SUWANEE (Florida) DEMOCRAT

March 9, 2006

Program serves migrant students

Vanessa Fultz, Democrat Reporter

The Suwannee County School District is implementing for the second year a program that meets the needs of Hispanic children and families who are migrant workers in the community. The program provides tutoring services for students; transportation services for families; interpreting services for doctor's visits or teacher conferences and provides needs for clothing, food and school supplies.

The Migrant Education Program, previously under the umbrella of Suwannee River Economic Council, operates under the direction of Elementary Education Director Nancy Roberts and is funded by a grant. Jeanene Romanchuck serves as the certified teacher in the program, Ellawese Washington and Yvette Perez serve as tutors and Juanita Torres serves as recruiter and advocate.

Teachers and tutors provide an after school program and visit various schools to tutor students one-on-one. During a visit at the after-school program recently, Romanchuck and Washington tutored a room of several students, and Torres touched base with parents as they came to retrieve their children.

The students were set up at different work stations, some of which had computer access, and there was plenty of opportunity for one-on-one time between teacher and student.

When the students arrive at the after-school program Romanchuck has a question written on the board students answer in their journals. The question stimulates problem solving and requires students to get online to exercise research and computer skills to locate the answer. Teachers

and tutors primarily work on helping students with homework, learning to understand and speak English and helping prepare for diagnostic tests such as the FCAT.

"I see what kind of homework the students have to do and who needs me the most," Romanchuck said while sitting at a round table with one of her students. "Juanita comes around and makes sure the students are on task."

Romanchuck said the students get a lot of help and attention, and they know it's a non-threatening environment because they are not graded for their work.

"I think sometimes just for the children to know there's somebody extra there who cares and who will follow up with them. I think sometimes that makes the difference," Romanchuck said. "Sometimes these children just need that little extra help."

Romanchuck said tutors in the program collaborate with the students' teachers to better serve students.

"On the last report cards of my middle and high school students, every student except one had come up or maintained," Romanchuck said. "The ones who maintained already had either a B or C average. When the FCAT scores come back hopefully we can tell we've made a difference."

Romanchuck said when they begin tutoring the children some of them do not speak or understand any English. They have seen major improvements in students' English skills, she said.

Washington said it's an advantage that she and Romanchuck do not speak Spanish.

"We can't cater to students when they don't know a certain word. This way, they learn English faster," Washington said. "We have people stationed at our schools who speak Spanish if we run into difficulties, or we can always reach Mrs. Torres, who is bilingual."

Torres recruits students for the program as she sees Hispanic residents around town. However, not all Hispanics are eligible. They must be migrant workers in Suwannee County, and not all migrant workers are necessarily Hispanic, she said.

Those who are eligible for the program have a variety of services available to them.

"Whatever the family needs I attend to. If the family says, "My child's having problems with vision," I try to set up an appointment and take them where they need to go," Torres said.

First grade teacher Stacey Bullock, who has a student in her class Washington tutors for 45 minutes each day, said she and Washington work closely to implement classroom skills. Though Washington assists in math when necessary, she primarily focuses on implementing reading skills.

"My students take DIBELS, which is a diagnostic test to measure reading skills, four times a year," Bullock said. "In the three times we've taken this test, I've seen continued improvement in my migrant student. The student's confidence level and learning strategies to be a better problem solver and reader have improved."

High school teacher Sherwood Boatright, who has a student tutored by Romanchuck, said Romanchuck primarily focuses on helping the student study for classroom tests.

"The student was very limited in English but now has a better understanding of the language," Boatright said.

Washington said the program boosts students confidence in the classroom, because they often tend to be shy and withdrawn since they don't know much English.

"They're all eager to learn, and they try so hard to master the skills," Washington said.

"They are so grateful for anything you do for them," Romanchuck said. "Of course, my older ones, they can make you laugh. They're real witty."