Guest Post on "Race to Nowhere"

Hello!

My son is a bright, hardworking, musical kid. But the pressure he puts on himself to achieve is having some truly negative implications that you may or may not see at school. "Race to Nowhere," the film the Magruder HS PTSA is screening 11/4, tells the stories of many kids who are struggling with similar issues. For some it manifests as physical symptoms, for others it's emotional stress, others are socially isolated. And for one girl the pressure to be excellent was too much - she took her life at 13.

When I took my son to see this film for the first time, his immediate reaction was, "That's exactly my life." This is not what I want for my kid - or for any kid.

As an educator, I see my and other teachers' frustrations echoed in the film. The pressure to get through the curriculum, and meet state and national expectations can cause us to shortchange our students in ways that can have long term implications. I also see the students for whom the pressure is too much, too soon and by the time they reach middle and high school they've checked-out and don't even try to keep up, let alone excel.

I'm hopeful that the film screening and the follow-up discussions will be the start to developing some real solutions to help our kids achieve balance and for us to do the best job possible to help them reach their full potential.

As far as my son goes, he may take a different path to reach balance. He's applying to the Duke Ellington School for the Arts for next year. The academic rigor is nowhere near that at Magruder (especially in PEAC) and he'll get the music that is his passion  - and that may be a very good thing.

Feel free to share this with anyone you think may be interested in seeing the film. Here are the details:

What: Screening of the film, "Race to Nowhere" (www.racetonowhere.com) and facilitated discussion following the film
Who: students, parents, teachers, administrators - anyone concerned about kids
Where: Magruder HS Auditorium
When: Thursday, November 4, 7 PM
To purchase tickets ($10 in advance, $15 at the door, with proceeds going to Magruder's PTSA): http://www.racetonowhere.com/screenings/magruder-high-school

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Jennifer Boudrye