Jaime Escalante Was the First Latino STEM Hero—And ‘Stand and Deliver’ Only Made His True Story Even More Legendary

Few movies are as impactful as “Stand and Deliver.” We remember growing up watching the movie and feeling inspired that we could accomplish anything. Jaime Escalante’s story of empowering inner city Latine students to excel in calculus was incredible.

It is one of the first examples many of us can remember of our community highlighted in a positive way. It was also the first time that we got our own STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) hero. More than that, we saw people that looked like us and spoke like us being empowered and given the tools to succeed.

“Stand and Deliver” gifted a generation of Latine people with a STEM hero

Released in 1988, “Stand and Deliver” shares the story of Jaime Escalante, a real teacher who made a real impact. The movie shows the teacher working with students at a Los Angeles high school to learn AP Calculus. However, the school administrators are skeptical that he could teach the rowdy group of students.

The movie is very much in line with the true story of Escalante. He was born in Bolivia to two teachers. That upbringing inspired him to get into teaching as well. He spent 12 years teaching mathematics and physics in Bolivia before immigrating to the United States. He then spent time learning English and working towards another college degree so he could go back to teaching.

The work paid off and he started as a teacher at Garfield High School in 1974. Students at the school were not given a real chance. He was ready to quit when he realized how unprepared the students were and how little school administrators cared. However, that changed when he found students willing to take algebra. So, he started to teach the students real math.

In 1978, Escalante taught his first calculus class to a class of five students, and two passed the AP Calculus test. The following year, he taught a class of nine students, and seven passed the test. Then, in 1981, Henry Gradillas was hired as the principal to address academic underperformance, and he understood Escalante. You can see the “Stand and Deliver” scene, can’t you?

Escalante’s 1982 class catapulted him into the national dialogue

In 1982, 18 of Escalante’s students passed the AP Calculus test. This time, the Educational Testing Services got suspicious that the students all passed the test. The students were accused of cheating after all students made the same mistake on question six of the test. Also, students used the same non-traditional names for variables.

The College Board asked 14 of the students to retake the test to prove they didn’t cheat. Twelve students agreed and retook the test. All of them made scores high enough to have their original scores reinstated, proving that Escalante’s teaching methods worked. Tbh, “Stand and Deliver” captured the stress and emotion of this part perfectly.

After 1982, Garfield High School had a constantly growing AP Calculus class with students lining up to learn from Escalante. It is reported that at one point his class size grew to 50, well beyond the 35-student class size limit negotiated by the teachers’ union.

While there is no direct connection between Escalante and Gradillas’s hiring in the 1968 East Los Angeles Walkouts, the timing is pretty special. Fourteen years after the walkouts over fair treatment and representation for Chicano students, there was magic happening at Garfield High School. The school participated in the walkouts, and while there were no immediate changes, it set up years of reconciliation and changes.

The demands for dignity and equal access to education no doubt played a role in what happened at Garfield High School. Would Escalante’s story have happened had it not been for the walkouts? Who knows? But one thing is for sure, Escalante’s story, captured in “Stand and Deliver,” is a reminder to Latine people to keep striving because we control our future.