Cedar Hill math teacher wins ‘green card lottery’ to come to America

“I was one of the few who was blessed with the opportunity to come,” Asante said. “I knew this was an opportunity to help people and also to help myself.”

Cedar Hill, Texas. For a student, having a motivational teacher in his life at the beginning of his studies can completely change his outlook on a subject or push him into a career he never intended to pursue.

For a decade and a half, ISD Cedar Hill had a teacher who passed on his knowledge and was grateful for a little bit of luck that even brought him to America.

Barima Amu-Asante is a 7th and 8th grade math teacher at Permenter High School in Cedar Hill. In his classroom, you will find signs with the words “reflection”, “rotation” and “translation”. But you will also find signs with “trustworthiness”, “respect” and “citizenship”.

This last word is something Asante didn’t always know he could achieve in the US.

“I am from Ghana in West Africa,” Asante said.

Growing up with six siblings along with his mother, who was a teacher and principal, Asante always strived to do well in school.

However, when he moved on to high school, he really started having trouble with math. It was his weakest item. Asante said it wasn’t until he had a teacher in high school who made math much easier for him that he looked at the subject differently.

“This teacher was able to motivate and inspire me by telling me to change my mindset,” Asante said.

Asante liked the idea that he could help others like he used to. He also wanted to move to America to have more opportunities.

So, he took part in the Diversity Visa program, or, as it is more commonly called, the green card lottery. Every year, the US government provides people outside of America with the opportunity to participate in the lottery system.

If you meet certain requirements, come to the US to work and pass an interview, you participate in the competition. Asante was one of the millions who applied in the late 1990s. And he was one of 55,000 people who were chosen.

Asante said that if he hadn’t gone through the lottery system, it would have taken him 10 years or more to get here.

“I was one of the few who was blessed with the opportunity to come,” Asante said. “I knew this was an opportunity to help people and also to help myself.”

Asante initially worked in 20 different states before moving to Cedar Hill, Texas. It was here that he officially became a US citizen and began his teaching career at Permentera High School.

“I understand that I am changing the lives of scientists,” Asante said. “I wanted to be a part of their history.”

Many Asante students say that Asante has a very special teaching style where he makes them solve problems together and also makes them explain every part of their answer.

“He gives us little strategies, and it’s not that hard,” said seventh grader Kevin Jefferson. “Since we’ve been attending his classes, our grades have gone up.”

“It’s actually quite simple,” said Aubrey Skinner. “Much easier than math in 6th grade.”

“He breaks it down in a way that you can understand it from all angles,” Braylen Lloyd said. “When you show your work, it becomes easier to explain. It makes it easier to understand.”

Asante became the longest tenured high school teacher in the entire Cedar Hill ISD region as it is his 18th school year in the district. He has also received countless awards, including the recent Cedar Hill ISD award honoring our Outstanding Paraprofessionals, Leading Educators and Administrators (HOOPLA) in January 2022.

However, Asante said his favorite moments are when he runs into his former students as they get older, and they tell him that they don’t remember his specific lessons, but how he taught them to think critically.

“I always ask them why, why, why,” Asante said. “If they justify their cause, that tells me they really understand.”

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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