Jaime Escalante
Jaime Escalante was born December 31, 1930 in La Paz, Bolivia. He came to the United States in the 1960s to seek a better life. He began teaching math to troubled students in a violent Los Angeles school and became famous for leading many of them to pass the advanced placement calculus test.
In 1974, Escalante took a job at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, California. He found himself in a challenging situation: teaching math to troubled students in a rundown school known for violence and drugs. While some had dismissed the students as "unteachable," Escalante strove to reach his students and to get them to live up to their potential. He started an advanced mathematics program with a handful of students.
Escalante was such a devoted teacher and made his students stay after school hours to succeed.
What does it takes to become good at math? For Jaime Escalante, one of America’s most famous teachers, it only takes “ganas”. As Mr. Escalante often explained, “ganas” (Spanish word for desire) will motivate any student to find and exploit their full potential, regardless of their economic or ethnic background.
Jaime Escalante was born in La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia, South America. With the example of his parents, who were both teachers, he found a passion for teaching in his native country. Escalante taught math for twelve years before migrating to the United States with his wife Fabiola. The first few years in the new country, he applied himself to learn English while working in restaurants washing dishes. He went to college for the second time in his life just to get certified as a teacher in the United States. He received the highest honor as Magna Cum Laide at graduation and right away found a position as a computer teacher at Garfield High School in downtown Los Angeles, California. To his surprise, the school lacked the computers he needed for the class, so he took an alternative position as a math teacher.
In that first year of
In 1974, Escalante took a job at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, California. He found himself in a challenging situation: teaching math to troubled students in a rundown school known for violence and drugs. While some had dismissed the students as "unteachable," Escalante strove to reach his students and to get them to live up to their potential. He started an advanced mathematics program with a handful of students.
Escalante was such a devoted teacher and made his students stay after school hours to succeed.
What does it takes to become good at math? For Jaime Escalante, one of America’s most famous teachers, it only takes “ganas”. As Mr. Escalante often explained, “ganas” (Spanish word for desire) will motivate any student to find and exploit their full potential, regardless of their economic or ethnic background.
Jaime Escalante was born in La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia, South America. With the example of his parents, who were both teachers, he found a passion for teaching in his native country. Escalante taught math for twelve years before migrating to the United States with his wife Fabiola. The first few years in the new country, he applied himself to learn English while working in restaurants washing dishes. He went to college for the second time in his life just to get certified as a teacher in the United States. He received the highest honor as Magna Cum Laide at graduation and right away found a position as a computer teacher at Garfield High School in downtown Los Angeles, California. To his surprise, the school lacked the computers he needed for the class, so he took an alternative position as a math teacher.
In that first year of