Know What's Right, Do What's Right

Know What's Right, Do What's Right®

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, more than 70% of students, and an equal number of school staff, have seen bullying occur in educational environments. The number increases significantly when including social media and other forms of electronic communication.

Know What's Right, Do What's Right® is a bullying prevention campaign that features grant opportunities for preschools, kindergartens and early elementary schools in Western Pennsylvania. The Marcus L. Ruscitto Foundation provides funding in support of programming and curriculum to complement parent and teacher involvement in early childhood education.

The Foundation has consulted with subject matter experts and assembled a program incorporating media messaging that reaches children and primary caregivers, complemented by in-school service providers who bring proven methodologies that can be applied immediately.

Specifically, the Foundation has featured the following program components since its inception:

On-air announcements featured at the bottom of this page promoting the Know What's Right, Do What's Right® theme on WQED-TV; WQED is the public broadcasting service (PBS) station in Pittsburgh, PA, delivering educational programming to the community
Know What's Right, Do What's Right®: A Forum on Bullying; WQED-TV host Chris Moore moderates an expert panel discussion about bullying prevention strategies among young children
Grant request opportunities for preschool programs demonstrating financial need to implement the Raising a Thinking Child - I Can Problem Solve (I.C.P.S.) curriculum; I.C.P.S. is a universal school-based program that focuses on enhancing the problem-solving skills of children and offers insights to early childhood primary caregivers
Grant request opportunities for schools and community center populations demonstrating financial need to hold assemblies featuring The Gab Squad (f.k.a., The Josh & Gab Show), a show that entertains and informs audiences of all ages through a combination of music and comedy
Grant request opportunities for schools and districts demonstrating financial need to incorporate the Teamology social emotional learning (SEL) program. The program is a culmination of decades of research and side-by-side teaching with the most renowned experts in bullying prevention, evidence-based research conducted at Penn State University. The material is based on six relatable characters and the foundations of a house called Project TEAM that teachers and students use to emulate skills and relate them to future-ready indexes such as career exploration practices.

These on-air announcements began airing on WQED-TV in October 2014 and appear consistently during age appropriate programming through May of each school year. As of 2019, the foundation has underwritten the production of fifteen thirty-second on-air announcements featuring bullying prevention thought leader clinicians and entertainers.

The Know What’s Right, Do What’s Right® campaign has awarded grants to many schools and community organizations throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, including these representative examples: