Back to School story ideas 2026

Featured experts & story angles

1. Using GenAI without cheating: what responsible AI looks like on campus
Expert: Brenda Stoesz, Research Lead, Science of Teaching and Learning, Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning; Chair, Manitoba Academic Integrity Network, University of Manitoba

Angle: GenAI is everywhere now, and many students and some educators are already using it. The tricky part is knowing where the line falls between using GenAI as a helpful tool and crossing into academic misconduct. Dr. Brenda Stoesz, an expert in academic integrity at UM, can walk through what responsible, ethical GenAI use actually looks like day to day. She can speak to the questions students and educators are wrestling with: Can I use GenAI to brainstorm? To edit? When does using it become cheating? She can also unpack UM's own guiding principles on ethical GenAI use, which cover big issues like bias, privacy, and misinformation, and offer practical guidance for students and educators trying to do the right thing when the rules still feel fuzzy.

Availability: 
Availability: Aug 25 (before 10:30 a.m.), Aug 26 (most of the day, not during 11 a.m.–12 p.m.), Aug 28 (anytime), Aug 31 (anytime), Sep 2 (10 a.m.–1 p.m. and 2–5 p.m.), Sep 8, and Sep 9.

2. The first-year leap: managing the transition and protecting your mental health
Expert: Kristin Reynolds, Professor and Director of Clinical Training, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba

Angle: Starting university means leaving home, making new friends, and juggling a heavier workload all at once, often without a familiar support system. It's exciting, but it can take a real toll on students' mental health. Kristin Reynolds can speak to what makes the first-year transition so challenging and how students can navigate it well. She can offer practical guidance on building a support network, managing stress and anxiety before they snowball, and recognising the difference between normal adjustment nerves and signs that it's time to reach out for help. It's a student-focused angle that speaks directly to first-years finding their footing, and to the parents who want to know their kids will be okay.

Availability: Aug 26 (11 a.m.–2 p.m.), Aug 31 (10 a.m.–3 p.m.), Sep 1 and 2 (10 a.m.–4 p.m.), and Sep 3 (2–4 p.m.). Early-morning segments (7–9 a.m.) also available on any of these dates.

3. The other side of drop-off: coping with an empty nest
Expert: Corey Mackenzie, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba

Angle: While students are busy settling into residence, their parents are heading home to a suddenly quieter house, and a wave of emotions they may not have seen coming. Corey Mackenzie can speak to the very real experience of empty nest syndrome and the emotional transition parents face when a child leaves for school. He can offer ways to cope with that unexpected quiet, help parents recognise when ordinary sadness might signal something more serious, and reframe this stage as an opportunity rather than a loss. Back-to-school season is almost always told from the student's perspective, so this is a refreshing angle on the parents living through their own big adjustment.

Availability: Aug 26 (morning), Aug 28 (9 a.m.–5 p.m.), Aug 31 (before 1 p.m.), Sep 1 (except 11 a.m.–1 p.m.), Sep 2 (2–4 p.m.), Sep 4 (9 a.m.–4 p.m.), Sep 8 (1–5 p.m.), and Sep 9 (11 a.m.–4 p.m.).

4. Back-to-school economics: making the money work
Expert: Divya Ramachandran, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

Angle: Back-to-school season is one of the biggest spending periods of the year, and students are feeling the squeeze as tuition, textbooks, rent, and everyday costs all climb at once. Divya Ramachandran can speak to the economics of returning to campus: why this season drives such a surge in spending, how rising costs are reshaping the choices students make, and the psychology behind the impulse buys that come with it. She can also dig into the financial literacy gap, the reason so many students arrive on campus without the budgeting basics, and what would actually help them build steadier financial habits. As affordability pressures mount, it's a timely, practical angle on how students can stretch their dollars and navigate the real economics of going back to school.

Availability: Aug 25–Sep 18, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. on available days. Unavailable: Wed Aug 26 (9 a.m.–12 p.m.), Thu Sep 3 (all day), Fri Sep 18 (all day), and Tuesdays and Thursdays from Sep 10 onward.

5. What a family recipe can teach: food history in the classroom
Expert: Emma Caronte, Undergraduate Student, University of Manitoba

Angle: UM undergraduate Emma Caronte has created a ready-to-teach food history unit for grade 7 and 8 classrooms, designed to align with Manitoba social studies curriculum. Using food as a lens, it teaches students to read recipes as historical sources and explore their own heritage, analyze how influencers and AI shape modern advertising, and trace how Canada's food guides have evolved. It doesn't shy away from harder truths either, tackling food insecurity in Northern Manitoba and its colonial roots, before celebrating the province's multicultural food scene through everything from wild rice and bison to perogies, lumpia, and jollof rice. It's a fresh, feel-good, back-to-school story of a student turning her studies into a practical classroom tool.

Availability: Before Sep 2 (very flexible), Sep 2 onward (7:30–9:30 a.m. and 4–6 p.m.).

Contact: Swarna Bhattacharjee, Media Relations Officer
Email: mediarelations@umanitoba.ca