'A Smile as Big as the Moon'

'A Smile as Big as the Moon' is a heartwarming tale

A Smile as Big as the Moon" is a heartwarming story of how the underdog can win despite any obstacles or challenges in his path.

Based on a true story and airing Sunday, Jan. 29, at 8 p.m. on ABC Ch. 4, "A Smile as Big as the Moon" shares the story of a real-life Michigan special education teacher and coach, Mike Kersjes (John Corbett), in the late 1980s.

After a disastrous trip to the planetarium, one of Kersjes' students, Ben (Peter ten Brink), who has Down syndrome, grabs not one, but all of the pamphlets for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., and dreams of being an astronaut.


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© Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions

Scott (Logan Huffman), left, and Matt (Jimmy Bellinger) in mission control during a space camp shuttle simulation in "A Smile as Big as the Moon" airing Sunday, Jan. 29, on ABC.

At first dismissed as an impossible feat, Kersjes and his assistant teacher, Robynn McKinney (Jessy Schram), begin to believe that their students could benefit from space camp and knock down — or go around — barriers that people put up.
But getting accepted to space camp is just one hurdle. There is funding the $50,000 venture and preparing the students, whose disabilities are varied and range the full alphabet, both mentally and physically.
Kersjes, who becomes a senior systems analyst with Venturi Aerospace, and McKinney also have to build up the self-esteem of their students to believe that they are smart enough to go to space camp, despite the taunts and treatment at the hands of the "normal" students at their school.

"A Smile as Big as the Moon," a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, also shows that each of the students has remarkable talents that are many times overlooked under the special education label. These talents help them succeed at space camp, even as they are competing against elite students from elite schools.

Students with disabilities portray several of the students in the class.

Scott, a student with dyslexia, who is frustrated with being in the class, is played by Logan Huffman, who is also dyslexic. Breezy Eslin, who has ADD, plays the red-headed Stephanie, who has ADD and is bipolar.

It's a show the whole family can watch together and one that leaves you feeling that you, too, can conquer challenges