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Success with calculus

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) -  At Crawford High School, welcome to Jonathan Winn's advanced calculus class. It's a class so popular and diverse it can't be confined to a single classroom or taught in a conventional method.

"In this particular room, only 15 percent of the students speak English as their first language, so you have five-sixths of the class who are learning calculus in their second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth language," Winn said.

So this is an AP class that travels to the beat of a different drum.

"The differentiation of instruction that has to take place in order to satisfy all of the needs of the students who are getting a perfect score on the SAT, and we also have students who are still English learners," Winn said.

You might hear a little freestyle or a guest appearance by Mr. Ant, all in the name of making a difficult class relevant to a rainbow of cultures.

"What I know about the student body at Crawford is that they are extremely hard working and extremely respectful of teachers and education," Winn said.

It's respect that Mr. Winn has earned.

"He's always awake in the morning, like never down. He makes math fun," a student said.

"The fact that he cares about us makes us want to do more," another student said.

This symbiotic relationship between student and teacher, teacher and subject feeding each other becomes a learning frenzy. For principal William Laine, it's a source of pride.

"This young man has raised the bar and these students have risen to the occasion," Laine said. "We're doing great things here at Crawford."

In an unusual classroom, an unconventional instructor has found an undeniable formula for success that crosses cultural lines and language barriers. There is no greater good than a teacher who inspires.