Event Spotlight: Race to Nowhere at High School

[Editor's Note: Information provided by the Wakefield Parent Partnership and Wakefield Education Foundation]

The Wakefield Parent Partnership and Wakefield Educational Foundation are proud to announce that they will co-sponsor a showing of the film Race to Nowhere, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Center for Performing Arts at the Wakefield High School.

Race to Nowhere is an award-winning documentary that highlights the unintended consequences of our pressure-cooker culture and education system. An eye-opening call to action, the film challenges our deepest-held assumptions about how we can best prepare young people for the future.

Filmmaker Vicki Abeles, a mother of three young children, states, “as a mother, I experienced the stress firsthand and realized that no one was talking about it. I saw kids who were anxious, depressed, physically ill, checking out, abusing drugs, and, worst case, attempting suicide. I felt compelled to speak out about this crisis by making a film giving voice to the students, teachers, and parents. I wanted to expose a deeper truth about our education system. We are graduating a generation of robo-students, unable to think and work independently, creatively and collaboratively.”

Race to Nowhere speaks to the challenges that a vast majority of teachers, parents, and students face every day.

The Wakefield Parent Partnership and Wakefield Educational Foundation, are hosting a showing of this film, to spark a community dialogue concerning the health, education and well being of our children as they travel through their educational career. We as parents, educators and community members want to raise a healthy, happy, productive generation of children. This film is a medium by which we can recognize and realize some of the roadblocks to achieving this goal with our kids and work to overcome them. 

This film empowers parents, teachers, and students, to make choices to ensure that today’s children become healthy, happy, healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens in the 21^st century. The film empowers everyone to get involved and take ownership of what’s happening in our homes, our schools, and our communities.

The film will be shown and lasts 85 minutes, followed by a half-hour panel discussion led by Kelley Cunningham (WEF) and Peg Sallade (WPP). Both organizations encourage administrators, educators, parents, and other community members to attend this film and take part in the discussion. 

Tickets can be purchased on line for $10 (advance) at www.racetonowhere.com/epostcard/5359 or $15 at the door the night of the show.

For more information on Wakefield Educational Foundation, please visit their website at www.wakefieldeducationalfoundation.org and for Wakefield Parent Partnership, at www.wakefieldparentpartnership.org.

For more information on Race to Nowhere, including trailers and clips from the film, click here for the official website.