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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN

gnewman@tampatrib.com

Published: October 29, 2008

PLANT CITY - Eastern Hillsborough County migrant education advocates last week received recognition from the state for their endeavors.

Three migrant education employees, a volunteer health professional and a recent high school graduate, all living or working in eastern Hillsborough, were recognized Oct. 22 at the Florida Department of Education Migrant Conference in Naples.

Jeff Akins, the director of federal programs for the Hillsborough school system, said he's delighted with the state honors.

"The staff in eastern Hillsborough County is finally getting their just deserts and rewarded for all the hard work they have done year after year," he said.

The winners include Title 1 migrant supervisor Carmen Sorondo, who was named Florida Migrant Administrator of the Year; Cork Elementary School migrant aide Olga Garza, 2008 Migrant Home School Liaison of the Year; data entry clerk Tracie Shelley-Goff, Migrant Support Services Person of the Year; and Sister Sara K. Proctor, a Catholic nun and volunteer who serves on a migrant parent advisory committee and is Migrant Health Professional of the Year. Recent Durant High graduate Daniel Guillen was awarded the Frank Campano Scholarship.

The awards were presented during a four-day conference where school districts from throughout the state discussed ways to provide services to migrant families.

Here are some of the accomplishments of the county award winners:

•Sorondo has served as a teacher and administrator in the Hillsborough school district since 1976. She supervised the English for Speakers of Other Languages program for nearly 15 years, until 2003. After providing leadership that helped limited-English proficient students outperform comparable school districts on FCAT reading, writing and math, Sorondo accepted the new challenge of managing the Title 1 Migrant Education Program. Her responsibilities include coordinating outreach to migrant students and their families to help them gain access to adequate education, health care, nutrition and social services. She is director of the school district's Migrant Service Center in Plant City.

"By her example, Carmen brings the best to those around her," Akins said. "It is not surprising that those she has led are also award winners in the field. With her guidance and example, it is natural that over time the cream rises to the top."

•Garza is a bilingual teacher for all the grades at Cork Elementary School. Garza grew up a migrant student, traveling with her family to work in the fields of Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. After her first husband died in 1983, she learned English and enrolled at Gary Adult Education Center, where she earned her GED. She has worked with migrant students in the Plant City area since 1988 through community programs and her church. She has worked as a volunteer teacher's aide and now is a full-time employee at Cork Elementary.

Sorondo supported Garza's nomination as the 2008 Migrant Home School Liaison of the Year. She said that Garza dedicated the past 10 years of her life to serving, educating and working as an advocate for the migrant population.

"Olga is proud of her job and dedicated to helping students, whether they be home-schooled or in the school system, succeed," Sorondo said. She works with the children and families by organizing groups of children from school and in church to perform at different festivals and events in the Plant City area. Olga teaches groups of students to love, respect and be proud of their heritage."

•Shelley-Goff is Sorondo's assistant at the Plant City Migrant Service Center. She has served Hillsborough County's migrant students for 22 years, Sorondo said. She worked as a migrant aide and migrant advocate before her selection as migrant education data entry clerk. She was the district's Support Employee of the Year in 2000 and has contributed to the migrant education program through efforts such as her development of ways to help track students and their families.

"Tracie has received numerous rewards in recognition for both her academic and voluntary support," Sorondo said.

"We are tremendously busy in our office. I couldn't possibly keep up with all that is demanded of me without Tracie there to back me up and keep me in line. Because of her attention to detail, reliability and compassionate heart, I believe Tracie Shelley-Goff was an excellent choice as the Migrant Support Person of the Year."

•Proctor, a nun, is a volunteer advocate for migrant health care working out of the San Jose Mission in Dover.

A spokeswoman for the school district said Proctor has provided health services to the migrant community for many years. She serves on the migrant parent advisory committee and speaks to students in Hillsborough schools. As she visits migrant families in her mobile medical unit, she allows students to shadow her and learn about the health field, helping families overcome the barriers to adequate health care, education and social services.

"Sister Sara is a faithful volunteer for the migrant workers," Akins said. "She has a passion to provide much-needed health care to the children and families in the migrant community. While many are involved with education, nutrition and housing, Sister Sara provides the migrant families with tremendous support in all phases of their lives, but especially health care."

•At 18, Guillen was the youngest of the award recipients from Hillsborough. He is a 2008 graduate of Durant High who has worked alongside his family in the fields of Florida since he was 4. After his mother became ill, he also took over the household chores while continuing to work in the fields. Guillen carried a 4.59 grade point average in his senior year at Durant while mentoring a ninth-grade student and volunteering for church activities. He earned three academic letters at Durant and is using numerous college scholarships to get his associate's degree at Hillsborough Community College.

His parents, Melchor and Margarita Guillen, and his older brother, Fernando, worked in the fields to earn enough money to keep the family going. Fernando is now trained as a construction electrician. Guillen's mother is no longer able to work in the fields because of a back injury. But the family, including a younger brother, David, 12, continues to work on farms, picking fruits and vegetables.

Guillen plans to graduate from HCC and attend the University of South Florida to pursue an engineering degree.

"My parents gave me the gift of education," Guillen said. "They are allowing me to succeed in my life, and I am eternally grateful. I want to share this gift with other students in the area. I want them to see how they can use their education opportunities to establish a good life for themselves and their families."

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451.

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