PHOTOS: Garfield High pays tribute to Jaime Escalante

ROTC members at Garfield High School unfurl the Stars and Stripes before the memorial observance for former teacher Jaime Escalante on Thursday. Escalante died Tuesday of bladder cancer. He was 79.
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The ROTC members march toward the flag pole before the memorial observance for former teacher Jaime Escalante. Escalante’s success in teaching calculus at an inner-city school was the subject of the 1988 film “Stand and Deliver,” with Edward James Olmos playing Escalante.
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Former Escalante students Jema Estrella and Anthony Garcia recall their math teacher after the memorial at Garfield High.
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Garfield Alumni Foundation Secretary Esther Espinosa, left, hugs fellow alum Sonia Santana after the memorial tribute. Garfield High plans to name its auditorium, which was gutted in a fire, after Escalante. The new facility is expected to be completed in 2012.
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Photos of Escalante taken during the filming of “Stand and Deliver” were shown at the memorial gathering. Escalante was a maverick who did not get along with many of his public school colleagues, but he mesmerized students with his entertaining style and deep understanding of math. Educators came from around the country to observe him at Garfield, which built one of the largest and most successful Advanced Placement programs in the nation.
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Garfield Alumni Foundation member Sonia Santana wipes away tears after the tribute to Escalante.
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The marching band at Garfield High School plays during a tribute to Jaime Escalante. The math teacher had a reputation for turning around hard-to-motivate students.
See full story  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)