Highlights Archive

Go Back to School with WXXI!

Back-to-school time means updating routines, packing school lunches, creating a new family calendar, and finding helpful resources to support learning! It can be a lot for everyone in the family – big feelings, big transitions, and even bigger to-do lists.

Let WXXI’s Education Team help you get ready for the back-to-school transition – use the following resources from PBS KIDS and PBS LearningMedia to help your family adjust to the new school year:

Adjusting to New Routines

With the new school year comes new or updated routines, to help the whole family with this transition – design a family routine calendar. It can be tailored for specific parts of the day (i.e. morning, after-school, or bedtime) or individualized for each kid! Shout out to PBS KIDS Alma’s Way for this idea!

First Day of School

The first day of school is a big experience! A brand-new special from PBS KIDS called “The Day You Begin” follows four kindergartners on their first day of school. It’s a great family watch and opportunity to start thinking about the first days of school, and what makes each of us unique. Watch on PBS KIDS beginning Friday, August 7, 2026. You can also borrow the book, The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, from your favorite local library or watch the PBS KIDS Reads video of Jacqueline Woodson reading her book!

Learn at Home

Explore PBSLearningMedia – this free resource is available to all families, educators, and students. It’s appropriate to support students in grades PreK-12th grade. Whether it’s exploring New York State history or the depths of space, PBS LearningMedia is a good first stop to keep the curiosity and learning flowing all school year long. Teacher pro tip: Check out the helpful tutorial videos for how to use PBS LearningMedia features for your classroom instruction!

Listen Together

PBS KIDS podcasts can help you and your kids create some screen-free-time during the week. Listen while you ride in the car, play in your living room, or even before bed. Enjoy your favorite PBS KIDS stories, in an audio format. Choose from Arthur, Lyla’s Loopcast, the Odd Squadcast, Molly of Denali, and more!

More Back-to-School Helpers:

Explore the full PBS KIDS for Parents Back-to-School Hub or Back-to-School Activities Collection on PBS LearningMedia

Read PBS KIDS for Parents articles: 3 Words to Reframe “How was Your Day?”, Helping Your Child Make Friends Again, How to Cope with Back-to-School Anxiety, How to Handle a Tough First Day of School, or 5 Ways to Beat Back-to-School Jitters

Have a little one heading to kindergarten for the first time? Check out WXXI’s Kindergarten Readiness page!

The Best Student Podcasts from America at 250 NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge Category

The annual Student Podcast Challenge is for 4th-12th grade with winners in three categories. The national judges will choose winners in three categories: grade four, grades five through eight, and grades nine through 12. To mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, students sent podcasts that explore what the phrase, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” means to you. For this special challenge, our judges listened for stories that look back at historical events, took us to historic places, or that explored what it means to be an American. Stories of innovation, of rights and protest, arts and culture, civic engagement and governance, or personal narratives or beliefs.

Listening to the best 250 podcasts

Learn more by listening to some of the podcasts at the Special Series NPR Podcast Challenge Page.

Dolly Parton: Here I Am • WXXI-TV

Join the living legend for a musical journey through the people and places that shaped her career.

“Dolly Parton: Here I Am” airs Saturday, August 8th at 8pm on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

Join the living legend for a moving, musical journey through the people and places that shaped her iconic career. Featuring career-spanning archival footage, the film reveals the spirit, soul and hard work of an inspiring artist.

Photo Credit: Rob Hoffman

Elvis ’56 • WXXI-TV

ELVIS ’56 opens a time capsule to reveal the legendary performer at the very beginning of his meteoric career.

“Elvis ’56” airs Sunday, August 9th at 1pm on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

In 1956, Elvis Presley was a 21-year-old new singing sensation and both he and his rockabilly sound were unknown outside of the South. Narrated by Levon Helm (The Band). It captures the sights and sounds of that pivotal year using exclusive tour photographs, kinescopes of Presley’s controversial appearances on TV, newsreel clips, and radio interviews. Footage of performances captures the young, explosively talented Presley on the brink of his soon-to-be superstardom. Just one year later, he achieved widespread fame, selling a billion records worldwide and becoming the highest-paid star in Hollywood.

Photo Credit: DCD

Brontes & Me: Sisters of Disruption • WXXI-TV

Anita Rani explores the Brontë sisters (Anne, Charlotte and Emily) and the impact they’ve had on millions of readers.

“Brontes & Me: Sisters of Disruption” airs Sunday, August 2nd at 7pm on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

She recalls her first encounter with them at school and her experience of growing up with the stunning landscape of Haworth and the moors on her doorstep. Fellow Brontë fans and literary experts to discuss how and why these sisters became ground-breaking “literary disruptors.”

Photo Credit: Sky UK Ltd

Patriot, Loyalist, Neutral: Differing Perspectives on the American Revolution?

Learn about Patriot, Loyalist, and neutral perspectives on the American Revolution by examining the stories of those living in the American colonies at the time. Students examine definitions of Patriots and Loyalists during the Revolutionary era from both primary and secondary sources. Then they view video clips highlighting the stories of three different people from that time to explore how differing experiences, beliefs, and practices contributed to Loyalist, Patriot, and neutral viewpoints, and to understand how these differing opinions about American independence created divisions between British colonists in the American colonies.

Explore Perspectives and Student Activities

POV “For Venida, For Kalief” • WXXI-TV

A tender journey and exploration into the past, present and future, and delivers nuance and understanding about the long vicious cycle of mass incarceration over the last 50 years.

POV “For Venida, For Kalief” airs Monday, July 27 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

“For Venida, For Kalief” debuts the poetry of Venida Brodnax Browder, mother of Kalief Browder- an African-American teenager who inspired incarceration reform in the United States.It culminates in the contemporary movement to transform Rikers Island – one of the world’s most notorious jails – into a renewable energy center. This film intertwines spirituality and advocacy, while crafting a cinematic experience that re-imagines the “criminal justice” documentary as a poetic collage.

Photo Credit: For Venida For Kalief site

Space Explorers: Moonrise on the ISS • WXXI-TV

Space Explorers takes an intimate look at life aboard the International Space Station and the future of space exploration.

Space Explorers: Moonrise on the ISS airs Tuesday, July 21 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps.

The film looks ahead to the Artemis program, which will send humans back to the Moon for the first time in 50 years. It follows seven astronauts living and working on the ISS — an outpost serving as a proving ground for future lunar and deep-space missions

Photo Credit: American Public Television