Manatee County’s migrant worker students honored

Some of Manatee County’s hardest-working students were honored Monday night.

The 31st annual Migrant Education Awards Ceremony, held at Palmetto High School, recognized the achievement of 25 Manatee County School District migrant worker students who will graduate from high school this year.

The majority of these students were the first in their family to graduate from high school. They spent their high school years picking fruit after school and on weekends and bounced back and forth between Florida and the north, depending on the growing seasons.

Fernando Olvera, a former Manatee county migrant worker who graduated from Manatee High School in 1989, addressed the students, alternating between Spanish and English.

“I was a migrant worker like you are, but I knew I didn’t want to be a migrant worker forever,” said Olvera, who is now an associate manager with Tropicana Products Inc. in Bradenton.

He encouraged the students to maintain the work ethic that has gotten them through high school.

“Set goals that are high for yourself. Surround yourself with people who can help you achieve your target. Work hard every day and be tireless,” he said. “And when you reach your goals, help someone else reach their goals.”

Kate Bloomquist, the district’s migrant coordinator, said the class of 25 students graduating this year came mostly from families working at Falkner Farm, packing houses in Palmetto or fruit farms in Parrish. She said the students are often on different schedules, depending on where their parents are working.

Some students miss the first two months of school every year, and others move around the state throughout the year, attending high school in different counties while their parents work in packing houses.

And even when they are in one place for an extended period of time, their nights and weekends do not look like a typical high school student’s.

“Sometimes when you come out of school, you have to go help out your parents in the fields, and start picking and help them with money to pay bills,” said Alma Cruz, 18.

Students shared their greatest achievements in a video at the beginning of the ceremony. Many said they were the first in their family to graduate from high school, and all had plans for continuing their education.

Marcos Aquino, 18, said he will be taking classes at State College of Florida, and he hopes to become a civil engineer and run his own business. He said the toughest part of traveling with his family was getting caught up with school work when they arrived in a new place.

Yolanda Gonzalez-Hernandez hopes to become a physician’s assistant. She included a Mexican proverb in her program biography that school board Chairman Charlie Kennedy said summed up the night well.

“They tried to bury us,” the proverb states. “But they forgot we were seeds.”

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Manatee County’s migrant worker students honored."