Jaime Escalante

* Reviews *

Author Strom has chosen an inspirational subject in Jaime Escalante. Born in Bolivia and educated as a teacher, he eventually made his way to the United States to seek a better future for his family. Although he knew little English, Escalante settled in California and worked at mopping floors while he took classes at Pasadena City College so that he could, once again, teach. Eventually, he accepted a job in the electronics field, although he still attended college part-time. He graduated with an Associates Degree in 1969. He continued working in electronics, and then heard about a scholarship program that offered help to gifted people seeking to teach. He applied for the scholarship and won it. In 1974, at the age of forty-three, he finally returned to teaching. He found a job at Garfield High School in Los Angeles. The majority of the students were Mexican American. The classes were challenging, and he soon realized that he needed to find creative ways to teach mathematics to students not interested in learning. Escalante knew his students had a lot against them. Most of the time they were fighting rival gangs just to survive. Although he was told that his students couldnt handle difficult material, Escalante wouldnt give up. He cleaned his classroom of graffiti, brought in creative teaching methods, played music in the classroom, and even handed out candy on a good day. Whenever a problem arose, he dealt with it quickly. In 1999, Escalante was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. He had been in the classroom for twenty-four years in the United States and nine years in Bolivia. Escalante led his students to succeed because he valued hard work and believing in ones abilities to succeed. Color and black-and-white photographs are included, as are sidebars. Backmatter includes a chronology, chapter notes, a list of resources for further reading, and a list of related websites., Children's Literature