Ky. center works with migrants
By Garret Mathews (Contact)
Wednesday, December 26, 2007


Sherril Tanner
SEBREE, Ky. — The Hispanic woman sits in front of a computer. A picture and a short line of text pops up on the screen.

"The horse is going to the van."

She repeats the sentence.

Another image appears.

"The man is coming down the steps."

She repeats the sentence.

"That's very good," says Mary Steely, her instructor. "Your English is getting better every day."

The Webster County Family, Adult and Migrant Education Center works with many of the county's 591 Hispanics to improve their language skills.

The four-person office is overseen by Sherril Tanner, 54, an assistant boys varsity basketball coach at Webster County High School. The former history teacher has had the job since 1987.

"It's very fulfilling work," says Tanner, whose official title is migrant advocate. "I see families who are highly motivated to learn our language. They are very demanding of their kids and won't tolerate them not working hard in school."

The Hispanic population in Western Kentucky has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s when chicken-processing plants first located in the area.

Migrants are defined as people who move into the school district for agricultural work.

"There's a misconception that Hispanics are automatically migrants," Tanner says. "Sixty percent are not. In the beginning, it was more for Hudson and later Tyson, but those who come now are more often than not joining other family members who have settled here. Some find jobs other than laborers."

But the root cause of the Hispanic influx remains unchanged. They are fleeing poverty in their native lands. Tanner knows professional people such as teachers who came to Webster County for a $10-an-hour job that many Americans think is beneath them.

"It's still true that the worst we can provide for them is often much better than the circumstances they knew back home," Tanner says.

The instruction at the center is informal and based on the individual's schedule. Sometimes the 38-year-old Steely gives it the personal touch, but many students remove their file folders from the cabinet, find an unused computer and proceed on their own with the next lesson in the book.

"They practice conversation, they practice writing checks and they learn to read what's on a medicinebottle," Tanner says.

There are 71 Hispanic youngsters in the English as a Second Language program, mostly in elementary school. They hail not only from Mexico, but Haiti, Cuba and many of the countries in Central America.

"We provide an aide for kids who speak little or no English, but most are soon mainstreamed," Tanner says. "You'd be surprised at how quickly the young ones pick it up. The folks who have more trouble are the parents and grandparents."

There were horror housing stories when the Hispanics first moved to Webster County.

"You had landlords charging $1,000 a month for a small trailer to put eight people in," Tanner recalls, "but that was short-lived. The marketplace took over. If I mistreat you and then you can go to a nicer place for half the price, what are you going to do? It's also true that we had some good people in the community step up and say that we aren't going to accept that kind of abuse."

He says some problems were caused by single Hispanics who were separated from their families and forced to stay in a cramped space.

"I mean, you can put a dozen ministers in a room, lock the door and you'll eventually have some issues."

Tanner admits his job can be frustrating.

"In Mexico, a parent's input at school is not welcome. Typically, it takes a new Hispanic to the area a year before they accept the fact that our school system wants their help. We have parent meetings to encourage them to be more involved with their children's class activities."

The Hispanics are amazed, Tanner goes on, by our free schools.

"They feel privileged to be here. In Mexico, there is no cost to attend school only for the first six years. The expense of grades 10 through 12 would be equivalent of what we would pay to go to a community college."

The migrant advocate is seeing an increasing number of people from Guatemala.

"In many cases, their previous address was the jungle. They came from a place where they weren't sure they were going to eat that day or have a place to stay. Are they troublemakers? Would you come several thousand miles to commit crimes? No, they came to work."

What about those who are in this country illegally?

"We don't ask that question," Sherril Tanner says. "We're in the learning business, not the counting business."

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