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Summer is season for
school Local teens, nuns help migrant kids
For six weeks this summer, while other kids were out playing baseball or
swimming, Jose voluntarily sat in a classroom and worked diligently to
improve his English-language skills.
"I can speak better English now. I know how to pronounce my words. And
you get to meet new friends," Jose said, smiling.
Classmate Heydi Valareal, 12 nodded. Her goal is to go to college and
become a nurse.
Both are children of migrant workers. Their families travel back and
forth from
To help the children improve reading and comprehension skills, the
"It helps them a lot for reading," Jose's mother, Maria Luisa Aguilar,
33, said of the optional program her children attend. "They like it.
They learn to read and they also have a lot of fun activities for the
kids. They take them swimming and they go to the [
Sister Susan Marie Reineck, a Notre Dame nun who teaches during the
school year in
She recruits high school and college girls, mostly from the
Sister Susan said most girls who volunteer say they did so because they
like working with children and want to contribute to society. Notre Dame
nuns are big education advocates, she said, and she believes the migrant
program has a spiritual component.
"In our Catholic faith, we look at the life of Christ and we see how
Christ brought love to our world in service, by serving others and
showing us how to live our lives more lovingly," Sister Susan said.
Among the 25 volunteers who took turns this summer spending a week in
Miller City - a tiny town of 173 residents about 50 miles southwest of
Toledo - were Grace Dillon, 17, a senior at Bedford High School, and
Julia DeLapp, 17, of Sylvania, a senior at Notre Dame Academy.
They said the program has made them count their blessings.
"I definitely feel so much more grateful to have such a good education
year-round," Grace said. "These kids are constantly traveling. So I'm
grateful for what I have."
"You realize how blessed you really are," Julia said. "The church is all
about community, and community's not just the area around you but it's
all mankind. So helping out your community and all mankind is really a
part of the church that helps you grow closer to God. I think it's one
of the best ways to grow in your faith."
Jack Betscher, migrant director of the
"They supplement what the classroom teachers do, and without Sister
Susan and her volunteers, this particular segment of the program would
not even be a fraction as robust as it is," he said.
The migrant students are tested for language proficiency before and
after the six-week sessions, and the progress made is often significant,
Mr. Betscher said. "Most of our students come to us, as a rule, a year
or two behind grade level, and many times we can get them up to grade
level by the end of the summer," he said.
Baldemar Velasquez, founder of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and a
tireless champion for migrant workers, said programs like
Mr. Betscher said some migrant children attend a half dozen schools in
one school year as their parents travel to find work. A large number of
the
The girls who volunteer spend between 30 and 40 minutes iin one-on-one
mentoring sessions with the students, then assist the teachers in the
classroom.
"When they do the one-on-one interaction with students, it helps the
teacher work with the students that have greater learning difficulties,"
Mr. Betscher said.
Shannon Nadler, 19, of Leipsic, a sophomore pre-med student at
This is the second straight year for Autumn Setzler, 18, of
"I don't think people treat migrants how they should be treated or
recognize how much they are doing for our country," she said. "They're
not coming here to steal our money, they just want a better life. When
people meet migrants face to face it
changes their perspective." |