Schools

More Than 350 See 'Race to Nowhere'

A community discussion starts around a movie that focuses on the stresses on schoolchildren.

In an ironic twist, Thursday night's showing of the documentary Race to Nowhere in Hunt Auditorium at 's Richard B. Jones Academic Center came the same day by the state Department of Education.

Race to Nowhere highlights the stresses on schoolchildren, particularly high school students pressed to get high test scores and good grades, take college prep classes, participate in extracurriuclar activities and be involved in their community. Early in the film, one student describes the overachieving experience as a "race to nowhere."

The movie was conceived and directed by Vicki Abeles, who said she began looking at the issue when her 12-year-old daughter was treated for a stress-related health issue. It is dedicated to the memory of 13-year-old Devon Marvin of Danville, CA, who committed suicide in 2008 after getting a failing grade in math.

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The movie includes interviews with educators, psychologists, counselors and college admissions representatives who discuss remedies, such as reducing or eliminating homework and eliminating or cutting back on AP classes to help children have more of a childhood.

Valerie Greer of Farmington Hills said the movie sounded all too familiar. She and her daughter, Alexis, a 16-year-old junior, ate dinner in the car on their way to the event.

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"She wrote a paper before we came here," Valerie Greer said. "She just told me we can't stay for the after part of this because she's got homework."

Both of Greer's children are straight-A students, she said, and the family feels pressured to give up time together so both kids can get their homework done.

"At times I feel overwhelmed," Alexis Greer said. "I feel like I don't want to disappoint, so I stay on top of it."

Valerie Greer said the achievement conversation also happened at a recent eighth-grade parents night she attended for her middle school son. "That's what they were talking about, how many AP classes it takes to get in to U of M (University of Michigan)," she said.

A steering committee of students, faculty and administrators put the evening together, hoping to start a community conversation around what can be done to reduce pressures on students. , where students read The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, by Alexandra Robbins.

Junior Blair Sucher said the committee felt getting 100 people out to view the documentary would be a successful evening. By Thursday night, about 350 people had purchased tickets online. Some tickets were also sold at the door.

Speaking after the presentation, Sucher said, "This is the second time I've seen this, and I can't get over this film." She encouraged people to stay and engage in one of eight discussion groups about the movie.

"You may also want to think about what our community can do," she said.

Possible courses of action will be discussed in a follow-up conversation on April 13 at 7 p.m. in the school's media center.

Correction: This event was held in Hunt Auditorium in the Richard B. Jones Academic Center at North Farmington High School.


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