Beyond the Blackboard

Grab kleenex! This movie was wonderful! ALMOST MADE ME CRY because of the joy I felt. It always warms my heart to see others, helping others and giving their all. If you like heartfelt movies, this one is it! Very thankful for their movies to make us feel something and want to do better and give of ourselves! James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 2/14/2021

This movie is about the heart and compassion of newly graduated teacher who had the heart to make a difference in the lives of homeless students and their parents. The beauty of it, is she never treated them any less than anyone else. She treated them with respect, love and compassion. In turn, the students and parents learned to trust, be involved in their children education, learned to read and the students thrived.

The moral of the movie... It only takes one act of kindness and the continuation to show up each day to make a difference. In turn, others will do the same. Any child can learn and be great students, they just need someone to believe in them and show up!

I was lucky growing up- I had parents and Grandparents who valued education and were together as 1 family. In 1974 when I started college the furthest thing which I wanted to do was become a teacher, instead I became a volunteer juvenile probation officer while in college, a police officer afterwards and an Army veteran (all after college). God also blessed me with 2 wonderful sons whom I raised by myself because I lost their father in a car accident. I've always pushed education- expecting and demanding the best from their school boards, their teachers, myself, and my sons. Now, some 38 years after graduating the U of South Florida, I'm obtaining my Masters in Education. I've been a parent volunteer since 2006 in their high school, and I've been a substitute teacher since 2009. This movie just drives home what I've seen over the years, what I've fought for for my sons and their classmates, and for their parents. Thank you Mrs. Bess, for giving me the courage and the fortitude to carry on- I nearly gave up on my MA. Thank you for being the type of teacher which you are- you are indeed a rare breed of teachers and I wish that there were more like you. We don't give up- we look to reach all our students and their parents. You were there to help me and make me not give up- in 3 weeks I graduate with my MA, then it's off to the state board exams.

This is a great film that really made me appreciate the great teachers I had in school whose dedication made an impact on me as a positive adult. I think if every teacher were like Mrs. Bess and cared about every student, public education wouldn't be so wrought with so many issues in the US.

For a television film, the acting and writing are pretty good. Vancamp is believable as the hardworking and total novice teacher, Mrs. Bess, and she is able to carry the film for the entire 90 minutes. I think the filmmakers could have spent a little bit of time showing how Bess got trained as a teacher because the plot jumped 8 years into the future in the first 5 minutes. Vancamp very briefly plays her character as a teenager, which makes you suspend belief since Vancamp was in her late 20s here.

It is a sappy, family friendly movie that I would imagine teachers could also show to students in middle or high school. It's a Hallmark movie so of course it's a little cheesy but made for a nice Saturday afternoon viewing.

This movie is fantastic. If you have an opportunity please watch it. I typically watch the romantic hallmark movies but today I decided on this.

I have always loved Emily Van Camp. From Everwood to revenge to The Resident. She is perfectly cast. The man who plays her husband (I'm blanking on his name) but he hasn't had a big role in much but I saw him in Girlfriends Guide to Divorce and he was good in a very different role. All of the children were really good. And the other adult actors were all fantastic. Nobody was overacting too much like you get in a lot of Hallmark movies.

Everything from cinematography, set, music, direction etc is fabulous.

Obviously the best part of the movie is the inspiration. What taking pride in your things and space and having faith in others can really build them and change lives and put people on a better path than the one they may have been dealt.

I found it through my Hallmark Subscription on Amazon Prime. If you come across it, I'd highly suggest watching it.

My wife asked me to watch this movie with her last night and I'm glad she did. This was a very well done movie. All the actors did a great job especially Emily VanCamp as Stacey Bess. The child actors they got for this movie also did a very good job. I became very interested in the children and what their story was. And to probably be expected some were pretty sad. It was interesting to find out what happens to them during the movie. And as in all Hallmark movies there are some moments that tug at your heartstrings! And moments where you get a smile on your face. This was a story that I wasn't aware of so you could learn something from this movie as well as just get some enjoyment from it. A good choice for the family to watch.