On Friday, March 23, at 7:00 p.m., Lawrence’s Esperanza Academy will host a Red Carpet Movie Event featuring a private screening of Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time as a celebration of the girls and women of color who are changing the world. The event will be at the AMC Theater at The Loop in Methuen and will raise vital funds for Esperanza Academy, a tuition-free, independent school that is working to change outcomes and options for individual girls, their families, and the entire Lawrence community.
Directed by Ava DuVernay and staring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and Storm Reid as the young girl, Meg, who is charged with saving the world, A Wrinkle in Time is breaking barriers for women and girls of color. It is an important creative endeavor that helps audiences see the world through their lens – literally and figuratively.
A Wrinkle in Time features a young girl of color as the protagonist and is the first $100 million-plus movie to be directed by an African American woman. The ground-breaking movie aligns beautifully with the mission and vision of Esperanza Academy which is providing young girls from Lawrence the confidence to lead, to dream, to create, to be warriors, and to change the world.
The Red Carpet Movie Event will be hosted by 7th graders from Esperanza Academy who read and studied A Wrinkle in Time by Madelaine L’Engle this fall. Seventh grader Melanie Morales comments, “One of the lines in the book is so simple – but so powerful. It says, ‘Believing takes practice.’ and I know that is true. Sometimes we doubt ourselves but when we believe in ourselves, when others believe in us, we learn to change our expectations and we can reach higher than we realized.”
“Esperanza Academy believes in girls from Lawrence,” says alumna Ashley Gonzalez who was a member of the first graduating class from Esperanza Academy. With the ongoing support Esperanza provides through high school and college, Ashley completed her undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of New Hampshire in May 2017 and is now working on a master’s degree in Applied Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. “Sociology observes the world around us and looks at patterns and trends and assesses what is changing, what needs to change. I chose Applied Sociology because it gives us the tools to actually DO something – to change the world.”
Esperanza Academy—a tuition-free, independent middle school in the Episcopal tradition which welcomes girls of diverse faiths, races, and cultures from Lawrence, Massachusetts—inspires students to become active learners and responsible global citizens. The school, with its nurturing environment and academically rigorous curriculum, empowers girls and prepares them to meet challenges with courage, integrity, and respect. Esperanza is 100-percent dependent on the support of individuals, corporations, and foundations whose contributions fully fund a transformational education for underprivileged girls.
For more information:
Esperanza Academy: esperanzaacademy.org
Red Carpet Movie Event: esperanzaacademy.org/redcarpet
Ashley Gonzalez: esperanzaacademy.org/ashley
Wrinkle in Time Movie: mdb.com/title/tt1620680/