Migrant program helps students, families reach their full
potential
Like most parents, Martin Gonzalez has always wanted more for
his children than he had growing up. He sends money when he can to
his two oldest children, Reina and Martin, who both attend the
University of the Pacific, in Stockton. He attends parent meetings
to keep up to date on happenings at San Benito High School, where
his youngest daughter, Lupe, is a sophomore.
Migrant program helps students, families reach their full potential
Like most parents, Martin Gonzalez has always wanted more for his children than he had growing up. He sends money when he can to his two oldest children, Reina and Martin, who both attend the University of the Pacific, in Stockton. He attends parent meetings to keep up to date on happenings at San Benito High School, where his youngest daughter, Lupe, is a sophomore.
And like the parents of 730 students on campus, he has sometimes had to move his family from place to place – from state to state – interrupting his children’s school year when seasonal work was unavailable.
Gonzalez’ youngest daughter, whom he refers to endearingly as Lupita, is enrolled in the migrant education program (MEP) at SBHS. The program is federally-funded and started in 1965 to ensure that students who move between school districts with parents who work in the agriculture, dairy, lumber or fishing industries have access to education.
Gonzalez, who has light eyes and a shock of brown hair, works in the fields on a small ranch.
“I come to the meetings because I want to understand everything,” he said after a recent MEP parent meeting. More than 60 parents and students sat through the meeting, which was mostly conducted in Spanish. Younger children sat at tables and completed their homework assignments, while high-school age students chatted outside the doorway.
“The main vision is to be that link from parent to student to the community and San Benito High School,” said Elizabeth Martinez, a migrant clerk and recruiter for the program. “That is what empowers students and parents – accessibility.”
Though Gonzalez spoke in halting English, he talked with pride about his children’s accomplishments.
“Nothing is more important than my kids,” he said. “They can get good jobs if they finish university. They can have more opportunities. I say, ‘Look at me. I can’t go for big jobs.'”
The parent meetings, which cover everything from gang issues to dress code changes to recognition of high-achieving students, are one aspect of the program. Other portions deal directly with the students. In the San Benito High School District, 980 students are enrolled in MEP, including students on campus; those whose families have already moved out of the area; and students up to the age of 22 who have not completed their education and are referred to as “out-of-school youth.” To qualify, students have to be from families that have moved between school districts within the last three years in the pursuit of work in the selected industries.
The students receive several basic benefits
– Free daily breakfast and lunch
– Free transportation to and from school
– Fee waivers for state college and university applications
– Fee waivers for advanced placement tests
– Fee waivers for the SAT
– Fee waivers for the PSAT
But more than the financial support, Frank Muro, a migrant education program specialist, and the staff at San Benito High School offer moral support.
“If I have a problem I can talk to Mr. Muro and he fixes it or helps a lot,” Gonzalez said. “Every time he says, ‘Call me anytime.'”
The program has taught Gonzalez how he can help his youngest daughter do well in school.
“They say when you wake up in the morning, say you love them and good luck in school,” Gonzalez said, struggling to come up with the right word to describe how it helps. “Their esteem, self-esteem.”
Muro works with Martinez; Claudia Urbina, a recruiter, parent-student case manager and community liaison; and Heather Valdez, a regional recruiter. Together they work to enroll more students in the program as well as to keep the students who are already enrolled doing well. In mid-October, Muro did a query of student records that revealed 282 students in the migrant education program had grade point averages of 3.0 or above.
For the students who are doing well, they have recently started holding a raffle for two gigabyte portable memory sticks. Free field trips are another way the students stay motivated. Staff take them on college tours, to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and to museums in the greater Bay Area. Last year three seniors had the chance to travel to Washington, D.C.
Yesenia Becerra, a senior with long black hair and bangs she sweeps to the side, traveled to the Capitol with Muro and other students.
“The people there were great,” she said. “We learned leadership skills. I’m pretty shy so it helped me.”
Becerra’s mother works at Earthbound Farms, and though the family has not moved recently, she said she still feels a little like an outsider.
“Most of the people in my classes – I take AP classes – all the kids are white,” she said.
Becerra has three brothers and four sisters. She plans to leave home in the fall for college, and has applied to Santa Clara University and several University of California schools.
“My mom goes to the meetings to be involved, to show I have a future,” Becerra said. “It’s the one way she can do that.”
Kimberly Del Toro can relate. She has been enrolled in the migrant education program since she was in kindergarten – the program serves children ages 3-22.
“My mom is a single mother who didn’t speak the language,” she said. “We used to go back and forth to Mexico.”
Del Toro, who writes for the Spanish section of The Baler newspaper, also had the chance to travel to Washington, D.C.
“It was amazing,” she said. “My first time traveling.”
She has been accepted to California State University, Stanislaus, but is waiting for responses from other schools before making her final decision.
While Becerra and Del Toro’s families don’t move as frequently, other families still make treks out of state, or even out of the country.
“Many of the families have Hollister as a home base,” said Urbina, the recruiter and parent-student case manager. “They move maybe for a month or two each year to Mexico, but maybe they used to move six months here and six months there.”
Urbina said in some families, even with both parents working, minors are often working in the field during harvest season. To meet the needs of high school students, a summer session was implemented in the ’80s that allowed students to come to classes in the evenings to earn credits. The program averages 200 kids a each summer.
Urbina and Valdez often visit the migrant camps during the harvest season to recruit families.
“We identified 150 people this summer,” Valdez said. “A challenge with the word migrant is that people think it is related to immigration. We have trouble getting people to trust us. They don’t want to sign a document or give out personal information.”
One way staff have found to gain the trust of families is by bringing gifts with them when they visit the camps.
“When we go out we bring something – a donation or dental kits,” Martinez said. “We show we are not here to hurt or put them in danger. Once they know there is someone who cares, they themselves call.”
The staff can also connect families with other resources in the community such as places that offer free or low-income dental care and medical care. Staff or volunteer at other agencies can also refer migrant families to MEP staff.
“The parents are in survivor mode,” Urbina said. “They don’t have heat or beds. And sometimes they don’t have anything to eat. There are families who are homeless … I don’t even know how these kids can make it.”
Martinez stressed that often the most important thing is for families to be greeted with a smile the first time they are on campus.
“We can open their eyes to the possibilities,” Martinez said.
