Hot Potato: Educating the Children of Migrant Workers

American-born Selena has big plans for her education. (Photo by Annie Gilbertson)

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi has one of the lowest Hispanic populations in the country, but there are some significant pockets, especially in rural agricultural areas. Vardaman, a rural community in Northeast Mississippi whose elementary school is about the become the first predominantly Latino school in the state.

Vardaman takes up a square mile and half of Calhoun County. It claims to be the “Sweet Potato Capital of the World”- an impressive title made possible by lots and lots of bucket crews – groups of 150 to 200 farm workers.  The potatoes are mostly dug up by a machine, but the bucket crews pick up the vegetables.

“That’s where mostly everybody works,” says Selena, a high school senior in Vardman. “If you go check it out, there are a lot of people working there.”

Selena would know. Her Mexican-born parents work in fields surrounding Vardman. The American-born high school senior won’t give me her last name for fear the information might cause her parents to be deported.  Her plan: go to college, become a doctor and help her parents achieve legal resident status.

“I always put my education first, then my job,” Selena says. “Then my friends, if I have time for friends.  It’s not really important to have friends. It’s more important to look to your future.”

Because she was born here, Selena may have a fair shot at achieving her goals. She’s finishing high school in Vardaman where both the high school and elementary school are labeled as “Successful” under the federal No Child Left Behind law.  That means, overall, the students, recent immigrants included, are performing well in math and English.

Angela Barnette is a 2nd grade teacher at Vardaman. She says adapting to the needs of Hispanic students has been a big change. Misunderstandings abound, and Spanish speaking students end up translating for each another. To make things tougher, some students enter her room have never been to school before, and because of the language difficulties, parents are often unable to help with homework. She recalls a recent incident with a frustrated parent.

“The parent was so upset because she wanted her child to be able to learn,” Barnette say. “And she couldn’t help him.  And she wanted to help.  We were able to give her some of that help.”

A lot of the extra help comes from a full-time parent liaison and teacher of English Language Learners.  Two jobs, one person, who in many ways embodies the school’s approach to ELL students and their families. That person is Annie Anderson, who started off part-time, working primarily with the kids of migrant workers who were only in town for the sweet potato picking and planting seasons.  Now as the year-round Hispanic population continues to grow, so does her responsibilities.

“99 percent of the parents know they can call me,” says Anderson. “Or show up. And I live 10 miles out of town.”

Anderson is bilingual, born and raised in Honduras. Even though immigrant families putting down roots means more work for her, Anderson says it beats the old migrant system.

“They were here for such a short period of time and then ‘Boom!’ They were gone,” says Anderson, holding her hands up as if reacting to an explosion.
“Then, ‘Boom!’ They were back.  Then, ‘Boom!’ They were gone again!  It was almost like fighting a never ending battle.”

In the later years, after most students have learned to speak English, the Vardaman schools face a second challenge – getting these same students to graduate. Selena, the senior interested in medical school, says many of her classmates have already dropped out to become laborers or start families.  She herself works full-time at the town’s Mexican grocery store.  While chopping a papaya for a customer, Selena explains that many of her Hispanic classmates don’t see the point of staying in school if they can’t get a professional job afterward.

“Right now there are girls who are already pregnant,” says Selena. “The best way for them to get out of the house is by getting married.”

Still, Selena sees more options for herself and the children of her Hispanic friends.  If they seize the opportunity in the Vardaman schools, these younger Mexican Americans – born in the US – may be the first to use their American education to push their lives beyond Mississippi’s sweet potato fields.

About Annie Gilbertson

Annie Gilbertson makes the move to Mississippi Public Broadcasting from Chicago. While in the Windy City, Annie interned at Chicago Public Radio (no, she never met Ira Glass) where she focused on integrating user-generated content into the broadcast as well as producing stories with the non-traditional public radio listener in mind. With CPR, she taught many radio making workshops and spent last summer as a radio instructor for a large community center. Annie also led production of Northwestern University's official podcast and worked part-time at scene shop in the city. She's excited to return to the South having "cut her reporting teeth" in Auburn, AL.

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