October Sky
Movie Review by: Diane Floria, Frederick Community College

October Sky shows what influence a teacher can have on a student, and how far that student can go with that encouragement. Homer Hickam is a boy raised in a coalmining town where the only expectation for boys who cannot play football is mining. Homer reaches beyond that, and with the help of his friends and one class nerd, and his teacher, Ms. Riley, builds rockets and develops propulsion science that will later influence the United State space program.

This movie is the ultimate for teachers. We all would like to think that influencing a child would produce an Albert Schweitzer, Homer Hickam or future president, so it teaches us to encourage all of our students. Ms. Riley remarks that math has never been one of Homer’s strong points, however his interest in rocketry motivated him not only to take his math beyond the expectations, but using skills almost beyond those of his teachers and principal. And Ms. Riley realized that when she bought Homer a textbook to help him take his research beyond the resources of the school. We as teachers can encourage our students, and show them the other resources to help them reach beyond the classroom.