Stand and Deliver?

The purpose of this blog is to start thinking about the shofar on this last Shabbat of the year... Please share...

 

Try asking everyone at your table if they've ever heard of Jaime Escalante.

(That's pronounced "hy-me".)

Does anyone remember him anymore?

It's been said that he was the greatest math teacher in America.

What made him so great? How did he manage to take a group of barrio teenagers who supposedly had a bleak future and enable them to master advanced mathematics?

Using only chalk, paper, and pencil. No screens, no smart boards. No air conditioning (in East LA where it can be very warm.) 

I think that everyone who learns about him forms a different answer to that question.

In my opinion, it boils down to giving those kids four consistent messages:

1. I care about this subject.
2. I care about you.
3. I believe in you.
4. I'm holding you accountable.

By the way, the film (linked above in the pic) oversimplifies Escalante's story. His success involved much more hard work than could be portrayed in a film, including battling administrators and other teachers who rejected his vision and/or his methodology. If you're interested in the details, read this article... It seems that the most important message (above) that they fought him on was #3 above - these other educators told him some kids are not cut out for or prepared for advanced math, so don't set the bar so high. But he believed in teenagers so much that his Math Enrichment program was anyone who desired to join - if they needed extra tutoring, he got them the tutoring. That simple. (At its peak, Garfield High was graduating more AP Math students than Beverly Hills 90210.)

It seems to me that this message is exactly what Rosh Hashanah is all about. It's about listening to the shofar to remind us that Someone is trying to tell us:

I care about this subject.
I care about you.
I believe in you.
I'm holding you accountable.

Question for your table: If you could pick one subject or skill to master in the coming year, and you knew that you could master it if you worked at it, which subject or skill would you choose?


Shabbat Shalom

and

A sweet, healthy, happy, meaningful year to you and yours!! L'shanah tovah.


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