101 FINAL
English /101 FINAL
Bobbi Simon
English 101/ Version 6
June 7th 2014
Terry Fletcher
English /101 FINAL
Bobbi Jo Simon
English 101/Version 6
May18th, 2014
Terry Fletcher
Body Paragraphs
Teaching with Ganas: Jamie Escalante
Jaime Escalante was one of the most accredited teachers in history, his ability to relate to, teach those that were less than scholarly scholars and were the poorest of the poor. His story is that of admiration, encouragement and proof of what a little dedication and desire can do. Jaime Escalante may be gone, but his legacy will always live on.
In 1974 times were hard let for anyone let alone a Bolivian immigrant, but Jaime Escalante took a job at one of the worst, most poverty stricken violent schools in East Los Angeles, “Garfield High School”. What started out as a computer class teacher ended up being instructor of a Math class due to the lack of funding for computers and other educational aids that would enable students to learn better. Garfield High’s reputation was less than scholarly and the students took pride in being rebellious and street wise. These students were less than enthusiastic about learning anything that didn’t consist of violence, drugs or being street wise, but their new teacher had the “Gadas” or desire to educate these students that many had given up on. The majority of these students were of Hispanic background, as was Escalante so this was a foundation he felt he could start building a class and relationship on. Gaining the trust of this group of per say “bad kids was also a huge factor where accepting the new teacher was concerned, kids like these were not used to anyone caring about them, let alone have faith in them and encouraging them that once applying themselves they could succeed , if only it had been that easy…Teaching was something Jaime Escalante was familiar with as both his parents were educators in Bolivia, although becoming an educator with Garfield High School was quite a challenge at
Bobbi Simon
English 101/ Version 6
June 7th 2014
Terry Fletcher
English /101 FINAL
Bobbi Jo Simon
English 101/Version 6
May18th, 2014
Terry Fletcher
Body Paragraphs
Teaching with Ganas: Jamie Escalante
Jaime Escalante was one of the most accredited teachers in history, his ability to relate to, teach those that were less than scholarly scholars and were the poorest of the poor. His story is that of admiration, encouragement and proof of what a little dedication and desire can do. Jaime Escalante may be gone, but his legacy will always live on.
In 1974 times were hard let for anyone let alone a Bolivian immigrant, but Jaime Escalante took a job at one of the worst, most poverty stricken violent schools in East Los Angeles, “Garfield High School”. What started out as a computer class teacher ended up being instructor of a Math class due to the lack of funding for computers and other educational aids that would enable students to learn better. Garfield High’s reputation was less than scholarly and the students took pride in being rebellious and street wise. These students were less than enthusiastic about learning anything that didn’t consist of violence, drugs or being street wise, but their new teacher had the “Gadas” or desire to educate these students that many had given up on. The majority of these students were of Hispanic background, as was Escalante so this was a foundation he felt he could start building a class and relationship on. Gaining the trust of this group of per say “bad kids was also a huge factor where accepting the new teacher was concerned, kids like these were not used to anyone caring about them, let alone have faith in them and encouraging them that once applying themselves they could succeed , if only it had been that easy…Teaching was something Jaime Escalante was familiar with as both his parents were educators in Bolivia, although becoming an educator with Garfield High School was quite a challenge at