Word: tostado
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Escalante blames the film, says Principal Maria Elena Tostado. "He said the kids saw the movie so many times they thought passing the test was going to be as easy as the movie made it out to be. He said they didn't know it was so much hard work." A contributing factor: the distraction caused by endless visits from celebrities...
...second priority is curriculum, with the teachers to make it work. Maria Tostado, principal of Los Angeles' Garfield High, which twelve years ago had sunk to the brink of losing its accreditation, helps maintain the place as a scholar factory by mixing rules with demanding classes: "We phased out the bonehead courses and put in more advanced, challenging courses." Garfield now - boasts 15 advanced-placement teachers in subjects such as calculus and physics. This year 370 students are taking the advanced-placement exams for college credit...
Among the faculty who motivate the high achievers is Jaime Escalante, a math instructor whom Tostado praises as a "teaching genius." He is all of that -- a showman, math scholar, father figure and cheerleader. Each Escalante class starts with warm-up music (We Will Rock You) and hand clapping as pupils ceremonially drop yesterday's homework into a basket. Advanced-placement students proudly wear T shirts and satin jackets proclaiming their membership in the elite, college-bound corps. During lectures, Escalante bounces around the room, challenging, explaining, applauding...
...Tostado remains in awe of her fiery star, to whom she credits much of the school's renaissance: "He calls parents every time someone doesn't show up in class," she says. "He visits parents when they get home from work to get them to sign his contracts pledging hours of extra homework. He spends summers poring over the school records to find recruits for his classes like he was a coach." As a result of such dedication, 70% of last year's graduating class was accepted by colleges -- a stunning score for a former gangland satrapy...
...until 7 a.m. on Thursday that Agent Saathoff heard the faint plea for help from Tostado. The coyote was believed to have fled back to Mexico. William Harrington, assistant chief of the El Paso Border Patrol, conceded that "we may never get our hands on him." The closest Harrington may come is the coyote's two confederates, whose sordid business led them to death in the boxcar that became a coffin...