Jaime Escalante dies at 79; FIRST connection

[N7UJJ]

A few years ago, Fredi and I met and had dinner with Jaime Escalante wo just passed away. Most of us know him from the movie 'Stand and Deliver'. (If you have never seen the movie, rent it now!)

Same philosophy as FIRST. He had amazing results with kids many had given up on. More AP Calculus scores than any other high school.

The movie takes great liberties in telling Jaime's story and they imply he taught the kids for one year and then they took the AP exam. Realistically, he had the kids in tutoring in 7-8 grade so they would be at grade level when they entered in high school. Then the kids were in the "honors math" track. Then they took the AP exam.

The secret: hard work for the kids for 6 years!

The most inspirational part of the real story, is Jaime Escalante "changed the culture" of Garfield High ---- while he was there, not with a secret talent, but with hard work, long hours and perseverance.

Eventually, he bumped heads with administration and left Garfield. In a short time, the programs and soul that were so successful fell apart. Garfield eventually returned to their previous culture of mediocrity.

In FIRST we see the same dedication of mentors who are achieving fantastic results and inspiring students who reach impossible goals with minimal support. I think there are so many people who are "Standing and Delivering" in FIRST, that I am amazed that there are so many schools without a team.

Anyway, I will never forget the dinner with Jaime and realization that Senor Escalante was the Bolivian Dean Kamen who showed America that all our schools could produce top rung students.