Mr. Escalante escalates studiousness in class

Many teachers at CVHS live hectic lives with a busy workload. They have classes to teach as well as homework and tests to grade for a large sum of students across multiple periods. Unperturbed, Juan Escalante teaches five classes, with two of them being advanced placement courses. In addition to his bustling schedule, as a teacher, he is the coach for boys soccer and a father. How does he manage to do it all?

Escalante has been a diligent member of our staff for three years and graduated from Cal State East Bay. He was a student here at CVHS and a student teacher as well. Currently, he teaches two AP U.S. History classes and three ethnic studies classes. His dedication to teaching is evidently shown and last year his students had a 100 percent passing rate on the AP exams. He has even applied to be an official grader for the AP U.S. History exam.

“I’m proud of all my students and their achievements,” stated Escalante.

Beyond just his classroom, he is also involved in the department tutoring program. Students can come to his classroom after school to receive aid in history.  His help has been beneficial to countless students on campus who can ask him for aid with homework or anything else history-related. 

Without a doubt, teaching can be a very arduous endeavor. Despite this, Escalante said that he has always felt a pull towards teaching even when he was young. 

“Every day you have a lot of small victories and it makes it feel like you’re making a difference,” commented Escalante.

His students also appreciate his diligence and hard work. 

“He is always very helpful and the way he articulates and explains things makes concepts easier to grasp,” junior Joe Mai in his AP U.S. History class commented. 

On top of teaching, he teaches boys soccer here at CVHS. Escalante has been playing soccer for around 21 years and started when he was a young child. He played throughout high school and continued pursuing it in college and was even invited by the Oakland Roots, a professional soccer team, to train with them. Throughout college, he also assisted with other various sports and helped take scores. At CVHS he has been teaching boys soccer for two years. This year, he is teaching varsity soccer. Last year, he led the soccer team to NCS.

Ultimately, Escalante is a valuable addition to CVHS staff and is dedicated to ensuring the learning of all of his students.