KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Alejandra Hernandez-Castro was 3 when her parents came to the United States from Mexico in search of a better life for her family.

Her parents worked in migrant jobs in New Mexico and later in Kansas. They encouraged their children to plan to go college. Yet when Hernandez-Castro announced that she wanted to go to the University of Kansas, some 400 miles from their Hugoton home in the southwest corner of the state, her parents, Rogelio and Yolanda Hernandez, hesitated.

“There were lots of questions, lots of concerns,” recalls Hernandez-Castro, who earned a political science degree from KU in 2004. Despite their questions, her parents never wavered in their belief that education would provide their daughter a better life.

Today, as a bilingual recruitment coordinator for KU’s Harvest of Hope Leadership Academy, the Hugoton High School alumna hears some of the same questions from the parents of high school students with whom she visits throughout Kansas. Created specifically for children of migrant workers, the three-week summer enrichment program is funded by the Kansas Migrant Education Program and offered through KU’s School of Education.

“In Latino culture, families tend to be close and it’s hard on the family when one of the family members moves far from home,” Hernandez-Castro says. For families in western Kansas, the distance to Lawrence can be daunting for parents even for three weeks.

The two-year-old academy is tailored for students who have transferred from one school district to another in the past three years as they or their parents moved to take seasonal jobs related to agriculture. Academy students are encouraged to earn their high school diplomas, take leadership roles in their communities and pursue college degrees.

Although Hernandez-Castro and her brothers were always encouraged to finish high school and go to college, she notes that those education goals aren’t typical of many migrant families. Nationally, about 55 percent of migrant students complete high school. Frequent moves to new communities and schools can be distracting. Academy participants have indicated they worry about falling behind in school or about making new friends before their parents may need to move again for another job.

As Harvest of Hope recruitment coordinator, Hernandez-Castro works not only to encourage students who qualify to attend the academy but also to deliver a message that completing high school is important and that a college degree is possible.

Her own high school counselor had advised a community college, but Hernandez-Castro chose KU. She found her way to Lawrence with a $500 scholarship from an anonymous donor, her savings from summer jobs and all the financial support her parents could offer. Her freshman year was touch and go with her father recovering from a work-related fall and her mother working full time. Hernandez covered expenses with a newly issued credit card that year. In her sophomore year, an adviser steered her to the Office of Student Financial Aid at KU and in her junior year, she found help through the College Assistance Migrant Program.

Those programs, part-time campus jobs and constant support from her parents helped Hernandez-Castro in her quest to become the first in her family to earn a college degree. The same year she graduated, she joined KU’s School of Education staff. Last spring, Hernandez-Castro was named Unclassified Staff Employee of the Year for her work with students and families.

Stacy Mendez, Harvest of Hope Leadership Academy project coordinator, describes Hernandez-Castro as a role model who “is very passionate about her work and feels a real connection to the students.”

This summer, Mendez and Hernandez-Castro congratulated 47 Kansas high school students as they completed the 2009 Harvest of Hope Leadership Academy. This fall, Hernandez-Castro will be traveling the state seeking 50 more students for the 2010 academy.

Harvest of Hope academy students receive full scholarships to cover costs, which include having their parents attend regional meetings with migrant education counselors and attend the concluding program at KU.

More information about the Harvest of Hope Leadership Academy is available online at www2.ku.edu/~hhla.

The 2009 academy students are returning to high school classes this fall. They are listed by the high schools they attended in spring 2009:

Arkansas City High School: Jorge Rocha
Burlington High School: Paulo Pinto and Renato Pinto
Cimarron High School: Damaris Herrera, Erasmo Rueda and Pedro Treviño
Deerfield High School: Jannet Juarez
Dodge City High School: Francisco Lopez
Emporia High School: Conrado Gonzalez, Juan Gonzalez, Ricardo Rios and Dina Sandoval
Garden City High School: Elizabeth Martinez, Jose Martinez, Karla Manriquez, Angel Montalvo and Yovany Rodriguez
Gardner/Edgerton High School: Manuel Rodriguez, Marily Rodriguez and Erik Rodriguez
Golden Plains High School at Rexford: Sandra Galvan and Susana Galvan
Hugoton High School: Telma Arredondo, Melissa Avila, Cristian Escalera, Kenia Macias, Anais Santana and Denise Torres
Ingalls High School: Perla Cervantes
Lakin High School: Luis Reyes, Jesse San Juan and Michael San Juan
Nemaha Valley High School at Goff: Laura Rios
Olathe North High School: Mara Gonzalez
Salina South High School: Alan Gonzalez
Scott (City) Community High School: Karina Garcia
Southwestern Heights High School at Kismet: John Jr. Smith
Sumner Academy in Kansas City, Kan.: Benjamin Cossio-Rios
Syracuse High School: Sofia Garza-Mejia, Susana Pizano and Luis Alonso Zapata
Ulysses High School: Abraham Jaramillo
Wichita East High School: Kenia Camacho and Jose Espinoza
Wichita North High School: Linda Campa