had to be live and was limited to likes, comments and shares.

KDL partners with WIMAGE — a local endeavor with a website, an app and the vision to reach kids where they are with interactive learning experiences. Partnering with a local entrepreneur brings a different kind of energy to our work. By providing them with a platform, WIMAGE is able to identify other community partners interested in reaching families and creates levels of engagement that range from program participation and in-kind collaborations to sponsorships, assuring their sustainability and extending our reach.

This partnership has grown beyond our expectations. We are now reaching families and classrooms, broadcasting to 12 to 15 (depending on the day) partner social media pages and have shared 23 edited episodes for PBS in Detroit, New York and Los Angeles, as well as our own Grand Rapids channel WGVU. WIMAGE has been a winner in multiple local entrepreneurs' competitions was most recently as most recently chosen as Top Veteran Owned Business of the Year by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.