Beyond the Blackboard (Hallmark Hall of Fame) DVD

Based on the novel by Stacey Bess titled, Nobody Don't Love Nobody, this movie is about a 24-year-old first-time teacher who overcomes her initial fears and prejudices and makes a difference in the lives of the homeless children she teaches in a shelter's makeshift classroom. Stacey Bess (Emily VanCamp), a young wife and mother of two in Salt Lake City who long dreamed of becoming a teacher, sets out to obtain her first teaching position after graduating from college at the end of 1987. With the school year already underway and her teaching options limited, she finds herself accepting a job at "a school with no name," where she is expected to teach homeless children from grades one through six in the same classroom. Despite concerns about the challenges of teaching students of various grade levels at the same time, Stacey is excited by the opportunity and earnestly prepares for her first day; however, her dream morphs into a nightmare when Stacey arrives at the shelter. She finds that the "classroom" is a filthy shed with a few tattered books, one desk, several old mismatched chairs and a resident rat. The school district's personnel director (Timothy Busfield) who hired her remains unreachable when she repeatedly tries to solicit resources. Additionally, the undernourished, unkempt and unruly children and their struggling, disillusioned and occasionally disrespectful parents are worlds away from Stacey's teaching dreams. Stacey fights off her tears and discomfort and, with the support of her husband (Steve Talley), decides to become an advocate as well as a teacher. She starts by cleaning, painting and decorating the "classroom" with the help of an eager student, Maria (Paola Andino), and Nelson (Mat Greer), a kind and artistic 65-year-old homeless man from the shelter whom Stacey enlists as a teacher's aid and art teacher.