CH. 13 Leaders in Education by Neyda Blaine

Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher who taught at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Escalante taught calculus in a once crime-ridden school filled with Mexican American students who had low academic performances and high dropout rates. He went out of his way to convince students of their worth and help them discover self-discipline and motivation when no one believed these students could do anything in life. Escalante became an inspiring and successful teacher exceeding language and cultural barriers, changing the status quo. He persuaded students to find "ganas," a desire to overcome barriers and control their futures with the right education. He would say to his students that math would become their new language. Escalante was challenged by a system that was biased against those from a specific economic status and race. Escalante endured hardships and insults in order to save his students. He knew because of their particular ethnic origin, they would have a constant struggle to overcome the hurdles in life. His students were even accused of cheating due to the high test scores. However, his students redeemed themselves by retaking the test. In the movie Stand and Deliver, Jaime Escalante makes a statement that I found inspirational:
There will be no free rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion. Because of those two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do. *Math* is the great equalizer...When you go for a job, the person giving you that job will not want to hear your problems; ergo, neither do I. You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else. And the only thing I ask from you is ganas. Desire.



The first time I saw this movie I was in junior high. I personally loved it because the teacher really believed that his low-achieving students would succeed. I also believe that a teacher who loves to teach can make a difference in the lives of many students. It would be nice for many teachers to think that all students have the potential to succeed.