25 Years of Helping Migrant Students Graduate High School
Eric Guajardo and Jessica Reyna with support staff from their high schools
High school today is very different and in ways more challenging than it was when many of us were there. Now imagine trying to get through modern high school when your family moves twice a year and you’re expected to work. Such is the life of a migrant student.
For the past 25 years, UT Austin has administered the Migrant Student Graduation Enhancement Program to help migrant students graduate, and today I had the honor of being with 40 of these students who make us especially proud at a recognition ceremony.
Since the program began in 1987, we have worked with 26,000 students, providing opportunities to earn credit anytime and anywhere. We now offer 55 distance-learning courses and prepare students for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
With funding from the Texas Education Agency, the program helps these students stay on track for on-time graduation. Many of them will become the first high school graduates in their families and will go on to college.
I’d like to congratulate the 2012 Exemplary Migrant Students of the Year — Eric Guajardo of Alamo and Jessica Reyna of La Joya.
What starts here changes the world.
