Character+Analysis

“October Sky” This film was an attempt to retell the true story of four high school boys from Coalwood, West Virginia who, intrigued by the Soviet’s Sputnik, attempt the construction of their own rocket. Inspired by one of their teachers and a handful of others, the team of four, talented, young men overcome many hurdles and ultimately win a national science fair competition that lands each one a scholarship and careers away from the local coal mines. Throughout the film, the most prominent gifted characteristic I witnessed was Homer’s **tenacity**. Overwhelming obstacles were placed in the path of the boys’ progress toward developing their own rocket. Each hurdle, even the ultimate challenge that took Homer out of the classroom and into the dreaded coal mine, was overcome by an impassioned desire to develop a successful rocket. Homer’s intelligence and ability to solve problems (building a rocket) is not easily identified. In Sternberg and Wagner’s //A Revolutionary Look at Intelligence//, (1982) they suggest that Homer and his buddies possessed an ability to separate relevant from irrelevant information, combine isolated pieces of information into a unified whole and relate newly acquired information to information acquired in the past. Their trial and error with their product, mastering physics and mathematical equations, and ignoring the pressures of their peers support Sternberg, Wagner and also Barbara Clark’s research. In Clark’s, //Growing Up Gifted// (1988), she presents a list of characteristics under five major headings: cognitive (thinking, affective (feeling), physical, intuitive, and societal.  Another characteristic expressed throughout the film is a desire for additional information beyond the surface. Homer’s teacher gave him a book on astrophysics that inspired his curiosity for more. Their teacher did not guide their research; she merely planted the seeds and they dove deeper into the subject.   According to Gary Davis and Sylvia Rimm (1998), Superior reasoning and problem solving are gifted characteristics. Homer and his team were able to solve the problems that were inherent in developing an affective rocket. Not only were these boys able to solve the problem, but they did so in a collaborative manner. Teresa Amabile (1999), the Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School believes that “competition between individuals, especially of the winner-take-all variety, inhibits creativity. But if groups are teams are the creative units, the competition enhances creativity.” These rocket researches enhanced each other’s talents and stimulated their passion for ultimate success. Most high school students are simply trying to socially fit in without attracting a great deal of judgment/attention. Homer, not a blazing athlete, went out for the football team to please his parents and hopefully attract the girls. David A. Sousa, author of “What is a Gifted Brain?” suggests that highly gifted students often developed coping strategies to deal with that feeling of being different from others (2003). Sousa also suggests that this characteristic is not true of all gifted learners. Some gifted students thrive on their abilities in what may be interpreted as elitism. Personally, I have not experienced this behavior as a teacher. Elitism is a tag used by others who view some gifted programs and activities as exclusive. Homer’s father recognized his son’s gifts, but may have been concerned that Homer’s future would be jeopardized if he pursued a dream of building rockets. Aerospace engineering was not practical and may be interpreted as an elitist profession; not the best choice for a coal miner’s son. Another area of the film that caught my attention was a conversation between Homer and his teacher. She suggested that Homer would most likely struggle with this dream (building a rocket) because, “Math was not your strength.” Perhaps Homer was never given the opportunity to express his abilities. But his passion to succeed was his motivation. Toward the end of the film, Homer, at the National Science Fair, is discussing the details of his team’s project using exceptional math knowledge. So, how do I explain this? Sousa (2003) suggests that true giftedness results from genetic predisposition and **hard work**. Homer’s passion for solving the rocket problem consumed his every thought. And as far as this “genetic predisposition,” that leads me to Homer’s father. Before I sat down to watch //October Sky//, I familiarized myself with the assignment’s rubric. Knowing I was to identify the gifted characteristics, my focus was Homer. But believing that giftedness may be inherited, I began to reflect on Homer’s dad. Hard working, family man, coal mine supervisor, negotiator for management, and every ready to deal with labor during a very challenging era, gives witness to this man’s ability to continually solve problems in the mines as well as at home. As I reflect upon our in-class discussions and activities, it is apparent that many gifted characteristics we covered in class were observed in //October Sky//: Marland’s “outstanding abilities and high performance;” Renzulli’s “above average ability, task commitment, and creativity;” as well as Gardner’s “capacity to solve problems.” One of our class activities, //A Brief History of Gifted Education,// was also witnessed in this film. A small West Virginia town may not have had the most current gifted education programs, but one teacher provided a platform for her students to expand on their Sputnik passion and self-discovery. Would Homer and his friends experience a different outcome if they attended a Virginia Beach high school in school in 2011? Would they have sent a successful rocket into the skies if their classrooms had been clustered? Would UbD and DI enhance their performance based assessment (rocket construction)? How can we insure that our local Homer’s will be given every opportunity to uncover their talents and pursue their passions?