Stand And Delivery /1987

Synopsis of the Movie Stand An Delivery is a Story about real people in real situations where the possibility of an academic success is a chimera due to cultural stereotypes and social prejudices. Jaime Escalante is a Latino immigrant who decides change his professional life, from the computer programming world to a high school classroom settings. Due to budget restrictions in Garfield school, Jaime is appointed to teach mathematics instead of computers. The student population is mainly Latinos, some of them without English, immersed in subculture conceptions of the life. The movie is located in East Los Angeles, and the student belong to a low socioeconomic class. Jaime challenges the students and the school administration to surpass low academic achievements in math, using innovative teaching techniques. Jaime is involved in the students’ life, and convinces them to take the AP Calculus exam (sponsored by ETS). Working extra time with the students they finally present the exam. The test is approved by all of them. By cheating suspicious, the ETS cancel it, and the student retake it. Again all of them pass. Jaime transforms the school life, becoming poor students in mathematics scholars. He continues a successful similar process in the following years.

General Description of the Movie Title: Stand and Delivery Year: 1987 Cast: Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rosana Desoto, Andy Garcia, Mark Elliot, Will Gotav Director: Ramon Menendez, Tom Richmond Screenwriter: Ramon Menendez, Tom Musca Based on: A True Story

OBJECTIVES OF THE LESSON The students will: Create conscience about the value of the scholarship. Discuss how cultural stereotypes can generate misperceptions about others Discuss how structured efforts of teachers and students can transform low academic achievements in high scholastic and personal results. Reflect how misconceptions about mathematics as a harder subject can be changed, based on the commitment of the teachers, and students’ compromise. Generate conscience about the economic and social differences with other sectors of the society.

THEMES Latino Race Language issues Social Class Cultural Stereotypes Subcultures Neighborhoods Nationality

Grade Level

Introductory Activities Students collect at least three utilities bills. Each bill must correspond to a different economic stratum, from the six economic levels existing in the city. Then, the class is divided in six groups according to one stratum. Each group must create a budget a family can have to life according to the stratum. The groups share their results with the rest of the class. Final conclusions about the different social and economic classes presented in the city must be reached. Finally each student must write an essay about how they can live if they belong to a different social class. A case of students’ cheating is presented. The group discusses what are the possible reasons why these students did it. The case must include particular cases of students whose participation in that situation is under analysis. According to the data presented, student must decide if those student are responsible or not for cheating the exam. Students can study the different ethnic groups that live in Colombia. They must collect information about the social conditions, economic revenues, educational level, and general conditions of life these different groups have. Then a discussion about this topics must follow. Finally, the students can reach, in agreement, some general conclusions.

Discussion Questions(1) 1.What are the most important personal characteristics of the professor Jaime Escalante? 2.What are the differences and similarities (if there are any) between Garfield School and your School? 3.Have you take advantage of the available resources of your school (in comparison with the Garfield’s resources) to improve your academic performance? 4.May you push your teachers to improve the academic level in your class? 5.Can you retake an standardize test, if a suspicious of cheating was present, even knowing you do not participate in any illegal action? 6.If your theoretical background in a specific subject is under the level expected, what kind of actions will you start to surpass this situation?

Discussion Questions(2) 7.If you are challenge to participate in a AP program, would you have the disposition to use your free time doing extra classes in the school? Why? 8.In how many different situations have you get conclusions about people without to have any kind of contact with them, that result in personal mistakes? Describe one of these cases. 9.Do you believe you are smarter than other people, only because of you received better grades than others? 10.Do you participate in the school social program only due to the credits you received for graduation purposes, or because you are interested to know the style of life of people from other social classes? 11.If you have felt illiterate solving some word problems in math or science, what strategies you use to go beyond the situation?

Follow Up Activities 1.Students can create study groups or clubs with the support of teachers interested to improve the students’ achievement. 2.Using a cooperative learning approach some topics of a class can be given by the students to their peers. 3.Students can create a discussion group about current national issues, with the purpose to generate a climate of scholarship in the community. Their results can be presented in the teachers’ forum of the school.

Final Reflection Stand and Delivery is a movie that teachers and students can use to promote the sense of scholarship in the community. It offers different situations where many issues take place, especially those related to the misconceptions about others, generated by cultural stereotypes. The movie and other additional actions, can help to understand the value of the work, and how to get expected results when people have a strong commitment with their own ideas.