Highlights Archive

My Ascension • WXXI-TV

Emma sitting cross-legged under a tree, reaching toward the sunlight. A suicide attempt left Emma paralyzed but propelled her on a mission to help others. — A suicide attempt left Emma paralyzed but propelled her on a mission to help others.

A suicide attempt left 16-year-old varsity cheerleader, Emma Benoit, paralyzed, but propelled her on a mission to use her painful experience to help other young people find hope and stay alive.

My Ascension airs Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 11 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the WXXI app.

As Emma navigates the challenges of her physical and mental health recovery, she works to shine more light on the fact that 20 young people die every day by suicide in the in the United States.

This program is presented as part of Dialogue on Disability, a partnership between WXXI and Al Sigl Community of Agencies – in conjunction with the Herman and Margaret Schwartz Community Series. Dialogue on Disability is supported by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation with additional support from The Golisano Foundation. The weeklong initiative runs January 13-19, 2025

WXXI and Al Sigl have been hosting Dialogue on Disability since 2005. In 2014, with the support of businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation, Move to Include™ was formed. This initiative enables WXXI to present and develop programming that promotes inclusion year round.

WXXI News Coverage of Student Mental Health Stories & Talk Shows On-Demand

Public media stations across New York State are focusing on the student mental health with a year-long multi-platform campaign, including news coverage. Funding for this program is provided in part by the New York State Education Department. Listen to the stories and talk show podcasts on-demand.

Local WXXI News Coverage: Read & Listen to stories on-demand here

Local News: Gov. Hochul’s upcoming state budget addresses student mental health matters. Local leaders respond from January 9, 2024 Gov. Kathy Hochul says efforts to improve youth mental health will be a priority in her upcoming New York state budget proposal.
Local News-R-Centers offer teen mental health support through winter break, from December 26, 2023. Some recreation centers in Rochester have been bolstered with more mental health supports for teens and their families — the winter school break will offer more opportunities for students to access those services.
Local News-URMC debuts teen drama therapy performance at OFC Creations from October 27, 2023 Drama therapy might not be widely known or practiced, but a theater production this weekend showcases the fusion of art and healing. LISTEN • 4:11
Local News-Students face mental health care barriers. A proposed law might help, from October 4, 2023. A lack of mental health services at schools and colleges is a national issue that hits home in Western New York, but proposed recommendations could remove obstacles. LISTEN • 4:17
Local News-Local institutions work to meet ‘profound and startling’ demand for teen mental health services, from October 2, 2023. Although progress is being made toward addressing teen mental health, experts say there’s still more that needs to be done to meet the demand for resources. A new facility that’s in the works aims to help do that.
Local News-Meet the game-changers leading a mental health movement among student-athletes, from September 29, 2023. A club at Nazareth is one of nearly 1,400 Morgan’s Message ambassador programs at colleges and high schools around the country. These programs are a place where students lead conversations about mental health. LISTEN • 7:41
New York Public News Network-New York state leaders say they are making gains on addressing teen mental health, from September 27, 2023. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature invested $1 billion into mental health services in the current state budget. Part of that money is earmarked for services specifically for teenagers. LISTEN • 3:19
Local News RCSD’s Ruth Turner leads restorative approaches to conflict with new H.U.B., from September 25, 2023There’s a new space for resolving conflicts and interrupting cycles of violence at the Rochester City School District. LISTEN • 1:28
Local News-Greece joins school districts suing social media giants over alleged harms to children from September 20, 2023.Districts allege social media apps are to blame for student struggles with mental health and discipline problems that divert resources from education. LISTEN • 1:25
Local News-Nazareth University expands mental wellness programs with $300,000 federal grant from September 19, 2023. Students and staff at Nazareth University will see an expansion of mental health outreach starting this fall. LISTEN • 1:14
Local News-Housing instability hurts Rochester students’ academic performance, says report from August 24, 2023. The Children’s Agenda is calling on the state to enact policies and programs to help families find a stable place to live.
Local News-Kids coping with trauma and violence can start finding help at some city recreation centers from July 12, 2023. In an effort to boost the emotional health of Rochester’s children, the city is launching a one-year pilot program at its recreation centers.
Local News-Greece Athena High School pilots a counseling app for student mental wellness, from May 29, 2023. The Greece Central School District is rolling out a pilot program to see if a phone app could improve student mental health. LISTEN • 1:18
Local News-State budget allots funding for youth mental health, from May 17, 2023. May is Mental Health Awareness month and the New York state budget includes $1 billion toward transforming the state’s mental health care — $30 million of that is focused on children. LISTEN • 1:34 (via WRVO)
Local News-Conference in Rochester provides resources for girls ages 10 to 16 from April 17, 2023. A mother-daughter conference in Rochester over the weekend was designed to help girls learn more about mental and emotional health supports available to them.
Local News-Survey: Parents say kids lack mental health services in Monroe County schools from March 22, 2023. The Children’s Agenda is calling for robust solutions to what they say is a mental health crisis among children and teens – including improving access to care in schools. LISTEN • 1:23
Local News-Hochul proposes $1 billion to boost statewide mental health services in wake of pandemic from March 17, 2023Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for $1 billion worth of mental health services across New York state, with a strong focus on addressing the needs of children and teens. LISTEN • 1:28
Local News- How a new Rochester youth center came to be named for the Obamas from January 9, 2023. Teen Empowerment has landed a major donor for its new center. And his contribution came with an unusual request. LISTEN • 4:54
Local News- College students need more mental health resources, speakers stress at state hearing from December 1, 2022. State lawmakers gathered this week for a public hearing on college students’ mental health needs ahead of the upcoming 2023 legislative session. LISTEN • 1:15
Local News RCSD partners with the University of Rochester to support students’ mental health needs from September 28, 2022 The University of Rochester and the Rochester City School District are partnering again, this time to provide mental health training to school staff.

Aired New York Now Programs:

New York NOW
Saturday, September 23 at 6:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV Repeats 9/24 at 5 a.m. Watch On-Demand
New York NOW takes a look at mental health support in afterschool programs in one of the program segments

New York NOW
Saturday, September 30 at 6:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV Repeats 10/1 at 5 a.m. Watch On-demand
The team dive into the mental health crisis in New York, featuring an insightful interview with Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan, Commissioner of the state Office of Mental Health. We also shed light on often overlooked demographics in suicide prevention and speak with Dan Egan from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention about the current state of mental health in New York.

Connections with Evan Dawson Live Talk Show Podcasts from WXXI News

May 24, 2024 Podcast: How a new pediatric urgent care is expected to address the mental health needs of local youth

May 1, 2024 Podcast: Examining youth mental health in the pandemic era

November 15, 2023 Podcast: How local teens are getting more involved in understanding their social and emotional health?

October 18, 2023 Podcast: How can we have more open conversations about mental illness, including suicidal ideation?

September 27, 2023 Podcast: Melissa Kearney, author of “The Two-Parent Privilege”

September 26, 2023 Podcast: Former WNBA all-star Chamique Holdsclaw on mental health advocacy

September 20, 2023 Podcast: Why are teens with mental health challenges not getting care?

August 31, 2023 Podcast: What do young people think causes hopelessness or lack of direction?

August 18, 2023 Podcast: Summer Book Week: A look inside children’s books dealing with anxiety

April 12, 2023 Podcast: What do young people need when it comes to digital literacy education?

March 23, 2023 Podcast: Can music help teens and young adults struggling with mental health challenges?

January 9, 2023 Podcast: How local institutions are working to connect people to mental health services

December 27, 2022 Podcast: How to help teens cope with trauma and mental health challenges

This program is part of the New York State Public Media Overdose Epidemic, an initiative funded by the New York State Education Department that has called on NYS public media organizations to create a multi-platform project to help address mental health and addiction throughout the state. The project includes broadcast offerings, online content, and special events, like this screening. The NYS stations will also work to create comprehensive digital teaching tools, online learning, and essential instructional content.

Indie Lens Pop-Up: Preview from The Tuba Thieves • The Little Theatre

Photo from The Tuba Thieves – Independent Lens

Join WXXI for a special FREE screening of 40 minutes of preview clips from the Tuba Thieves , a film by Alison O’Daniel. Each screening will be followed by moderated discussion.

About the Film: Between 2011 and 2013, tubas were stolen from high schools across Southern California. Against this backdrop, hard of hearing filmmaker Alison O’Daniel generates new sensitivity to sound and meaning in an unconventional documentary experience. What does it mean to listen? An exploration of musicality set against a theft. The central mystery of this unconventional documentary isn’t about theft; it’s about the nature of sound itself.

This event is free and open to the public but registration is required due to limited space and best accessibility.

Indie Lens Pop-Up presents this free screening:
On Monday, April 29 at 6:30-8:30 p.m.
At The Little Theatre, Theatre 5
240 East Avenue, Rochester, NY

The clip screening will be followed by a moderated discussion. ASL interpretation will be provided for opening remarks and moderated discussion. This film will be presented with open captions.

Moderator: Sarah Abbamonte: Project Manager for Move to Include

Panelists:

Diana Pryntz, Executive Director, Deaf Refugee Advocacy

More About Diana Pryntz

Deaf since birth, Diana Pryntz grew up in New York City attending public schools. When she was of college age, she moved to Rochester, NY to attend Rochester Institute of Technology. It was there where she learned American Sign Language (ASL) and developed her Deaf identity. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Science in Instructional Technology. After a short stint working in the industry as a programmer for Xerox and then DuPont, she became a professor of Computer Science at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. In 1987, she switched gears and changed her career to motherhood.
During her 30 years of motherhood when she wasn’t busy raising and unschooling her four sons, she focused on empowering women with home birthing and breastfeeding as a leader of the ILY La Leche League group in Rochester, NY, forming and leading the Society of Rochester Jewish Deaf, presenting on: environmental design, renewable energy, and sustainability, and teaching ASL to the rural community where her husband and she built their off-the-grid passive solar home.
In May 2017, Diana co-founded Deaf Refugee Advocacy and is currently serving as the Executive Director.

Stacy Lawrence: Owner of Stacy Marie Lawrence Photojournalism & leader in establishing film venues to showcase deaf filmmakers such as Deaf Rochester Film Festival and a film camp for deaf teenagers.

More About Stacey Lawrence

Stacy Marie Lawrence is a talented, energetic and vibrant leader, organizer, fundraiser and photographer whose accomplishments in the past decade include establishing a unique and highly successful film camp for deaf teenagers and helping to make the Deaf Rochester Film Festival one of the primary venues for showcasing films about, by and for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.

In 2013, Stacy conceived, directed and raised funds for a unique summer film camp for deaf teenagers. For two weeks, deaf and hard of hearing children from all over the country learned how to write, shoot and direct their own video productions under the tutelage of professional deaf filmmakers, animators and screenwriters from around the world. Profiled in several news stories, the camp was so successful that it has become an annual event. In August 2014, campers produced an ASL adaptation of Pharrell Williams’ smash hit “Happy,” which garnered international attention and over half a million YouTube hits in its first two weeks.

As DRFF’s Sponsorship Chair, she raised over $60,000 in grants and sponsorships for its four biennial festivals, developing a diverse sponsorship base spanning the deaf and hearing communities. She became its Executive Director in 2009, coordinating and managing all aspects of the 2009 and 2011 festivals, which brought talented deaf filmmakers to Rochester from all over the world. She developed lasting relationships with other prominent Rochester film festivals, the George Eastman House, the Little Theatre, ArtisanWorks and other stalwarts of the Rochester arts community.

Stacy is also the owner of Stacy Marie Lawrence Photojournalism, where she specializes in candid black-and-white photography of important events, children, weddings, births and anniversaries. In 2007, she designed, organized, promoted and displayed an exhibit of her photos from the 2006 Gallaudet protest, entitled “Sign Truth To Power,” at the RIT/NTID Dyer Arts Center.

More About the Film at PBS Independent Lens: The Tuba Thieves

Watch the Trailer:

The film is scheduled to air on WXXI-TV and Live Stream and on the PBS Player on May 20th at 10PM.

Learn More: Film Website

PBS Independent Lens: The Tuba Thieves

About Indie Lens Pop-Up
Indie Lens Pop-Up is a community series that brings people together for film screenings and conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most. Learn more at pbs.org/indielenspopup

Presented by ITVS, INDEPENDENT LENS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Acton Family Giving, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts. Stream anytime on the PBS App. For more visit pbs.org/independentlens.

Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s Screening • The Little Theatre • Reservations now closed

Reservations for this screening are now full and registration is closed.

Join WXXI for a special FREE screening and discussion of Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s, a film by Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green. Three people—a political cartoonist, a mother turned boxing coach, and an optician—navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease.

Indie Lens Pop-Up presents this free screening:
On Monday, March 18 at 6:30-8:30 p.m.
At The Little Theatre, Theatre 5
240 East Avenue, Rochester, NY

This event is free and open the public, but reservations are required. RESERVATIONS ARE NOW FULL!

The film will be followed by a moderated panel discussion. ASL interpretation will be provided for opening remarks and post-screening panel discussion. This film is presented with open captions.

Photo from Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s – Independent Lens

Watch the Trailer:

Learn More: Film Website

PBS Independent Lens: Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s

Festival of Inclusion • Nazareth University

The Golisano Foundation, Special Olympics, and Best Buddies New York host an interactive day of fun and acceptance for the whole family.

WXXI and its Move to Include™ initiative, a partnership between WXXI and The Golisano Foundation designed to promote inclusion, is pleased to be part of Festival of Inclusion. Enjoy interactive community stations, sports and fitness activities, adaptive equipment demos. Be sure to stop by our table for some interactive fun!

Festival of Inclusion
Saturday, March 1 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nazareth University l Golisano Training Center
4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618
FREE and open to all

Photo: WXXI Kids/Move to Include™ table at the 2023 Festival of Inclusion • Credit: Maria Spinelli

Rick Steves Virtual French Wine Tasting

Rick Steves – Photo provided

Whether you’re a seasoned connoisseur or just beginning your wine journey, you do not want to miss this enchanting evening with the beloved world traveler, Rick Steves.

Rick and a professional sommelier will guide you in a tasting of six different French wines. You’ll learn the art of wine tasting with the fundamental five S’s: see, swirl, sniff, sip and savor. Sip along and learn something new about the wonderful world of wine!

Your ticket includes:

6 mini bottles of wine (enough for two to taste) that will be shipped directly to your door
Access to the virtual tasting led by a sommelier alongside Rick Steves
75 minutes of wine education and interactive Q&A
A recording of the event in case you cannot participate live

Virtual Event on Tuesday, February 6, 2024
7:00PM – 8:15PM
TICKET SALES ENDED JANUARY 12, 2024

How it works: This virtual event will take place via Zoom Webinar. Zoom is free to the public but requires a computer download. You can download Zoom here.

This event makes a great gift! We invite you to attend yourself, and give this wine tasting experience to the wine lover in your life. Ticket purchases for this event support WXXI programming.

PLEASE NOTE: Participants must be 21 years or older. Kits cannot be shipped to PO boxes, Canada, or the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Utah.

Why Do We Say “Latino”?

Danielle Bainbridge traces the origin of the term Latino, Hispanic, and Latinx in this episode of “Origins of Everything.” When you hear “Latino” you probably think of people from Latin America – places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. But where exactly did the history of that word come from, and has it always meant Central America and South America as well as the Caribbean? Danielle traces the origin of the term “Latino” and the debates that still surround it as well as the term “Hispanic” and “Latinx.”

About Origins of Everything Host, Danielle Bainbridge

She is a fun loving, history nerd who will never shy away from a good debate or bad joke. She has a PhD in African American Studies & American Studies from Yale University, graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in English & Theatre Arts, and is a new faculty member at Northwestern University in Theatre and African American Studies. Which basically means her interests run the gamut from big Broadway musicals to the social & political movements of the last 200 years.

Razing Liberty Square Screening • The Little Theatre

The Liberty Square public housing community in Miami becomes ground zero for climate gentrification

Join WXXI for a special FREE screening and discussion of Razing Liberty Square, a film by Katja Esson. Liberty City, Miami, was home to one of the oldest segregated public housing projects in the U.S. Now with rising sea levels, the neighborhood’s higher ground has become something else: real estate gold. Wealthy property owners push inland to higher ground, creating a speculators’ market in the historically Black neighborhood previously ignored by developers and policy-makers alike.

Indie Lens Pop-Up presents this free screening:
On Monday, January 29, 2024 at 6:30-8:30 p.m.
At The Little Theatre, Theatre 5
240 East Avenue, Rochester, NY

Razing Liberty Square Trailer | Independent Lens

The film will be followed by a panel discussion.

Moderator: Mary Lupien, Rochester City Council Member, is passionate about preserving a livable climate through policy, increasing safe, stable and affordable housing and fighting poverty and institutional racism. For many years, Mary was an organizer with Mothers Out Front, a group working to inspire bold climate action and mobilize the community to achieve a sustainable future for our children. She has also focused on community efforts to halt displacement and create access to quality, affordable housing and Mary has supported efforts to Re-imagine how her city provides Public Safety to the community in a way that keeps all residents safe.

Panelists:
Scott C. Benjamin, President & CEO, Charles Settlement House & Community Place of Greater Rochester;

Dr. LaShunda Leslie-Smith, DSW, LMSW, Executive Director, Connected Communities, Inc.

Panelists Bios:

Scott Benjamin, CEO of Charles Settlement House & Community Place of Greater Rochester: Scott has been in the non-profit human services field for 29 years, working at The Salvation Army, Charles Settlement House and The Community Place of Greater Rochester. Charles Settlement House & Community Place formerly affiliated in 2021. Prior to entering the human services sphere, Scott worked in radio and TV news for 18 years. He is the co-chair of the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Center for Community Health & Prevention Community Advisory Council. He is also a board member of the Rochester Community Transportation Foundation, a board member of the Settlement Houses of Rochester Foundation, and past president of the Rochester Northwest Rotary Club. Scott is a graduate of the Leadership Rochester program.

Watch the Trailer:

Learn More: Film Website

PBS Independent Lens: Razing Liberty Square

About Origins of Everything Host, Danielle Bainbridge

Related