Back to School, Celebrity Style

School's back in session, so the time has come for that classic form of edu-tainment, the after-school special.

Though this special is not your typical drama involving peer pressure and teen pregnancy. This is an after-school special about ... school.

Viacom will air the 30-minute show, called Get Schooled: You Have the Right, on all of its channels — including BET, MTV, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Spike TV and Nickelodeon — simultaneously at 8 p.m. on Sept. 8. This is the first time a single program has booked all of the company's airtime in a single slot.

The show will grab young viewers' attention by profiling pop star Kelly Clarkson and NBA MVP LeBron James, as well as the young people who work hard behind the scenes to make their careers successful. The show will focus on how dedication to education has been crucial to getting all these young people involved in the entertainment and sports industries.

The show is the first effort in the five-year "Get Schooled" national initiative that Viacom is developing in cooperation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. According to the Foundation, the initiative "creates a platform for corporate and community stakeholders to address the challenges facing America's public schools."

Combine that with some meaningful reform of and funding for our educational system, and we'll really be getting somewhere.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng