Jaime Escalante, the Teacher Who Inspired ‘Stand and Deliver,’ Is on USPS Stamps Starting Today

If you frequently write letters (or, if like me, you only use the postal system once a month for your rent check), you can add Jaime Escalante’s face to the top right corner of your envelopes starting today. The U.S. Postal Service honored the Bolivian-born educator with his own first-class mail Forever stamp, and with the help of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) threw a party in his honor.

In 1988, Edward James Olmos portrayed the inspiring educator in Stand and Deliver. Escalante, who died in 2010, defied the odds when a record number of students considered “unteachable” passed the AP calculus exam. USPS spokesman Roy Betts explained that a committee of 14 chose Escalante out of tens of thousands because of his legacy. “He is, without question, a very deserving subject, Betts said, according to NBC News. “The legendary educator is well-known for academic excellence and working with inner-city youth to help them master calculus.”

Based on an image Jaime W. Escalante took in 2005 at the Hiram Johnson High School where the educator taught, the 47-cent stamp features the artwork of Jason Seiler. The digital illustration resembles an oil painting.