Everyday, in quiet unsung ways, quality people risk their own sanity and comfort to help others improve themselves. These people expand their lives with greater struggles, but also greater rewards. Usually their accomplishments, their positive contributions, never make it to the public eye; but occasionally, someone is so impressed that a movie is made.

Jackson plays Carter, a resident of Richmond, graduate of Richmond High (record holding basketballer). For $1500 a year, he decides to spend a season coaching the newest undisciplined bunch of teens. But his expectations (on the court and off) are so high, that the entire community gets up in arms. Yet, demanding the best from his team, Carter doesn't back down.

Substitute AP mathematics for Basketball, an Hispanic neighborhood for African American, Escalante for Carter and you've got "Stand and Deliver" (1988) starring Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, Lou Diamond Phillips. (Based on the life of Jaime Escalante)

Both films are powerfully inspirational, laden with tough love, and on occasion a tad hokey. Still, based on true stories, they are films that coaches and math teachers will be showing to their classes for many more years.

Ken Carter coached Richmond High from '97-'02. (In 1999, he made news with his lockout.) He's written several books including "101 Ways to Earn a Higher GPA." Here are a few quotes from Carter:

"Richmond is a working man's town with a very high rate of unemployment, so there's a lot of poverty and stress. Also, a great number of kids in the area are from single parent homes, and in fact, out of the forty-five kids in my basketball program, only four had dads living in the home. So as their coach, I had to be something of a psychologist and even a substitute father figure at times."

"If you improve one percent a day, then in 100 days, guess what? You're 100 percent better. . Once you start making one good decision, then you make another and another, and before you know it, you can see a difference in your life."

"You don't want to simply see the big picture, you want to see the whole picture"

"I had a very short list of actors who I'd like to see portray me, and Samuel L. Jackson was the only name on it."

This film screened at a Krikorian Theatre.