New Rochelle, NY (January 2011) Iona College’s Education Department is presenting two award-winning documentaries about the purpose of American education which explore possible options for improvement. The screenings are free of charge.
The first is the documentary, Race to Nowhere, which will be screened at 5 PM, Tuesday, January 25 at the college’s Christopher J. Murphy auditorium and will be followed by a panel discussion. The film points to the silent epidemic in the nation’s schools where cheating has become commonplace; students have become disengaged; stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired. Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.
Iona instructor James Stillwaggon will facilitate a panel discussion. Panelists will be: Brian Veprek, adjunct instructor in Iona’s Education Department at Iona College and a doctoral student in the Program in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. His scholarly interests include the nature of human autonomy and what, if anything, a teacher can do encourage its development.
Pamela J. Stubbart, a doctoral student at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Her research interests include moral education, critical thinking education, homeschooling, school reform, and school choice.
Richard A. McMahon, retired, who served as principal of Manhasset High School, Island Park Middle School and as a teacher and assistant administrator in Long Beach schools and more recently as principal of Trinity Elementary School, New Rochelle and of Holy Name of Mary Parish Catholic School, Valley Stream. He started teaching recently at Iona College.
Christopher Doyle, adjunct professor at Iona College and chair of the Bronxville High School history department.
The second film, Waiting for Superman, will be screened at 7 PM, Wednesday Thursday, February 10 at Iona’s Ryan Library.
Directed by Davis Guggenheim whose An Inconvenient Truth won an Academy Award, Waiting for Superman explores the ways the American public education system is failing our nation’s children and examines the roles that charter schools and education reformers could play in offering hope for the future. The film looks at how the current system is obstructing the education of five students instead of bolstering it and opens the door to considering possible options for transformation and improvement.