TUCSON, AZ (KOLD-TV) - There is a teacher at Tucson High Magnet School who students will never forget.
That's because he invests a huge amount of time in his students' futures.
"My name is Curtis Acosta. I will be reading the poem, "I Too" by Langston Hughes."
The famous poem Langston Hughes wrote during the Harlem Renaissance inspired Curtis Acosta to become a teacher.
"If I never read this poem, or if I was not exposed to this poem, I wouldn't be in front of you today as your teacher."
Acosta helped build the Mexican American Studies program at Tucson High Magnet School. Now that the state says the program violatesAarizona law, Acosta has to reinvent his curriculum.
He may not be able to teach what he did before, but how he teaches will not change. His students' voices are valuable to him. He respects their viewpoint, and he listens.
"If you don't listen, you don't learn and so as much asIi talk, and as much as I try to make them laugh, they know my ear is just as large as my boca."
Senior Julianna Leon said, "He's funny. He has a good sense of humor. He's like the funny tio in your family. I think that's why a lot of us get along with him"
Acosta teaches literature. He says it's a reflection of their world. The discuss that world. He lets the students do the teaching.
They get up in front of the class and talk about what they read means to them. There is no wrong interpretation.
Acosta, "I am always amazed they have the confidence, the self-belief and the corazon to get in front of the classroom and teach their peers. I think that's beautiful."
Many of these seniors are graduating with a sense of determination, knowing that they can go to college and succeed.
In big par, because their high school lit teacher cares.
Senior Mark Morales said, "Everything he does, he has passion, that fire, that ferocity that he loves. He just loves to teach."
Copyright 2012 KOLD. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2012 WorldNow and KOLD, a Raycom Media Station.
