Frieda J. Riley was a science teacher in West Virginia in the 1950s who inspired one of her students, Homer Hickam, to pursue aeronautics engineering despite living in a small mining town. She gave her all to teaching until her death from cancer. In contrast, Mary Kay Letourneau had a sexual relationship with her 13-year old student and served jail time for her crimes. She now has two children from this relationship but violated her position of trust and authority as a teacher. These two teachers had vastly different influences on their students - one inspiring academic dreams, the other engaging in illegal and unethical behavior.