Famed teacher speaks of 'ganas' at U.

Jaime Escalante of 'Stand and Deliver' fame gave a lecture yesterday as part of the Festival Latino de Penn. "The only thing I need from you," Jaime Escalante tells his students, "is ganas." Escalante is a real-life hero who inspires his inner city students to greatness. The 1988 movie Stand and Deliver chronicled his efforts to raise the academic standards at a Los Angeles public high school. Ganas is a spanish word which Escalante defines as "desire." "Never stop testing your talent," he said. "Challenge your own limits." More than 100 students and faculty members attended Escalante's speech in the Annenberg School for Communication yesterday evening. The event was the keynote address of the 16th annual Festival Latino de Penn. The festival, which runs from March 21 through March 28, recognizes the accomplishments of Latinos in American society. The address was co-sponsored by La Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latinoamericanos and El movmiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan. Escalante emigrated to America from Bolivia in 1964. He received degrees in mathematics and teaching from California State University. He has won several teaching awards, including the U.S. Presidential Medal, for his positive impact on students at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. "I demanded more from my students," Escalante explained. "Given the standard, they rose to it." Escalante spoke about his determination to help students that struggle, sometimes as a result of their socioeconomic situations. "[Latinos] have enormous obstacles to overcome to get education," he noted. "Most [Latino] families have income below poverty level." But despite such difficulties, Escalante said he refused to believe his students weren't capable of success. "Choose your own destiny. You have that privilege in life," Escalante said. "For each winner there is a loser. Decide which one you want to be." In a question-and-answer period following the address, Escalante came out strongly against the idea of bilingual education. "Once you emigrate to this country you have to integrate to the system," he said. "English is the language of success." Escalante received a standing ovation from the audience, who enjoyed his informal presentation style. "He combined humor and humility. There was a lot of inspiration," College sophomore Sherry Deckman said. Above all, Escalante said he is happy that he has an impact doing what he loves. "As a teacher I do not create talents, I discover them," Escalante said. "Believe me, I am proud to be a teacher." The audience responded enthusiastically to Escalante's words of inspiration. "It was good to see someone so enthusiastic about working in urban schools," said Kira Baker, a first-year graduate student in the Graduate School of Education.

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