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

CEDAR HILL, Texas — For a student to have a motivational teacher in their life early in education can completely change their perspective on a subject or push them towards a career they never intended on pursuing.

For a decade and a half, there has been a teacher at Cedar Hill ISD who has been passing along his knowledge and is thankful for the little bit of luck that even brought him to America.

Barimah Amoo-Asante is a math teacher for 7th and 8th grade at Permenter Middle School in Cedar Hill. In his classroom, you will find signs that read “reflection,” “rotation” and “translation.” But you will also find signs with “trustworthiness,” “respectfulness” and “citizenship.”

That last word is something Asante didn’t always know he would be able to attain in the U.S.

“I’m originally from Ghana in West Africa,” Asante said.

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

However, when he got to middle school, he really started to struggle with math. It was his weakest subject. Asante said it wasn’t until he had a teacher in high school that made math much easier for him to understand that he looked at the subject differently.

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

Asante loved the idea of being able to help others the way he once was. He also wanted to move to America for more opportunities.

So, he entered the Diversity Visa Program or more commonly called, the green card lottery. Every year, the U.S. government gives people outside America the opportunity to come over through what is practically a lottery system.

As long as you meet certain qualifications, are coming to the U.S. for work and go through an interview process, you are included in the running. Asante was one of the millions who applied in the late 1990s. And he was one of only 55,000 who was picked.

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

“I was one of the few that was blessed to have the chance to come,” Asante said. “I knew it was an opportunity to help people and also to help myself.”

Asante initially worked in 20 different states before making his way to Cedar Hill, Texas. This is where he officially became a U.S. citizen and started his teaching career at Permenter Middle School.

“I realize that I’m making a difference in the lives of the scholars,” Asante said. “I wanted to be part of their story.”

Many of Asante’s students say Asante has a very distinct style of teaching where he makes them work through problems together while also making them explain every single part of their answer.

“He gives us like little strategies to do, and it make it not really that hard,” 7th grader Kevin Jefferson said. “Ever since we took his class, our grades have been going up.”

“It’s pretty easy, actually,” Aubrey Skinner said. “Much easier than 6th-grade math was.”

“He breaks it down to where you can understand it from every point of view,” Braylen Lloyd said. “As you show your work, it makes it easier to explain. It makes it easier to comprehend.”

Asante has gone on to now become the longest-tenured middle school teacher in the entire Cedar Hill ISD district, as this is his 18th school year with the district. He has also won countless awards, including most recently Cedar Hill ISD’s Honoring Our Outstanding Paraprofessionals, Lead Educators and Administrators (HOOPLA) Award in January 2022.

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

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