Migrant education programs wrap up summer activities

Monterey County is home to a large population of migrant students, and summer programs designed to enhance their education wrapped up in the last couple of weeks to make way for the regular school year. 

At the Alisal Union School District, the Migrant Education Summer Academy concluded a four-week summer enrichment program for more than 350 students held at Fremeont Elementary School. The children had projects to learn about colleges and universities, play instruments, enhance their science knowledge with a curriculum designed by NASA, and had a Mexican teacher for students to learn about art, music and history of Mexico.

Research “tell us the great majority of migrant kids feel a disconnect to their school. What that tell us, as practitioners, is the kids don’t feel they belong. They don’t see themselves within mainstream schools. They are at a loss for identity.” said Ernesto Vela, director of migrant education services at the Monterey County Office of Education. “The bilingual teacher message is be proud of who you are, your roots, your language. What we’re finding is that the self esteem the students who participate in the summer grows tremendously. We see the impact academically in many of the students who participate in the summer program.”

At Cal State University Monterey Bay, the Junior Otter Program graduated over 300 students on July 29. The program focuses on language arts, mathematics, computer science, and an enrichment component that introduces students to university campus life and fine arts, including theater, music, drama, dance, art and, video editing.

This year’s theme was the Olympics, where students explored the importance of the summer games, the countries and athletes set to participate this year.

“Junior Otters is an outstanding opportunity to expose students to the university environment and provide access to performing arts and technology programs,” said Monterey County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Nancy Kotowski. “For some of these students it’s the first time they are introduced to college life. We hope this program encourages and provides them the tools needed to successfully attend college.”

On to next year!

Students during the closing ceremony of the migrant education program at Fremont Elementary in Salinas

Migrant education winners get ready for state competition

Monterey County winners from last month's Migrant education speech and debate competition are getting ready for the state championship, which will take place May 13 - 15 in Fresno.

Gonzales High and North Monterey High were first place winners of debate in English. Alisal High won in debate in Spanish. Gavilan View Middle School won debate in English.

In speech categories in English, Ivan Bermudez of North Monterey High won 1st place in the prepared category and Martin Aguirre of Everett Alvarez High won 1st place in extemporaneous category.

In speech categories in Spanish, Alma Martinez of Gonzales High won first place for prepared speech, and Nancy Ramirez of Alisal High won for extemporaneous speech.

This is just a sampling of the winners. Participants came from schools all over the Salinas Valley, you can find a complete list of the winner here.

Students will spend the next month reviewing the feedback given during the tournament to refine their skills in preparation for competition in May, educators say. Trustees with the North Monterey County Unified School District recognized its winners during the April 7 board meeting.

The Monterey County Office of Education's Migrant Education Program serves the largest migrant population in the state of California. The 2016 Regional Speech & Debate Tournament was held March 12th at Salinas High School. Approximately 200 students in grades 6 to 12 competed in speech and debate in English and Spanish.

Congratulations to all the winners! You make Monterey County proud!

North Monterey County Migrant Ed Speech and Debate winners

Migrant families to attend La Famlia conference

More than 300 migrant parents from throughout Monterey County have been invited to participate in La Familia Conference on Saturday, April 25th from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Soledad High School, 425 Gabilan Drive in Soledad.

The conference gives migrant parents an opportunity to engage and learn parenting strategies and information regarding the upbringing and education of their children. The conference supports the ultimate goal of the Migrant Education Program, which is to ensure that all migrant students experience a high quality education and improved way of life, organizers said.

Participants can choose from a field of 18 workshops in family issues, technology, health, mental health education, and leadership.

The conference is free to migrant parents.Parents wishing to attend must pre-register with their school district migrant education personnel no later than Wednesday, April 22. For more information, contact Annabel Castro at 755.6408 or Lenina Sánchez at 755.6403.

Here's the winners of the Migrant Education Speech and Debate tournament

The Migrant Education Region XVI of the Monterey County Office of Education held its sixth annual Migrant Education Speech and Debate Tournament at Salinas High School on March 21.

Dozens of migrant students from 6th through 12th grade from throughout Monterey County participated. First place winners will advance to compete at the Migrant Education State Speech and Debate Tournament to be held in Monterey on May 16.

And the winners are:

HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE -- ENGLISH
1st: Gonzales High School
2nd: So. Mo. Co. Joint Union High School District (King City and Greenfield High Schools) and North Monterey County High School
3rd: North Salinas High School

HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE --SPANISH
1st: Alisal High School Team #1
2nd: Alisal High School Team and Soledad High School
3rd: Greenfield High School Team #2

MIDDLE SCHOOL DEBATE -- ENGLISH
1st: Chualar School
2nd: Fairview Middle School and Vista Verde Middle School
3rd: Washington Middle School Team #2

HIGH SCHOOL PREPARED SPEECH -- ENGLISH
1st: Nancy Ramírez, Alisal High School
2nd: Michelle Aguilar, Soledad High School 
3rd: Roberto Lara, Salinas High School

HIGH SCHOOL -- EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH -- ENGLISH
1st: Nancy Ramírez, Alisal High School
2nd: Roberto Lara, Salinas High School 
3rd: Michelle Aguilar, Soledad High School

HIGH SCHOOL PREPARED SPEECH -- SPANISH
1st: Cecilia Cornejo, Alisal High School
2nd: Alma Martinez Garcia, Gonzales High School 
3rd: Nelson Antonio Cruz, King City High School

HIGH SCHOOL EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH -- SPANISH
1st: Alma Martínez García, Gonzales High School 
2nd: Cecilia Cornejo, Alisal High School
3rd: Nelson Antonio Cruz, King City High School and Maricruz Pérez, Alisal Alisal High School

MIDDLE SCHOOL PREPARED SPEECH -- ENGLISH
1st: Yaqueline Rodríguez, Gavilan View MS 
2nd: Kimberly Márquez, North Monterey County MS 
3rd: Jocelyn Torres, Gavilan View MS

MIDDLE SCHOOL EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH -- ENGLISH
1st: Kimberly Márquez, North Monterey County MS 
2nd: Cynthia Patricio, La Paz MS 
3rd: Ximena Meza, La Paz MS

MIDDLE SCHOOL PREPARED SPEECH -- SPANISH
1st: Paulina Quiroz, Gavilan View MS 
2nd: Ivan Valdez, Fairview MS 
3rd: Patricia Regalado-Rangel, Chalone Peaks MS

MIDDLE SCHOOL EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH -- SPANISH
1st: Patricia Regalado-Rangel, Chalone Peaks MS 
2nd: Antonio Jaimes Pérez, Chalone Peaks MS 
3rd: Paulina Quiroz, Gavilan View MS

6TH GRADE

PREPARED SPEECH -- ENGLISH
1st: Carlos Rodríguez, Gavilan View MS 
2nd: Jaqueline Llanos, Castroville School
3rd: Erwin Márquez, Castroville School


EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH -- ENGLISH
1st: Erwin Márquez, Castroville School 
2nd: Jairo Alejo, Fremont School 
3rd: Rosario Serrano Garibay, V. Rocca Barton School; and  Fernanda Moto, Castroville Elem. School

PREPARED SPEECH -- SPANISH
1st: Manuel Jaramillo, Dr. Oscar Loya School 
2nd: Yadhín Piñón, Dr. Oscar Loya School 
3rd: Kevin Vásquez, MLK Jr. Academy


EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH -- SPANISH
1st: Kevin Vásquez, MLK Jr. Academy 
2nd: Leonardo Guerrero, Chalone Peaks MS 
3rd: Areli Regalado-Rángel, Chalone Peaks MS

Congratulations, young men and women! Good luck in the state competition!

Montrey County seeks judges for speech and debate tournaments

The Migrant Education Program of the Monterey County Office of Education is seeking volunteers to serve as judges for two upcoming speech and debate tournaments.

Volunteers do not need to have previous experience in speech and debate. Bilingual skills are helpful, although not mandatory.

Judges must commit to attending one of two scheduled training sessions:

March 12 (5:30 pm – 8:30 pm)
March 16 (5:30 pm – 8:30 pm)

Both training sessions will be held at the Monterey County Office of Education, 901 Blanco Circle, Salinas.

The tournaments will be held:

March 21 (8:00 am – 5:00 pm) Regional Tournament at Salinas High School
May 16 (8:00 am – 5:00 pm) State Tournament at Monterey High School

The tournaments give students a opportunity to practice the skills they've learned in the classroom and grow from them. Students research topics and practice after school to prepare. 

Anyone interested in serving as a judge should contact Summer Prather-Smith at (831) 206-4448 or Robin Cohen at (831) 261-9694.

CSUMB gets $2.1 million grant to help enroll more migrant students

California State University, Monterey Bay has received a $2.1 million federal grant aimed at enrolling more migrant students in higher education.

Awarded by the U.S Department of Education, the five-year grant will enable CSUMB to offer financial assistance, academic and career services, cultural and social enrichment and health and counseling services through the College Assistance Migrant Program or CAMP, according to Joan Weiner, a university spokeswoman.

The goal of the program is to create a paradigm shift in the minds of students and their parents, to help them believe that college is possible, and to provide the support they need to succeed once they arrive on campus.

The grant started in July and runs through June of 2019. It will provide services and assistance for 55 migrant students from Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Santa Clara counties.

Services provided by the CAMP grant will also include parent orientations, high school and community outreach events, admissions and financial aid application workshops, one-week summer orientation programs and tutoring.

An estimated 31,000 migrant students live in the four-county area served by the grant, making the Central Coast home to 25 percent of migrant students in California. In Monterey County, the average farm worker has an annual income of $18,397.

Monterey migrant students shine at the state speech and debate tournament

Twenty-one out of the 29 migrant students from districts throughout Monterey County took honors during the Migrant Education State Speech and Debate Tournament in Sacramento this past May 4 - 5.

Monterey County students competed in high school and middle school English and Spanish debate, and English and Spanish prepared and extemporaneous speech.

Twenty-one students from the county placed in the state tournament and brought home a total of 13 trophies.

• Marlyn Sanchez, El Sausal Middle School, 1^st Place, prepared speech in English; 1^st place extemporaneous speech in English
• Yareli Vargas, Soledad High, 3^rd place, prepared speech in English; 2^nd place, extemporaneous speech in English
• Yvonne Dorantes, Notre Dame High, 1^st place, extemporaneous speech in English
• Luis Alvarez, Alisal Community School, 3^rd place, prepared speech in Spanish; 3^rd place, extemporaneous speech in Spanish.
• Carolina Mundo, Alisal High, 1^st place prepared speech in Spanish; 1^st place, extemporaneous speech in Spanish
• Yesenia Aguilar, Vista Verde Middle School, 1^st place, extemporaneous speech in Spanish

In the debate competition, the winners were:

• Fatima Patino, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Sanchez, Imelda Uribe, and Ruben Uribe of Chualar: third place, middle school debate in English
• Raul Barraza Ochoa, Elisa Bucio, Ulises Dueñas, Anabel Melgoza of North Monterey County Middle School, third place in middle school debate in Spanish
• Ericka Arreola, Esther Hidalgo, Fernando Olivas, Verónica Pérez Pantoja of Soledad High School, 1^st place in high school debate in Spanish.

The state tournament brought together approximately 270 local migrant winners students from 17 different migrant education regions throughout California to compete. Participation in speech and debate tournaments locally and at the state level are demanding endeavors for students, pushing them to move beyond their comfort zones in the area of public speaking, as well as requiring significant additional academic work to prepare for the events.

Congratulations, all! You make Monterey County proud!

La Familia conference for migrant parents coming to Soledad

More than 300 migrant parents from throughout Monterey County have been invited to participate in La Familia Conference where participants will have the opportunity to learn about community services, health and mental education, and higher education.

"The primary purpose of this opportunity is to engage families in learning about critical issues in their students' education. The ultimate goal is to assure their children's academic success in our public schools," said Rosa Coronado, Program Director II, Monterey County Office of Education, Migrant Education Program, Region XVI.


This conference is free to migrant parents. Continental breakfast and lunch will be served. Migrant Education Program pre-school teachers will provide a curriculum of child educational activities to those attending with their parents. Parents wishing to attend MUST pre-register with their school district migrant education personnel no later than Friday, April 6. For more information, contact Vicky Mora-Escobar at 831.755.6408 or Maricela Cruz at 831.755.6401.

Monterey County migrant students debate and speech winners

UPDATE: An earlier version of this blog contained erroneous information about the winners of the high school extemporaneous speech.

The talent of Monterey County students was in full force this weekend, not only in the science competition, where Carmel freshman Ailis Dooner took top honors, but also at the migrant education speech and debate contest, where about 200 students demonstrated their oratory skills.

As one of the judges in the speech competition, I was impressed: these young men and women are poised, articulate, and dedicated. They came prepared with one speech and had to write a second speech on the spot. They overcame the nerves that were obviously eating them up and delivered their speeches with confidence. Not everyone won, of course, but in my book, they all shinning stars in Monterey County's firmament.

Here's a list of the winners

DEBATE COMPETITION:

High school, English

1^st place: North Monterey County High

2^nd place: North Salinas High

3^rd place: Salinas High School

High school, Spanish

1^st: Soledad High

2^nd: King City High

3^rd: Alisal High

Middle School, English

1^st: Chualar School

2^nd: North Monterey County Middle School

3^rd: Chalone Peaks Middle School

SPEECH COMPETITION

ENGLISH

High School, prepared speech,

1^st: Yvonne Dorantes, Notre Dame High

2^nd: Yareli Vargas, Soledad High

3^rd: Carolina Mundo, Alisal High

High School, extemporaneous speech

1^st: Yareli Vargas, Soledad High and Yvonne Dorantes, Notre Dame High

2^nd: Alondra Catalan, Soledad High

MIDDLE SCHOOL, Prepared speech

1^st: Marlyn Sanchez, El Sausal

2^nd: Everly Arce, Fairview

3^rd: Alexa Pena, Fairview

Middle School, extemporaneous

1^st: Marlyn Sanchez, El Sausal

2^nd Adriana Vargas, Main Street

3^rd: Maximino Jardines, El Sausal

6^th Grade, prepared

1^st: Getsemini Puga, Gabilan Elementary

2^nd: Veronica Gutierrez, Chualar

3^rd: Esmeralda Rivera, Oscar Loya

6^th Grade, extemporaneous speech

1^st: Paulina Quintero, Frank Paul

2^nd: Abel Pacheco, Cesar Chavez

3^rd: Esmeralda Rivera, Oscar Loya

SPANISH

Middle School, prepared speech

1^st: Yesenia Aguilar, Vista Verde

2^nd: Aldair Merlin, Vista Verde

3^rd: Mayra Calderon, Chalone Peaks

Middle School, extemporaneous

1^st: Maritza Villanueva, Chalone Peaks

2^nd: Rosalba Vasquez, Vista Verde

3^rd: Mayra Oliveros, Chalone Peaks

6^th Grade, prepared speech

1^st: Omar Vega, Fremont Elementary

2^nd: Luis Alvarez, Alisal Community

3^rd: Tania Diaz Rangel, Martin Luther King

6^th Grade, extemporaneous

1^st: Gilberto Vargas, Martin Luther King

2^nd: Ana Huerta, Steinbeck

3^rd: Luis Alvarez, Alisal Community