As the drip-drop of spring rain tick-tocks our countdown to sunnier days, the NWESD Migrant Education Department is full swing into helping our region’s districts prepare for migrant-inclusive summer school programming. Speaking of our Migrant Education team’s “region,” did you know that because the Northwest Educational Service District 189 (NWESD) is the only Educational Service District to house a Migrant Education Program (MEP) in Western Washington, our MEP team actually works alongside every district serving migrant students west of the Cascades?! This is a huge geographical area, but the NWESD Migrant Education team is ready to support all with energy and enthusiasm!
February is actually a very busy time for our migrant students and families. In the coming months, many of our local migrant families will begin moving across district and county lines as they search for work across our communities—and others will arrive from places as far away as Mexico, Central America, Texas, and California. What we’ve learned about the nature of migrant farm work is that, sometimes, moving simply cannot wait until the end of the school year, especially during spring and summer, when farmworkers’ earnings can be enough to help sustain their families throughout the rest of the year. Knowing that seasonal moving can pose hardships to students’ learning, our Migrant Education program staff asked me to send reassurance that they’re always ready and available to support our district partners in their delivery of migrant-inclusive instruction, rain or shine, regular school year, and beyond!
The cherry on top of this EdTalk (Washington-harvested, of course!) is the announcement that our Migrant Education team is once again preparing to deliver another three weeks of barrier-breaking, on-site summer school programming at two Whatcom County migrant camps this coming July. To learn more about last year’s pilot program, check out the video below and stay tuned to learn more about the marvelous outcomes of this summer’s efforts!
Before I call it a “wrap,” the MEP team asked me to end this post by sharing their gratitude for the work that you, our district partners, offer to our migrant students day in and day out. So, from them (and me): THANK YOU!
