MKE Week 13–The Three Valuable Skills in “October Sky”

Often people watch movies to forget what’s going on in their life, to laugh, to be scared, to cry, or just for the enjoyment of it. In the movie “October Sky” there were three valuable skills illustrated throughout the movie. These skills include: the importance of persistence, the importance of masterminding, and the importance of good communication skills.

The story took place in a small coal town in West Virginia in October 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite and started the space race between USA and the USSR.

When Homer, our main character, saw the satellite cross the sky, he was inspired to get into rockery. He announces at the dinner table that he was going to build a rocket. His mother seemed excited about the idea, his father doubted his dream, and his older brother just chucked. Once he had done his research, Homer and his three friends began building a rocket in his basement. The first lesson of persistence came when his Father came down to the basement, told his friends to go home, and told his son that this was a foolish idea and it would never go anywhere. He told Homer that he couldn’t fire off rockets anywhere on company property. Without Homer’s knowledge his Father packed all his rocket stuff and put it in the trash. When Homer found out about his rocket equipment, He went out to the trash to retrieve his valuable parts to his rocket. Homer’s persistence allowed him to find some property that wasn’t owned by the mine & that was 8 miles from where they all lived. Here they could build their rockets & test them. The down side was the only transportation that they all had was their feet or hitchhiking. The next example of persistence was when Homer & his buddies were accused of setting a building on fire with one of their rockets. They were in jail until parents could pick them up. Homer knew that their rockets didn’t cause the incident, but he had to have proof. He worked on this problem at his lunch breaks at the mine. His father was recuperating from a serious injury. Even though Homer was helping his family by working in the mine, he was still persistent at finding the solution to the problem to clear their names and he was determined to build rockets again. His dream had been put on the shelf for a while, but his desire was still alive.

Once Homer and one of his friends discovered the solution to the rocket’s trajectory, they found the rocket miles from the fire, proving they did not start the fire. Homer had to use his skill of masterminding when he finally got to go to the Regional Science fair. After setting it up and doing presentations, three days before his project would be judge someone came into the building and stole everything, his project, even his picture of his favorite scientist, Dr. Von Braun. Instead of giving up he used his masterminding skills with his mother to figure out how to get another rocket engine made & delivered to him in time for the judging of his project.

The last lesson learned from this movie was the importance of communication skills. Homer had to use his communication skills to explain his discovery of the missing rocket and how it wasn’t close to the fire. The principal saw the science & his math and helped him clear his name along with his friends with the police. Homer also had to explain boldly to his father the importance of his dream. His father’s passion was managing the mine, but Homer’s passion was building rockets. They each had value to their community. He used these skills again when he presented at the fair and lastly when he was going to shoot off his last big rocket and he wanted his father there. He met his father at the mine to invite him to the last launching of their rocket. He had to explain why he wanted his father there. His father was his hero not Dr. Von Braun. He also used his communication skill when talking to the people of the town, thanking them for their support. He was so pleased that his father came that he asked his father if he wanted to push the button to send his rocket into space. His father smiled and said, “yes”. Homer had learned some valuable lessons, just like I was reminded of them by watching this movie.