Jaime Escalante: A Life Con Ganas, An Exhibition That Honors His Life

Pasadena City College honors one of its distinguished alumni, Jaime Escalante (Class of 1969), in an unprecedented exhibition that honors his life and teaching career.

Jaime Escalante: A Life Con Ganas runs from March 5 to April 10 in PCC’s Circadian. The exhibition includes Escalante’r personal artifacts, video production by the Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Education (FASE), and objects that feature his teaching methodology in the field of mathematics. The items in the exhibition were borrowed from Escalante’s family, which gave PCC access to the collection.

The exhibition traces Escalante’s migration journey and how becamse one of America’s most revered teachers, following the release of the 1988 film Stand and Deliver that features his 1982 class at Garfield High School in Los Angeles.

“The PCC community has come together to honor the legacy of a man who dedicated hs life to education,” said Dr. Cynthia Olivo, PCC associate vice president of Student Services. “The results of his work revealed that every student is capable of learning the most complex math concepts. The art of teaching, a celebration of learning, and a commitment to social justice are the underlying sentiments of this exhibit for Jaime Escalante.”

As PCC celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, the college has been featuring notable alumni through special events such as the Jackie Robinson Arts and Humanities Lecture Series. The exhibition includes public programming with PCC’s partners from the Pasadena Playhouse’s Mi Historia, Mi Manera project, which is funded by the James Irvine Foundation.

Other activities schedule to run concurrently with the exhibition include:

* Reading of the play, Stand and Deliver, on Marc 19 at 6:00 p.m. in PCC’s Creveling Lounge
* Presentation by Jay Mathews, noted journalist from the Washington Post, who will share his experiences writing the biography Escalante: The Best Teacher in America on March 20, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in PCC’s Westerbeck Recital Hall;
* Presentation by Luis Torres, journalist and author of His Students: Escalante’s Living Legacy, who will share his work on March 24, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. in PCC’s Creveling Lounge; and
* Screening of the film, Stand and Deliver on April 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the Campus Center WiFi Lounge.

The exhibition is made possible through diverse entities who knew Escalante personally and others who believe in the message of his life’s work. The exhibition has provided a premiere partnership with FASE, which produced a series of educational videos with Escalante that won the Peabody Award. Also, it has expanded the ongoing partnership with Pasadena Playhouse through the Mi Historia, Mi Manera initiative. Mi Historia, Mi Manera is meant to increase adult Latina/o participation in theatre, expand The Playhouse’s reach into non-traditional venues in the region, and to increase the impact of the arts by building community-focused performing arts programming that creates long-term relationships with the Latina/o community in the San Gabriel Valley.

Although several publications have written about him, no institution has organized a show of this kind in honor of Escalante. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue that includes reflections by actor Edward James Olmos and Keith Miller, director at FASE; a eulogy by Elsa Bolado, one his students at Garfield High School; and a curatorial by Reina Alejandra Prado Saldivar.

The exhibition is free and open to the public. Pasadena City College is located at 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. For more information, please contact Reina Prado Saldivar, via emal at r.prado.arte@gmail.com or Christopher Jimenez y West at CDJimenezyWest@pasadena.edu.