Won't Back Down is being released on Blu-Ray and DVD today! I watched this movie one evening with my family and it left me feeling empowered knowing that anyone can make a difference if they set their mind to it and don't give up. 

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays, Jamie Fitzpatrick, a parent to a student that the school system is failing. No matter what obstacle was put in her path Jamie kept on fighting. The movie is based on a true story which of course has me wanting to watch more and more of it from the very start. I am very drawn to true story movies. 

Jamie teams with a teacher who wants to make a difference played by Viola Davis. Viola wants the best for her son and so together they team up to make a difference at John Adams Elementary School jumping through hoops and bureaucratic red tape to finally be able to implement the changes to their beloved school. 

I could not believe all they had to do to be able to to start the changes for their school and actually it left me all the more grateful that I homeschool my daughter and don't have to deal with everything that they went through. The movie was awesome very moving and motivational. 

Much like some of these other movies of inspirational teachers in film....

Roberta Guaspari in Music of the Heart

Roberta Guaspari (portrayed by Meryl Streep) is a real violinist and teacher. Music of the

Heart tells her story in which she takes on the task of teaching violin to group of students

in Harlem. Though initially met by some resistance (from both of the students and their

skeptical parents), Roberta is slowly able to make progress with the kids and the program

becomes a success. However, 10 years later, the program is canceled due to budget cuts and

Roberta loses her job. To fight back and keep music education going, Roberta and a group of

supporters put on a concert to benefit the program and successfully reinstitute it.

Ms. Geist in Clueless

Ms. Geist (Twink Caplan) is one of Bronson Alcott High's teaching staff in 1995’s Clueless.

Ms. Geist is a bit of a bleeding heart, and she tries desperately to get her stuck-up students

to care about the rest of the world outside of Beverly Hills. Ms. Geist helps Cher (Alicia

Silverstone) see that she can help others, and she ends up devoting her time to collecting

goods for disaster relief.

Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver

Another real life teacher, Jaime Escalante (portrayed by Edward James Olmos) became a

math teacher at a disadvantaged school in East Los Angeles. While his peers looked down

on the kids at their school, Jaime believed that they could do more than the rudimentary

math he had been teaching them, and began to prep his students for calculus. Ultimately, his

students took the AP Calculus test and they all passed. However, their scores were called

into question and they were accused of cheating. Jaime fought for his students to be able to

retake the test to prove that their scores were based on hard work, not cheating. In the end,

his students all pass a second time, proving that hard work and determination really does

pay off.

Dewey Finn in School of Rock

Though not technically a teacher, Dewey Finn (Jack Black) impacts his students in School of

Rock. After posing as a substitute teacher at an elite prep school, Dewey learns that his new

pupils are talented musicians and decides to train them to be a rock band for an upcoming

competition. He teaches them to love rock, and that there is more to life than school and

grades.

Mr. Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus

Mr. Holland originally becomes a music teacher in order to spend more time with his wife,

and to compose a piece of music. However, as he spend more and more time in his school

with the faculty and students, he begins to have a respect for teaching and really tries to get

the students involved in classic music. He used rock and roll to teach them about classical

compositions. After 30 years of service to his students, Mr. Holland and his music program

are cut from the school’s budgets. However, his former students ban together to give him a

goodbye he’ll never forget: playing his orchestral piece (“Mr. Holland’s Opus”).

Ms. Norbury in Mean Girls

Ms. Norbury, played by the hilarious Tina Fey, is the sympathetic math teacher in the 2004

hit Mean Girl. Not only is Ms. Norbury unintentionally hilarious, but she also ushers Cady

(Lindsay Lohan) away from the catty Plastics and into the Mathletes, and leads all the

female students in a giant confession and apology to one another, and beseeches them to

stop the girl on girl hate.

Anne Sullivan in The Miracle Worker

In 1962’s The Miracle Worker, Anne Bancroft plays Anne Sullivan in the true story of Helen

Keller. Helen, frustrated by her inability to communicate due to being blind and deaf, was

often prone to uncontrollable outbursts that her parents didn’t know how to manage. They

called upon the Perkins School for the Blind, who sent Anne to work with Helen at her

home. Through persistence and love, Anne is able to break down Helen’s walls and help her

communicate.

John Keating in Dead Poets Society

John Keating (Robin Williams) is the radical new English teacher at the uptight Welton

Academy Prep School. Through his unorthodox teaching methods, like standing on desks

and tearing pages out of books, Keating is able to help his students discover and explore

their true passions in life, like writing and acting, instead of succumbing to the lives their

parents have prescribed for them.

Clément Mathieu in The Chorus

In The Chorus (or Les Choristes), Clément Mathieu is a new teacher at a school for boys who

are ill behaved. The headmaster at the school ruthlessly punishes his pupils, but Mathieu

attempts to win his students over with kindness and humor. Mathieu also starts a choir for

the boys, which helps improve their behavior and makes the school a happier place to be

overall.

Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter Series

Professor Dumbledore (portrayed by both Richard Harris and Michael Gambon) is an

astounding wizard who basically knows everything about everything. As a mentor to the

young hero, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Dumbledore makes him learn many difficult

lessons in order to prepare him for the challenges he will face, while still managing to crack

a few jokes along the way.