Migrant worker becomes mentor to youths

Tomas Carrillo uses his experiences to motivate his students

By CHRISTINA E. SANCHEZ

MANATEE COUNTY -- On some nights, Tomas Carrillo still sleeps on the hard floor of his family's living room.

As a child growing up in a migrant farm family, Carrillo often slept on the floor of a trailer that housed eight people.

Two years ago, when his family reached the milestone of home ownership, Carrillo, 22, got his own bed. But old habits and lifestyles die hard, so he still occasionally reverts back to sleeping on the floor.

Carrillo remains close to a life in the fields, close to the struggle for success against financial, language and class barriers.

But he has overcome many hurdles, and recently obtained a job with the Manatee County School District in its migrant education program as a liaison between the school system and local migrant families and children.

His shared background with the migrants provides a bond that helps them relate to each other, to take seriously the messages Carrillo has to offer: that they can learn English, do better in school and strive for more than working long days picking vegetables under a searing sun.

Carrillo is a mentor to the students, and he is unique among the county's 12 migrant liaisons because he has a background as a Mexican migrant.

"I was them once," Carrillo said. "I share my story with the kids about growing up. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But you do what you can."

A long road

Carrillo has come a long way since he left his hometown of Queretaro, Mexico, 16 years ago.

His father, Tomas Carrillo Sr., had worked in a soda bottling factory in Queretaro. Barely getting by, Carrillo's father knew the family's only hope for success was in the United States.

"We didn't have anything in Mexico. Nothing, absolutely nothing," the younger Carrillo said.

So his father, mother and three sisters left Carrillo and his two brothers behind in Mexico to go to the United States. The brothers lived with their grandparents.

When Carrillo was 6, he left Mexico. He has vivid memories of that day.

Atop the shoulders of a stranger, he crossed the waters of the Rio Grande from Mexico to the United States. His mother, Margarita, went back to Mexico to get the boys and crossed with them.

On the other side of the river, Carrillo's father waited in a restaurant, appropriately named "Oasis."

Border Patrol officers were policing the area. Carrillo noticed a group of children waiting for their school bus. He jumped into line with them as if he belonged. The Border Patrol left. His family was safe. And a seed for change in his life was planted.

Rooted in the fields

Straight from Mexico, the Carrillos moved to Falkner Farms in Myakka City to live and pick cucumbers. The family of eight was crammed into a trailer and slept in any spot available, including on the floor.

Carrillo and his brothers attended Myakka Elementary School and Haile Middle School. His sisters, now ages 29, 30 and 32, stayed home to work in the fields.

Keeping up with homework was difficult. Every day after school, Carrillo picked in the fields until dusk.

Late nights and mornings before the bus arrived were designated homework time.

Seeing his parents struggle emboldened him to get through assignments. He witnessed their sunup to sundown work days, evidenced by their rough, callused hands and wrinkles on their faces.

Carrillo vowed he would not be a farmworker.

He would graduate and become a U.S. citizen. He got his green card seven years ago and was sworn in as a citizen two years ago.

A mentor to many

Though all of Southwest Florida is home to migrant workers, Manatee County is especially in need of liaisons like Carrillo.

The county is home to nearly 18,000 farmworkers, many of whom left poor Mexican villages to seek opportunities in the United States.

But they quickly learn -- as did Carrillo -- that it is arduous to transition into English-dominated communities, with new laws, systems and culture.

Unable to speak English, the migrant children must catch up to their peers. The Manatee County School District has a migrant education program that helps 2,700 migrant students as they adapt.

As a mentor to students in all grades, Carrillo eases the shock. He tutors them during after-school programs, helps them with their English and talks with their parents if they have trouble in school.

At Myakka City Elementary School, students swarm around Carrillo to greet him. They hug him as if they have not seen him in months, even though they saw him only a few hours earlier. Older students pass Carrillo in the hallway and address him, "Hey, how's it going, Mr. Carrillo."

They respect and relate to him, said Janet Riggs, a recruiting specialist at Manatee Community College.

Carrillo, who graduated from MCC in 2005, worked for Riggs in enrollment services while he was a student there.

"The kids listen to him. He's been there and he's done that. He came up from working in the fields," Riggs said. "They need people like Tomas."

Making a difference

Jessica Jimenez, a senior at Bayshore High School, also had parents who worked in the fields, and she saw how hard the life was on them.

With her mind set on continuing her education beyond high school, she knew she needed to raise her grades.

Carrillo told her his story. He wrote deadlines on sticky notes for when she had to turn in assignments or meet with him. He listened to her when she needed to talk.

Her grades went up.

More than 280 students such as Jimenez are on Carrillo's radar in his job as a liaison.

Carrillo understands students like her, she said, because he is young and not far removed from his migrant program days.

"I don't know what I would do without him," Jimenez said. "He doesn't try to beat around the bush. He tells you like it is."

Jimenez, 19, plans to go to Manatee Community College for two years, then transfer to the University of South Florida to study physical therapy.

Carrillo also had liaisons and mentors in the migrant education program.

Laraine Batista, a migrant home-school liaison for 13 years, saw Carrillo grow from a teen to a charismatic young man with the same job as her, she said.

"He's the perfect example for these students to see that one of their own made it," Batista said. "Parents look up to him and are happy to have him as mentor for their children."

Playing soccer gave Carrillo a reason to do well in school, particularly in high school.

"You have to find out what motivates you," Carrillo said.

When he graduated from Lakewood Ranch High School in 2002, it was either the military or MCC. Advised by his migrant program mentors, he chose college to pursue a criminal justice degree.

A year ago after graduating from MCC, he applied for the school liaison position and was hired. Meanwhile, he trained four nights a week at the police academy to become a Manatee County sheriff's deputy.

His graduation from the academy is June 14, also the day he turns 23. He eventually envisions being a U.S. customs agent specializing in narcotics enforcement. But for now, he focuses on guiding students.

Carrillo has not abandoned life on the farm. He still picks on the weekends alongside the families he knew growing up. His father is a crew leader at Falkner Farms.

Although his family no longer lives in a trailer, he has not forgotten where he came from or that other migrants are struggling as he once did.

"My goal is to help my community succeed. I want to make a difference," Carrillo said. "Sometimes I think, I didn't make a difference today, but tomorrow, I am going to make a difference."