October Sky

October Sky is a movie about how a hillbilly accomplished his dream of building rockets and got out from the falling mining hometown named Coalwood. Homer Hickam, the main character of the movie, would never succeed in his rocket dream without the extraordinary inspiration and encouragement from Miss Riley. An outstanding educator will focus on enlightening students and extending their limits instead of instructing strict rules and following rigid formats. The teacher in the movie, Miss Riley, recognizes the potential in every student, not only the ones with visible ability. She would use philosophical stories and her experience and observation to help her students to orient their dreams. All the positive impacts on the students came from the unique personality of the instructor.
There is a remarkable dialogue that touches my heart and wins my approval in the movie October Sky. When Homer and his partners were going to launch their rocket, some of the town residents had found their blockhouse and had been waiting for their launch. Miss Riley said to Homer, “You do not have to prove anything to anybody.” Miss Riley said that to the boys to make them feel more relaxed and try to comfort them from nervousness. Even Homer’s father, John Hickam, didn’t believe his son could be successful in building rocket. Miss Riley gave support to the rocket boys and helped them to approach their goal as much she could, such as ordering a book for Homer. In the beginning, Principal Turner reprimand Miss Riley for giving her students false hopes and wasting their time; and confiscated Homer’s rocket and the book about rockets. It was Miss Riley helped to get Homer’s things back and directed him to pursue his goal even though there would be obstacles along the way and he should not fear.
Homer’s father, John Hickam, and Ike Bykovsky both had influence on Homer’s coming of age. The effects from them were definitely not the elements that motivated Homer to achieve his