Migrant education has no borders

     Holyoke, Colorado, United States, and La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, may be 1,500 miles apart geographically, but one thing is similar — there are teachers working hard to provide students with what they need to succeed.
     Yesenia Bencomo’s passion for education was overflowing as she shared her experiences from the Jan. 28-Feb. 1 Binational Teacher Exchange Program.
     The Holyoke Elementary School K-3 ESL teacher was interviewed and selected to join seven other educators from Colorado to travel to Mexico for a one-week cultural and educational experience.
     As part of the Colorado Department of Education’s Binational Migrant Education Initiative, the exchange program’s goal is to learn about both the American and Mexican educational systems so schools can better meet the needs of migrant children.
     To be able to apply for the program, educators must work with migrant students in a K-12 setting, as well as be bilingual, simply because they would be interacting with students in Mexican classrooms.
     Bencomo said she saw two sides of the spectrum in and around La Paz. Public elementary and junior high schools in the city had the supplies they needed, and students were already planning out their next steps for a high school education.
     Roughly 45 minutes away, Bencomo visited migrant schools. These were located on farms where workers and their families lived in small apartments. While the Mexican government does provide a teacher for these small schools, Bencomo said they didn’t have proper desks or even pencils and other basic supplies.
     “We are better off than we were five years ago,” one teacher told Bencomo, which was hard to imagine, considering the school’s current state.
     Teachers are still working hard despite the limited resources, she said. They are providing the best education they can to the children for the little time they have them — which sometimes isn’t very long.
     Attendance is a huge challenge for migrant schools since families are always moving from one place to another. “The teacher is constantly seeing someone come in and out,” said Bencomo.
     She noticed the junior highers in the migrant schools didn’t have any dreams of going on to high school. “Even though it’s public education, not everyone has access to it.”
     The schools also have students from indigenous cultures who speak native languages. So they first have to learn Spanish and then English on top of that.
     The kids are exposed to English as young as kindergarten. They see the value and importance of learning multiple languages, said Bencomo. “The level of English was phenomenal!”
     However, she said some of the native students were becoming embarrassed of their family’s original language and culture. “We have to be able to foster the native language at home,” she said.
     After speaking with so many teachers, students and national education officials, Bencomo came home from Mexico overflowing with ideas for her own school system.
    
Bencomo advocates for Holyoke’s migrant students
     Bencomo, who spent some of her childhood in Mexico, said her dad was a migrant worker as was his dad before him. She is thankful that her one and only move was to Holyoke and that her dad broke the migrant cycle and found a place to put down roots in Colorado.
     But some families in the High Plains have continued the tradition of migrant work, and people like Bencomo are learning more ways to better serve them in local school districts.
     To be considered migrant, families must be working in an agriculture field. While some are from other countries, race is not a determining factor. After being in the same school district for three years, they would no longer qualify as migrant.
     “A lot of these families have stayed,” said Bencomo, noting the migrant workers have decided to make Holyoke their long-term home.
     Holyoke School District has a form for migrant families to fill out. This will allow a liaison located in Yuma to get in contact with the parents. She can help the students with basic life resources and school supplies, as well as get the families connected with other agencies.
     Bencomo’s desire is to become more aware of which students in her ESL program come from migrant families, since not everyone fills out the form. “Not only are they ESL students, they are also migrant students, and they have different needs,” she said.
     While the technology and resources at the schools in Holyoke seem like a whole different world from the migrant schools in Mexico, there are still similar challenges — attendance, planning for the future, learning a new language, embracing one’s native culture.
     Bencomo said she is so glad to be in a profession where she can make a positive change for a child, and this trip has energized her to see what more she can do. “There are so many things I still have to learn,” she said.
     Even though Holyoke has so many resources already, “there’s nothing wrong with advocating for what you need,” said Bencomo. “There are more resources, and I need to get my hands on them.”
     Even if migrant students are only in Holyoke for a short period of time, “we need to provide them with what they need while they are in the district,” she said.
     Her advice for migrant families is to always give children a love for education — put an importance on school, read with kids at home, and help them learn a new language while keeping old traditions alive. And always know what resources a community has to offer migrant families, she added.
     Bencomo said Holyoke School District was very supportive of her attending the teacher exchange in Mexico. She is hoping that someday Mexican teachers will be able to come to Holyoke to observe its classrooms as well.
     After such a successful trip, Bencomo was chosen to represent the group at the National Migrant Education Conference May 1-4 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
     Anyone needing more information regarding migrant students should contact Holyoke Elementary School at 970-854-3411 or Holyoke JR/SR High School at 970-854-2284.