Rhea Gaynelle Sikes (June 14, 1922 – November 5, 2019) was an American television producer and educator. She worked for networks including PBS and local television stations WQED and WNET.

Early life and education

Rhea Sikes was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. 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 and Greensbo ...

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. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. 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, an ...

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, 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 American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and independ ...

. 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. Sikes was honored with the George Peabody Award 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 directed by ...

(1974). Sikes was a member of the organization American Women in Radio and Television. 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., doing business as OCLC, 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 ...

br>842289606

References

External links

Jim Robertson papers
at the

University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...

. 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