Taylor Benedickt Photography The Galaxy Theaters Legends IMAX theater in Sparks, Nevada, was rocking.
Oohs and ahhs. Shouts and cheers.
More than 300 kids from nearby Reno-area schools having the time of their lives watching the new ASCE giant-screen film Cities of the Future.
“Everyone was incredibly excited. That was probably the first time I heard cheers like that where it was just like a genuine screaming excitement – especially from the little ones, which was just the best,” said Monica Morales, P.E., ENV SP, M.ASCE, director at large of outreach for the ASCE Nevada Section’s Truckee Meadows Branch and primary driving force behind setting up the film screening event for the students.
“The teacher texted me later saying that she was a little embarrassed by how loud her students were. But I was like, ‘That’s probably my toxic trait: I absolutely love screaming and cheering.’ It was so much fun.”
The Nevada event was one of several such parties ASCE leaders have set up as outreach to their communities around the Cities of the Future film. The same team produces the film – ASCE and MacGillivray Freeman Films – that launched Dream Big: Engineering Our World in 2017. It premiered in February, received the red-carpet treatment at premiere events in Los Angeles and Brooklyn this past spring, and is now showing in museums and giant-screen theaters around the world.
The film travels the world looking at how young civil engineers are using mind-bending technology to develop the most futuristic of future cities.
So it makes sense that the kids in the IMAX theater in Nevada were having a blast. But it wasn’t just the thrill of the movie. It was the movie star, too.
Morales, who organized and hosted the event, just so happens to be one of the civil engineering stars of the film.
“When I gave the welcome before the movie, they cheered,” Morales said. “Then, during the movie, when they saw me on screen, they started cheering again, which was just – I don’t know – it was just wonderful.
“And throughout the whole movie, they were very engaged. They loved the 3D effects and would make little noises like, ‘Oh my gosh’ and ‘Whoa.’ They loved the upbeat music. For a couple of songs, they started clapping to the music in unison, which was also super cool. Just so much engagement and excitement throughout the whole field trip.”
Taylor Benedickt PhotographyFull-circle moment
The event was a self-described “full-circle moment” for Morales, who was once one of those Reno kids herself back in the day looking for inspiration where she could find it. She attended Agnes Risley Elementary School in Sparks and Earl Wooster High School in Reno as a child.
Both schools sent students to the Cities of the Future event.
Not a coincidence at all. Morales and her husband, Myles Bean, moved back to Reno (they met each other as high school students) in 2021 after living and working in Los Angeles for several years. Morales was a huge champion of K-12 outreach with ASCE groups in L.A., so bringing that same energy to her hometown was natural.
Further reading
- Meet the civil engineering stars of Cities of the Future
- See photos from the Cities of the Future red-carpet premiere in L.A.
- Watch Monica Morales discuss her experience making the film
“When I moved back, I knew I wanted to continue to do outreach,” Morales said. “Especially for my hometown schools, understanding the demographic of the schools I attended myself, which are Title I schools.”
When ASCE released Dream Big, Morales worked with the Los Angeles Younger Member Forum to organize events that connected hundreds, maybe thousands, of students to the film over the years. So, yes, putting together an event in her hometown for kids at her alma maters highlighting the follow-up to Dream Big, a film that she stars in … full-circle moment, indeed.
“Oh gosh, it’s really surreal,” Morales said. “The Dream Big field trips were just so much fun because you could see how the students got really engaged. But when you know that I have personally done presentations for these students before I was in the film, so they got to know me – and now they see me on this huge, big screen … And they have a similar background as me, thinking, ‘Hey, wow, if she can do it, I can do it!’
“If anything, I just hope it’s just really a launching pad for all of them.”
Taylor Benedickt PhotographySpecial event
This was no small undertaking, either.
Morales had a specific vision for a grand event, reaching and inspiring all those students. So she went to work, securing the film, booking time at the theater, planning the schedule, even organizing buses. She raised money with significant help from her employer, Jacobs, the ASCE Truckee Meadows Branch, and the Nevada Water Environment Association. And the vision came to be.
Red carpet, photo shoots, 3D glasses, free popcorn, and of course, a trip to the Cities of the Future.
“I had a lot of people come down after the event to tell me how successful they thought it was, how they feel that those kids are going to remember this for the rest of their lives,” Morales said. “So then I’m choking back tears and saying, ‘I’m so appreciative of you sharing that.’
“There were multiple times throughout the event where I almost cried happy tears,” Morales said. “But I knew like, ‘OK, no, we gotta keep going, keep smiling,’ and I managed not to cry or ruin my makeup for the day [laughs].”
Well, maybe until she saw her parents. Gustavo and Rebecca Morales came to the event as special guests. They even brought their civil engineer/movie star daughter a bouquet of roses like they had after her grade-school ballet recitals.
“My dad is kind of a quiet, more serious kind of guy, and he was like, ‘So, Monica, what do you think of the future?’” Morales said.
“I said, ‘I don’t know, what do you think?’
“And he said, ‘I'm excited for the future if the future looks like that.’”
Learn more about Cities of the Future and find a showing near you.
Taylor Benedickt Photography
Taylor Benedickt Photography 
Taylor Benedickt Photography