Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP

Collarspace Discussion Forums

Home Login Search

Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Off the Grid >> Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP - 4/3/2010 5:31:04 PM

Outlier2

Posts: 258
Joined: 11/12/2007
Status: offline

Jaime Escalante died this week. He was an inspiring teacher.

This man from Bolivia achieved fame when he was portrayed by Edward James Olmos
in the 1988 movie Stand and Deliver.

This is from one of the links:

Original: Washington Post Dec 12, 1982

"LOS ANGELES -- Garfield High School, a drab block of concrete in the middle of a low-income, Hispanic neighborhood in East Los Angeles, has been known for high absenteeism and youth gangs, but never for higher mathematics. Perhaps that is what fooled the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J.

In the May 19 national advanced placement calculus test, which is so difficult that only 2 percent of graduating high school seniors ever attempt it, a startling total of 18 Garfield students passed. Many had similar correct answers and seven made the top score of five, what one Garfield teacher compared with "walking on water."

Sensitive to the slightest hint of invalid scores, the service, which composes the Scholastic Aptitude Test and other national examinations, demanded a retest for 14 of the students, but the results were the same. It had stumbled across, not a cabal of cheaters, but the students of Jaime Escalante, 51, a Bolivian immigrant who has performed a miracle in a tough, big-city school.

In the process, he also has shown what a rigidly organized classroom routine and a deep devotion to teaching might do to solve what is becoming a national crisis."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/02/AR2010040201518.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/30/AR2010033003814.html?sid=ST2010033003904

_____________________________

Posting for Outlier _ Avatar xkcd.com

"A happy sex life may take years to achieve, but it’s worth it in the long run.
Worth the time, the thought - or rather, the thoughtfulness -and, often, the waiting."
Pete Seeger

Profile

Post #: 1

RE: Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP - 4/3/2010 5:39:52 PM

sunshinemiss

Posts: 17673
Joined: 11/26/2007
Status: offline

Wow, I just channeled him last week when I made a misbehaving student come stand at the front with me. I actually said a quick "thank you" to him for that tip.

I suppose this is a good time to ask myself, "what am *I* doing to make the world a better place?"

_____________________________

Yes, I am a wonton hussy... and still sweet as 3.14

(in reply to Outlier2)

Profile

Post #: 2

RE: Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP - 4/3/2010 6:47:01 PM

thornhappy

Posts: 8596
Joined: 12/16/2006
Status: offline

I was sad to hear of his death, he was a great teacher.

(in reply to sunshinemiss)

Profile

Post #: 3

RE: Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP - 4/3/2010 6:53:45 PM

Termyn8or

Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline

I normally do not respond to death threads, but in this case .......

If the depiction in the movie was accurate, we lost a good one. I wish he was at my school, I might have done alot better than I did. I watched that movie with intent.

If you appreciate good teachers, I might mention Mr. Kemmit. He was my algebra teacher and was quite good. His formulae on the blackboard were never level or straight, but that might have something to do with the fact that he was blind. Blind as a post. He was quite good at explaining things, which I guess is what we want.

Escalante was bad to the bone, if what I've heard is true he has my respect of course. But Kemmit taught me that there is no such thing as a dsiablility.

Good teachers are indeed among the unsung heroes.

T

(in reply to Outlier2)

Profile

Post #: 4

RE: Jamie Escalante, Stand and Deliver teacher, RIP - 4/3/2010 8:40:19 PM

popeye1250

Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline

I liked the Teacher in that other movie; "They call me Bat Man!"

_____________________________

"But Your Honor, this is not a Jury of my Peers, these people are all decent, honest, law-abiding citizens!"

(in reply to Termyn8or)

Profile

Post #: 5