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Head Start program helps to cultivate a unique crop Photo by Drew Fleming Carmen Flores, left, hands 5-year-old Briseida Lediesma of Medford her certificate of completion of the Head Start program for migrants' children. By CHRIS BRISTOL TALENT -- The pear crop is in, and soon the migrant workers who do so much of the dirty work will be heading off. But first they threw a party Sunday to celebrate the best crop of all -- Jackson County's second-ever Migrant Head Start graduation. It was quite literally the social event of the season. The setting was Talent Community Hall, and the festivities commenced with a traditional meal of beans, rice and tamales. Following actual commencement -- more than 50 preschoolers received certificates -- Grupo Nortenia took the stage, with Godo Juarez on lead accordion. "Many of these families will be gone within a few weeks," said Liz Pyke, a Migrant Head Start organizer. "This is it for them.'' The Oregon Employment Department estimates that up to 1,200 migrant farm workers, most of whom speak Spanish exclusively, move into the Rogue Valley every summer for agricultural work. The language barrier, combined with the transitory lifestyle and hard work for low pay, creates severe education impediments for the children. Like most Head Start programs, the migrant project is designed to expose preschoolers to a variety of concepts and settings they need to succeed in kindergarten and grade school. It differs from more typical Head Starts in several important ways, however. For starters, it lasts only about four months (August through November) to coincide with the harvest -- and it doubles as extended-duty day-care while parents work. The day-care concept is unique. Most Head Start programs are conducted in large group settings, like school, but the migrant program provides service in homes to small groups of 10 or less. The county's approach was built on a large network of Hispanic families that have been providing registered child-care in their homes for years. The core group of providers, all of them Spanish-speaking, numbers about 18. One of them is Yolanda Pena, who has two young daughters of her own. She spends so much time with the Head Start children and their older siblings -- up to 10 or 12 hours a day -- that she has a tendency to refer to them all as her own. "Los ninos me llaman Mama," she said, which means, "The children call me Mama." The federally funded program is operated by Child Care Unlimited, which has helped provide migrant families with affordable child care for nearly 20 years. The non-profit agency has 60 slots right now for migrant preschoolers. This year 54 participated, according to Pyke. Perhaps the most important aspect of Head Start -- or any preschool, for that matter-- is the socialization skills children inevitably learn in a structured setting. But there are other benefits, too, such as health screenings that include dental and hearing checkups. The children also receive immunizations when necessary. Another important aspect of Migrant Head Start is food. The children are given meals that meet government nutrition standards, one of many skills learned by the registered providers. "Head Start is raising the bar," said Eileen Micke-Johnson, a consultant to Child Care Unlimited. "The kids are learning lots of little things that all add up in the end." Pyke said the Migrant Head Start project is simply an extension of the child-care services that have improved the lives of countless poverty-stricken families. "Years ago, these kids were out in the fields," Pyke said. "Now they get a chance at childhood." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA