WASHINGTON (WCMH) – The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp to honor a famous Los Angeles math teacher known for using unconventional methods to inspire inner-city high school students.

The postal service honored Jaime Escalante with the issuance of a new Forever Stamp during a dedication ceremony on Wednesday.

Escalante’s fame came about in 1982 when 18 of his students passed an advanced placement calculus exam. Controversy followed as the testing service accused 14 students, who were Mexican-American students from a low-income area of Los Angeles, of cheating on the exam. The service required them to retake the test, and all passed.

“We celebrate Mr. Escalante today for his charmed ability to create calm within a landscape of calamity,” said Robert Cintron with the U.S. Postal Service. “As a result of staying committed to his belief that all students can learn, kids who had been written off as undisciplined, uninterested, unmanageable and unruly were given a real opportunity at learning. In return, his students showed the world that one opportunity was really all that they needed.”

Escalante and his students garnered national attention when the story of his work was made into a movie, “Stand and Deliver” in 1988. He quickly became one of the most famous teachers in America, and he was into the National Teachers Hall of Fame for his efforts to “have children believe in their ability to achieve” in 1999.What others are clicking on: