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Rhea Gaynelle Sikes (June 14, 1922 – November 5, 2019) was an American television producer and educator. She worked for networks including
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and local television stations WQED and
WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...
.


Early life and education

Rhea Sikes was born and raised in
Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...
. She attended
Greensboro High School Greensboro High School was a public high school in Greensboro, Florida. It was a part of Gadsden County Public Schools. West Gadsden High School, established in 2004, absorbed students who formerly attended Chattahoochee High School (Florida), C ...
and went to University of North Carolina Women’s College. During her undergraduate studies, Sikes’ artwork was displayed several times, including works with media lithographs and oils. There she earned her bachelor’s degree in Art and minored in Drama. She earned her Master’s of Arts in Television in 1954 from
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
. With this educational experience, she had a strong background in script-writing, producing, and directing.


Career

Sikes started her television career working for
WFMY-TV WFMY-TV (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Piedmont Triad region. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Phillips Avenue in Greensboro a ...
in Greensboro, NC. She also traveled the United States to present educational programs for the Good Teeth Council. In July 1955, Sikes began her career at WQED in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, as producer of Television Teaching Demonstration. She then transitioned to the position of director of educational services. Sikes produced programming for the first telecast classrooms to elementary schools for the Metropolitan School Service in 1955. She helped sustain WQED's instructional television service for almost twenty years, helping to plan and encourage the use of instructional television in Pennsylvania and in the wider Eastern Educational Network. In 1970, Sikes produced the television series “The Turned on Crisis” at WQED about the issues of drug abuse in the Pittsburgh area; the series won the 1970 Community Service Award competition. In 1971, Sikes was the director of educational activities at WQED. During her time working at WQED, Sikes served many positions, including assistant program manager, producer, director of school services, and executive producer for educational programming. In 1973, began working at the
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and became the first coordinator of educational services at WNET. In this position, Sikes reviewed, evaluated, and coordinated informational and educational programming presented to general and classroom audiences. In 1978, Sikes left her job at PBS to become an independent consultant. She consulted for other television stations, school systems, and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; stylized as cpb) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to ...
. Sikes was honored with the
George Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in a ...
for television education (1971), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Community Service Award (1971), and a citation for contributions to the advancement of education from the
Pennsylvania Department of Education The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with publicly funded preschool, K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are direc ...
(1974). Sikes was a member of the organization
American Women in Radio and Television The Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) is a nonprofit organization created by women in 1951 that works to support women in the media in the United States. About The mission of the organization is to "advance the impact of women in broadcasting a ...
. Sikes died on November 5, 2019.


List of works

* Robertson, James; Sikes, Rhea G. (1978). ''KRMA: its present status, its future potential : a study for the Denver Public Schools''. Denver, CO: Robertson Associates, Inc.
OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...
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References


External links


Jim Robertson papers
at the
University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.–Baltimore area. The system includes eight libraries: six are located on the University of Maryland, College Park, College Park campus, while ...
. Contains an interview with Rhea Sikes on August 3, 1981 for the Public Broadcasting Oral History Project. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sikes, Rhea G. 1922 births 2019 deaths American television producers University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni Syracuse University alumni American women television producers People from Greensboro, North Carolina 21st-century American women