BY KAREN BOSSICK
“Wonder,” the inspiring story of a fifth-grade boy with facial differences, is being shown free of charge at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at the Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater on Hailey’s Community Campus.
The screening is being offered by Girls on the Run, I Have a Dream Foundation and The Advocates’ ETC youth interns, who are pushing their organization’s Green Dot anti-bullying program. Youth representatives from each of the organizations will lead the audience in a post screening question and answer. And door prizes will be given away.
The movie will be captioned for the hearing-impaired, as a group from the School for the Deaf and Blind in Gooding will be attending as part of their Winter Adventure Club visit to Sun Valley. A sign language interpreter will be provided during the question and answer.
Based on a New York Times bestseller, “Wonder” follows the boy as he attends a mainstream school for the first time. Ultimately, it offers a heartwarming message of overcoming challenges, embracing one’s uniqueness and spreading kindness.
“The themes of the film, the brave characters in the story and the way children can break through the barriers that keep us from seeing each other as worthy of friendship is something we want to celebrate together with our community,” said Mary Fauth, executive director of Girls on the Run.
The movie fits with I Have a Dream Foundation’s mission of changing lives through the power of education, noted John Blackman, that organization’s director.
“Empathy is the highest level of human intelligence,” he added. “It is our social imperative to help our kids reach this level of intelligence.”
The screening is underwritten by Patti Lentz of Lentz Appraisal.