"Race to Nowhere" Director to Visit TMS

On Wednesday, November 10, we are presenting an evening with Vicki Abeles, Producer and Director of the film Race to Nowhere, a featured film at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival. The screening of the film and discussion with Ms. Abeles is an extraordinary opportunity for our community, and we hope you will attend.

The important film documents an issue vital to the health and well-being of all our students – the stressful challenge of the college application process in America today. Unfortunately, this intense push to get into the best colleges often begins long before students even get to high school, and it has become increasingly more stressful as teens and parents compete with others to build a resume that includes not only the highest possible GPA (with honors classes, AP, high SAT’s and ACT’s, multiple extracurriculars, community service, internships, and on and on. And when do our kids get to be teens? When do they have time to enjoy their youth, socialize with their friends and family, have some fun, and simply get a good night’s sleep? When is enough, enough?

And how is this process working for our teens? Their physical and emotional health is being strongly compromised; they are suffering “burn-out” at higher levels than ever before; their fear of not getting into the “best” schools is creating a level of anxiety that is leading to depression and even worse.

And the truth is that all this stress, this added pressure is ineffective. Colleges have lowered their standards and report that the basic skills of incoming freshmen are so low that an alarming number of students must take remedial classes. And yet our fear, that of parents and educators, is that if we let up, if we reduce the pressure, we are somehow failing – our kids and ourselves.

Students in the film suggest this whole process is a “race to nowhere.” If this is true, then what are we going to do about it?

Comments from members of our community who saw the film recently at The Mill Valley Film Festival:

Diane Darrow, TMS Parent: The film posed the question "how are we teaching our children and why?" The disconnect between what it takes to be a top student and get into a "good" college versus the kind of work skills the 21st century now demands is widening. Time and again test scores and external forces seem to be directing our students' lives. It was clear from the movie that the present educational methods are not only stressful and disengaging but inappropriate for the real world they will face after college.

Molly Grey, TMS Student: The movie was not only inspiring, but it brought attention to a nationwide problem that high school students like me are going through. It gave hope and encouragement on what steps everyone can take to reduce the pressure. Vicki truly listened and honestly represented what teens, parents, and teachers are feeling.

Ashley Vidal, TMS Student: Colleges are always asking what are you interested in and what are you going to major in; when are we supposed to have time to even figure that out? I think it would benefit colleges if they just took out a calculator and use the addition button over and over again to add up all the hours they expect of us, so they could see how physically impossible it is. There just simply isn’t enough time in the day to actually do all they expect. The system sets impossible standards, and the beautiful thing about this film is that it captures that pressure perfectly. This movie reminded me how grateful I am to go to a school like TMS and my strong desire to help other people get to the same place we are.

As you can see, this is a film that we do not want to miss. Our student body will be seeing the film on the afternoon of the 10th.

I encourage all of you to attend and to bring friends who would also benefit from seeing this film. Seating will be limited, and we expect seats to fill quickly, so get your RSVP in as soon as possible. A $10 donation at the door will be appreciated and will help to cover the cost of this event. Please see attached Invitation.

A special thanks to Kieran Ridge, TMS teacher and Director of The Marin School’s Filmbridge program, for his commitment to bringing this film to our community.

-Barbara