Media Pro Gives New Rochelle Students Eye-Opening Look at Cartoon Magic

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (October 24, 2025) — It only takes 22 minutes to watch an episode of an animated show like “Cyberchase,” but it takes weeks or even months to create that episode.

That was just one eye-opening fact students learned when Jesse Pilnik, an associate producer for PBS Kids, spoke to Angela Carrasquillo’s media arts/tech class at Isaac E. Young Middle School on Oct. 10.

Students in the class, being offered for the first time this fall, learn about all aspects of media including public service announcements, digital citizenship, advertising, podcasting, broadcast journalism and more.

“Listening to the guest speaker was very interesting because I learned how certain cartoon shows were made and composed,” said Leah Rodriguez Hidalgo. “Found it super cool how they were made, now I understand how precise and detailed the making of the episode has to be.”

Liam-Jace McKenzie said he enjoyed the guest speaker because he was knowledgeable and “worked at cool places like Nickelodeon and PBS Kids.”

Carrasquillo said, “This class teaches students how to tell a story through all different mediums. Guest speakers from all aspects of media including content producers, anchors, reporters, directors, marketing and advertising show students that there is so much more to media than talking in front of a camera.”

Pilnik is currently the associate producer for the Kids’ Media & Education Department at the WNET Group/Thirteen, New York’s flagship PBS station. He works on the PBS Kids’ series “Cyberchase,” and has also worked on “The Plate Club,” “Count on Junesville,” “Wordsville,” and many other programs.

Carrasquillo said she chose Pilnik as a speaker because he has worked on shows that students would recognize from Nickelodeon and PBS Kids, and he is an Emmy winner for his work. The students learned what a content producer does and what goes into creating a children’s cartoon.

This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.