The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has announced the three winners of its Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarship program, now in its sixth year, is dedicated to the legacy of Fred Rogers and his influence on children’s media through his long-running series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Rogers’ wife, Joanne Rogers was on-hand to present the US$10,000 scholarship awards along with the Foundation’s executive director Terri Clark.

Christina Zagarino is earning a master’s in Child Development at Tufts University and plans to use the scholarship to produce three- to five-minute interstitials to encourage viewers to participate in physical activity. Rachel Schechter, who also hails from Tufts University and is working toward a Ph.D. in Child Development, plans to research the relationship between children’s use of media and learning. XavierVanegas, who is at the University of Southern California earning a master’s in Motion Picture Production, plans to develop Fink Forest Friends, an animated children’s program. The winners will also be assigned a mentor from the Television Academy’s Children’s Programming Group who will work with them during the academic year.

The monetary award is made possible by the underwriting of Ernst & Young.