Free tonight?

Come to the Wheelock Family Theater and join us for a screening of “No Small Matter,” a film about the power of high-quality early education.

The film features “stories of real children, families, and teachers, illustrating the impact of high-quality early childhood experiences.”

“No Small Matter” is also “firmly grounded in science… opening up the ‘black box’ of what’s happening inside children’s brains with exciting, stimulating animation and the voices of compelling scientists, physicians, and ECE experts,” the press kit explains.

The film is “designed to kick-start the public conversation about early care and education.”

To promote this conversation, tonight’s screening will include a reception and a panel discussion. Here’s the full agenda:

5:00 PM – Please join us for a reception in the Earl Center for Learning and Innovation and explore The Wonder of Learning Exhibit.

6:00 PM – “No Small Matter” Screening

7:15 PM – Discussion and plan for action 

Panel Discussion – Moderated by Amy O’Leary, Director of Strategies for Children’s Early Education for All Campaign and President of the NAEYC Governing Board

• Greg Jacobs, Co-Director, No Small Matter
• Danny Alpert, Co- Director, No Small Matter
• Brigadier General Jack Hammond, U.S. Army, Retired; Executive Director, Home Base & Member, Mission: Readiness
• Aaron Lieberman, Partner, New Profit
• Early educators sharing their Voices from the Field

Location:

Wheelock Family Theater
Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development
180 Riverway, Boston, MA 02215

Click here to register.

The co-sponsors are Strategies for Children, the Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young Children, the Council for a Strong America and New Profit.

This event is hosted by: The Wonder of Learning Exhibit at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.

Please also check out the “Take Action” section of the film’s website. It features useful links for parents, providers, and educators.

For now, Education Dive reports, “advocacy organizations such as Choose Children in California and Groundwork Ohio are using the film in a ‘soft opening’ as part of efforts to draw gubernatorial candidates’ attention to children’s issues. But ‘after the smoke clears from November and we know where the world is heading,’” the films co-director Greg Jacobs says, the producers will bring the film to different audiences.

We hope broader audiences will appreciate the film and be inspired to act because there’s so much more to achieve. As the press kit explains:

“The United States has always been defined by opportunity — and no issue so glaringly highlights our failure to deliver on this promise as the imbalance in the opportunities afforded to our youngest children.”