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Scholarship Fund for Migrant Students
Helps Sets Goals

Did you ever have to move away from friends? Maybe a parent took a job in a new city. As a child, you were faced with new teachers, a new and different place to live. Perhaps, you even found yourself in an entirely new cultural situation.

Now imagine how difficult it is for a child who might move several times a year. For example, in Kentucky alone, there are 20,000 "migrant students." These are the children of migrant workers, who move often to find work to support their families.

The United States government has an agricultural, educational based support program for these highly mobile students. It provides funding that makes it possible for migrant students to have a teacher "advocate" to assist them at their school and to visit them at their home. The advocate strives to remove barriers and provide opportunities for migrant students to learn and excel.

For many of these young people, family finances are marginal and their educational development has been hurt by so many changes of schools. For them, the challenges to succeed in school are multiplied manyfold.

Now, however, dedicated teachers and migrant education workers in Kentucky have partnered with the Foundation for the Tri-State Community, Inc. to establish a scholarship program that many believe will have a positive impact throughout the entire state. They have founded and funded the Kentucky Migrant Scholarship Fund, which recently presented its first two college scholarships.

"Good old fashioned grit" might be a determining factor for children who succeed despite the odds. It is certainly true for all the candidates for the initial award.

"We started the scholarship fund so that there could be an even higher educational goal for these students," says Vicki Young, a regional coordinator and member of the fund's committee. "This is about educational empowerment and the scholarship is a symbol of an ultimate goal. We wanted the students to know that learning doesn't stop after high school, that it is life long. Having a scholarship fund for college or technical school after high school is proof to these kids that we truly hold education in high esteem."

The first two scholarship recipients are proof that the migrant education program has helped to instill a love of learning.

"After I had moved so many times, I think I got used to it," says Sara Bruner, one of the two scholarship recipients. "I think it got easier. I found that I could make friends in my favorite class – chorus."

Bruner also helped her two younger brothers' transitions from school-to-school. Now, she's entered Murray State University where she is majoring in political science.

"My advice to other migrant students is to study hard, be yourself, and work to make friends. If you don't make friends, you'll never adjust to a new school," says Bruner.

Juanita Moore Clemons, the other initial scholarship recipient, advised, "You should definitely get involved as quickly as possible in a new school. I was in both choir and drama."

Clemons, who has entered the University of Kentucky as a political science and sociology major, has dreams of attending law school following college. She credits her advocate for being very helpful during high school, and, in fact, it was her advocate who informed her of the newly available scholarship.

Clemons had a job while in high school and continues to as a freshman in college. "At work, they always have been willing to work around my school schedule. I always put school ahead of work," she says.

Now, as a result of hard work by dedicated educators, school is indeed being put ahead of work for the children of migrant workers and post high school dreams can become reality.

Every fund in the Foundation for the Tri-State Community, Inc. has its own very special story. The Migrant Education Scholarship Fund certainly has one.

This fund's supporters will not be denied from reaching their goal. It is not enough that their working hours are filled trying to help these sons and daughters of migrant workers strive to succeed in the classroom against overwhelming odds. The Kentucky Migrant Scholarship Fund Committee is tirelessly building the scholarship's financial assets. Yet, the fund is but a visible, tangible sign of their efforts.

What is not so evident is the day-to-day, yearlong effort that this remarkable cadre of caring people is trying to do for this special, deserving group of students. This is not about the children of the homeless, who often are reported on in the news media. Nor is it about the abused. It is about children who face special circumstances and, with special attention, can succeed to the same level as their classroom peers.

I believe the people who work with these children and their families are special, too. For me, personally, this fund is just another reason that working for our Foundation is so rewarding.

If you would like more information regarding this scholarship fund, please contact our Foundation or The Kentucky Migrant Scholarship Fund Committee at 121 E. Second Street, Morehead, KY 40351, ATTN: Ms. Cheryl Jones, chairperson.

Sincerely,

Mary Witten Wiseman
President