MPH to show Race to Nowhere at Palace Theater

Manlius Pebble Hill School will present a preview of the new film, “Race to Nowhere,” at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Palace Theater in Eastwood.

The documentary, which is free, looks at what today’s high-stakes, high-pressure educational culture is doing to children. The film contends that high-stakes testing contributes to cheating, stress-related illness, depression, and burnout, and has largely replaced meaningful teaching and learning.

The current obsession with tests, the pressure to out-perform everyone else in everything from academics to sports and music, the competition to get into the so-called best colleges places unprecedented stress on today’s students, said Baxter Ball, MPH’s head of school.

The audience is invited to stay after the film to participate in a discussion with local childhood experts and educators on issues raised in the film.

The panel will include Jeffery Mangram, assistant professor in Syracuse University’s School of Education; Dewey Meyers, Ph.D., child psychologist; Paul Gasparini, principal of Jamesville-DeWitt High School; Fatima El-Hindi, founder of the NAS Learning Center, a private weekend school that offers instruction in Arabic and Islamic history;.

“Race to Nowhere” is being screened in select locations across the country.