A Smile as Big as the Moon

2012 "A special education teacher, his class, and their inspiring journey through U.S. space camp."
7.6| 1h35m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 29 January 2012 Released
Producted By: Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Mike Kersjes is a special-education teacher and football coach in Michigan. Mike doesn’t talk down to his "special" students. He respects them, and he believes they’re capable of achieving great things. When Mike hears about Space Camp, a competitive education program at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, he gets an idea. Even though the program is designed for gifted science students, Mike decides participating in the summer program would do wonders for the self-esteem of his young students, one in particular who wants to be an astronaut.

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A Smile as Big as the Moon (2012) is now streaming with subscription on Hallmark

Director

James Steven Sadwith

Production Companies

Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions

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A Smile as Big as the Moon Audience Reviews

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?
Manthast Absolutely amazing
Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.
Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
Desertman84 Well,I have written thousands of reviews at IMDb and have stated that I am a big Moira Kelly fan. When she appeared many movies like "The Cutting Edge", "Chaplin", "Daybreak" and "Twin Peaks" back in the 1990's,she was obviously positioned to become the next Hollywood superstar being extremely talented and very pretty.Too bad that she felt that Hollywood is in contrast to what she is all about and didn't like the staples of Hollywood films - sex and violence -that she decided to leave Los Angeles and instead to do independent films like "Entertaining Angels:The Dorothy Day Story". She still found success on TV being in Aaron Sorkin's "West Wing" for one season and in "One Tree Hill" for five seasons.Now,she is relegated to doing TV movies.I started to search TV movies where she is involved with being a still a big fan of hers and found "A Smile As Big As The Moon" wherein she plays the wife of special education teacher,Mike Kersjes. "A Smile As Big As The Moon" stars John Corbett together with Jessy Schram, Logan Huffman,Moira Kelly, and performers who actually have learning disabilities.It is based on the memoirs of the special education teacher,Mike Kersjes,who has high dreams for his students with learning disabilities. He intends to raise money for his special-ed students to join the NASA space camp which is a program best suited for intellectually gifted and intelligent students. Since it is a TV movie,we get to see the expected predictability that Mike is able to overcome the obstacles such as lack of funds,non-support of the school administration, and the lack of experience that NASA has in accommodating these type of students. But in spite of these things,I found the movie truly touching and memorable. It tries to tell the message of the triumph of the human spirit and respect for individuals despite their limitations. Aside from this great story,I also found the portrayal of John Corbett as Mike Kersjes great especially when it presents his character's determination and persistence in allowing his special education students to dream of big things in their life.Also worthy of recognition is Jessy Schram in the role of Robynn as Mike's co-teacher in a special education class.As for Moira,I found her performance as Mike's wife great as well being supportive of her husband's ambitious project and encouraging her husband through the numerous obstacles that he has to overcome and when trying to suggest things to him with dialogues such as "Genius is keeping things simple".Overall,this was a truly inspiring TV movie that reminds us of the triumph of human spirit and encouragement of people to reach for their goals in spite of their physical and mental impairments or limitations.It was also nice to see Moira Kelly once again and being involved in this type of projects despite being only in a supporting role nor a Hollywood superstar rather than being involved in movies that only shows sex and violence and being a Hollywood superstar at that.
Charles Atkeison The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is home to a treasure trove of space flight history, including a garden of rocket hardware designed to educate and preserve America's first steps off our fragile oasis.The north Alabama space center is also home to Space Camp and Aviation Challenge, two programs designed to train and teach both children and adults on what it is like to fly aboard a space shuttle or a F-16 fighter jet.Located a short drive west of Atlanta, the two programs also teach the importance of teamwork both at school or on the job."I love that I was able to experience Space Camp since it was something that I wanted to do every summer growing up," Colleen Cino from Orlando exclaimed adding she looks forward to returning with her daughter in a year.This weekend, Space Camp is the subject of a made-for-television movie which just may raise your spirits and inspire all children ages 7 to 77 to reach for the gold ring of learning."A Smile as Big as the Moon" is the newest movie from Hallmark Hall of Fame productions and centers on a classroom of special needs children who come together with the help of their teacher Mike Kersjes to triumph through education at Space Camp.Based on Kersjes' 2002 book by the same name, Smile teaches it's audience how truly talented children in special education are and their ability to overcome diversity and unkind comments to get a job done.Kersjes and his teaching aide Robynn work to gather both the support of their school and raise the money needed to attend Space Camp.However, one barrier could stand in the way for Mike, Robynn and their class, even larger than raising the tuition money. Space Camp has never hosted a special needs group.This feel good movie demonstrates the strong role educational camps have with young students.Last week, this aerospace reporter attended the Hollywood styled-VIP premiere at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and listened as the cast and crew discussed their feeling's behind the fact-based movie.Scott Goudy is one student portrayed who tries hard and defies his own self being to become a true leader for the class, "I love being here (at Space Camp) and I just hope and pray we can have more challenged people come here." Both Scott and the actor who portrays him, Logan Huffman, met for the first time that night. At one point Scott leaned by to to tell Logan, "You did a great job".As Mike's class trains to meet the challenges of camp, they all learn how hard work and determination can allow you to succeed in you goals.Scotland born actress Louise Linton, who plays Space Camp trainer Julie, discussed her admiration for the cast and crew, "It was a warm, happy, really beautiful set to be on and I think a lot of that came from the kids." Linton's smile grew as she spoke of her working relationship with the young cast."I didn't know what to expect working with a bunch of special needs children," Linton added. "They were the most impressive actors I've ever worked with, so it was really delightful." Kersjes echoed Linton's thoughts saying, "Two-hundred and some members of a family made this happen... and I am very proud how this family came together and made it work." At the conclusion of the movie, audience members I spoke with applauded the movie's values and Space Camp's many accomplishments."As a teacher my favorite part of Space Camp was getting exposure to all of the activities that they have available for all of my students," states educator Patricia Cleveland from Jeffersonville, Georgia. "From the special needs students to my gifted and accelerated students, there was a strong educational value attending." Programs within Space Camp are designed to elevate the learning curve for students, and include an educator's camp for teachers which will add to their continuing education accreditation.John Ratnaswamy, a parent and veteran of several Space Camp sessions, summed up the rich values embedded within the program, "Space Camp helps kids, all kinds of kids, learn that they can be part of building a future that unleashes the human spirit and honors the explorer that is born all of us." On Twitter, "A Smile as Big as the Moon" was a trending hit on the social media giant as the audience spoke of the movie via the #SmileMovie hash tag.The movie is available on DVD.
astymegoesby I saw an advert for this movie in a few magazines and I was psyched to see this movie.It did not air on Hallmark channel as advertised, and aired on the ABC Network.The movie is 2 hours long (separated by commercials) - broken up into 3 parts.Part one: Introductions to the cast members, their respective illnesses, ADD ADHD, etc... The actors were horrible and at times insensitive.Part two: Raising money for Space Camp which the wanted to go.. After a few weeks of striking out trying to raise $50,000, this burger guy just hands a check for 50K.. PREDICTABLE Part three: Space Camp, loosely interpreted, the kids experience the full-range of what space camp has to offer and of course during their mission something goes wrong.. Someone panics,, its OK... they land, win an award and everyone is wonderful.WASTE OF TIME! TOTAL GARBAGE. You want to watch a movie about space camp... GO WATCH THE REAL "SPACE CAMP"
KristiAnn1 The movie, which stars John Corbett, is based on the memoir by teacher Mike Kersjes with Joe Layden in the 1980′s. It gives an inside look into the way one educator empowered special needs students who were often bullied by others to find compassion and respect for everyone.[3] In the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, many of the special-ed students were played by young actors who have Down syndrome, autism and learning disabilities. Space Camp is a competitive education program at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. Even though it's designed for gifted science students, Mike, a special education teacher and football coach at a Michigan high school, decides participating in the science program would do wonders for the self-esteem of his students – especially Ben, a boy with Down syndrome, who dreams of becoming an astronaut.Aided by fellow teacher Robynn McKinney, Mike faces incredible obstacles in trying to make his dream become reality. School administrators oppose the plan as being too expensive. Space Camp officials are skeptical: They've never had special-ed kids apply before.At long last, Mike and his students are given the green light. And then the real challenges begin, over nine months of rigorous teaching, learning, training and fund-raising. The kids are belittled and in some cases bullied by their fellow classmates, but Mike finds a way to keep them on track. He even convinces the school's football team, his other students, to help them prepare for the intense physical challenges of Space Camp. The class finally leaves for Huntsville, Alabama. Will kids with Down syndrome, Tourette's, learning disabilities and emotional problems be able to leave their baggage behind, coalesce into a team, and compete with some of the brightest students from across the country!

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