The Department of Theatre and Associated Students present “Stand & Deliver,” directed by Sal Velazquez. The play started Feb. 28 and will precede through Mar. 6, 7, 8, and 9 in the Burnight Studio Theatre.

The cast of “Stand & Deliver” did a wonderful performance on Friday. It was like being in a real classroom with balled up paper and airplanes being thrown around. With students telling jokes and name calling. All while the instructor is trying to teach the class.

Alejandro Patino, gives an aggressive performance as Jaime Escalante, a math teacher at East Los Angeles’ Garfield High in the early 1980’s. Escalante refuses to limit off inner-city students as losers. Who believes “if you treat them (students) like losers, then they’ll act like losers.”

He is a real life hero determined to conquer The National Advanced Placement Calculus Exam.

Escalante pushes, persuades and inspires his students who were struggling with fractions and long division to become math whizzes. In order to become who they were, Esclante proved that all they needed was “ganas,” a desire to be who they really wanted to be.

Before long, the students were determined to arrive to school an hour early everyday, plus they attended summer school and even had an extra class on Saturdays, all to prepare for the AP exam.

After all the hard work and effort, are any of Escalante’s students really ready for the AP calculus exam along with a ticket out of the barrio?

The plays exhilarating ending is even more amazing because it true.

An outstanding cast with great talent joins Patino as the calculus students of 1982.

When you watch “Stand & Deliver,” you’ll stand up and cheer!