NBC News Announces 1st Annual STUDENT TOWN HALL, 9/23

NBC News announced today that the 2012 "Education Nation" Summit will include a special student event hosted by MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry. As part of an education-focused edition of THE MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY SHOWfrom 10:00AM-12:00PM/ET on Sunday, Sept.23, the premiere Student Town Hall will begin at 11:00AM/ET. The program will be broadcast from The New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman building in midtown Manhattan.

Harris-Perry, also a tenured professor at Tulane University, will lead a unique conversation with our nation's young people-- hearing about their experiences, their ideas and their concerns about our nation's schools, and the importance of public policies that aim to reduce the dropout rate, engage students, increase achievement and strengthen the nation for generations to come. To inform and guide this discussion, NBC News will collect questions and ideas from students in the lead up to the town hall on Facebook.com/EducationNation and on Twitter @EducationNation. On EducationNation.com, students can also upload YouTube videos sharing their own ideas about improving education. To submit videos, visit EducationNation.com/StudentTownHall.

"Far too often we talk 'about' young people without bothering to talk 'to' young people," said Harris-Perry. "Students know what inspires them, what challenges them, what impedes their progress and what facilitates their learning. We cannot have a fully informed conversation about education reform, without the perspective of students themselves."

In addition to the broadcast on MSNBC, the "Student Town Hall" will be available online at EducationNation.com and other NBCUniversal platforms.

The 2012 "Student Town Hall" event is supported by State Farm and Target, and Knowledge Partners including America's Promise Alliance and the General Motors Foundation. State Farm also provides a platform for youth to engage in helping improve graduation outcomes through its 26 Seconds online campaign. Target's sponsorship is part of the company's commitment to give $1 billion for education by 2015.

Sponsors of the 2012 "Education Nation" Summit include Citi, University of Phoenix, ExxonMobil, the American Federation of Teachers, the Bezos Family Foundation, the Bill & MeLinda Gates Foundation, Target, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, National Education Association and State Farm. Knowledge Partners include the General Motors Foundation, Scholastic, NBC Learn and America's Promise Alliance.

About "Education Nation"
"Education Nation" seeks to create a thoughtful, well-informed dialogue with policymakers, thought-leaders, educators, parents and the public, in pursuit of the shared goal of providing every American with an opportunity to achieve the best education in the world. These discussions cover the challenges, potential solutions and innovations spanning the education landscape. By providing quality information to the public, NBC News hopes to provide information to Americans so they can make decisions about how best to improve our education system both in the near and long terms, and to shine a spotlight on one of the most urgent national issues of our time.

Don't Miss a TV News Story Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...