A Day in the Life of a Northeast Migrant Educator
By: Laura Burnett
Northeastern New York is very rural. In fact, the largest city is Plattsburgh with a population of approximately 19,000. That means there is not one central location where most everything happens. There are also many small towns spread over a very large geographic area. The Northeast Migrant Education Tutorial and Support Services (METS) Program Center covers St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, and Essex counties. There are 72 school districts in our region. I am one of 12 people who work with our migrant children and families. I serve at 8 different schools across 5 districts. My day today will start by driving 40 minutes from my home to my first school. I work with an average of 6-8 students and visit 1-3 buildings a day. I am fortunate enough to have a small room to work in at 2 of the districts. Most of my colleagues work with their students in a public space like a library or technology room.
I work hard to create lessons that are engaging, rigorous, and individualized. I meet with each student for approximately 30-50 minutes. Each student has an academic goal. Every lesson plan is based on the student’s goal and supports skill development. My first student this morning is a first grader. She is learning how to blend words. My second student is in 10th grade and receives instructional support for Algebra I. After that, I will drive 15 miles to the next school where I provide instructional support for 2 more students.
At my third location for the day, I will be meeting with one of our adolescent students and Northeast METS’s Adolescent Outreach Advocate to talk about the adolescent summer modules. We give an interest survey to all of the adolescent students, and then we tally their responses and create exciting learning modules based on the information received. In the past we have gone on River Treks, created gourmet meals in a “Chopped” style competition (image at right), learned about farm-to-table, and had experiential learning in the fields of law and criminal justice through a crime scene simulation, just to name a few!
This afternoon, I meet at the home of a student who is preparing for his high school equivalency exam. As I arrive, I run into the Early Childhood Specialist from our METS as she is leaving. The Early Childhood Specialist provides instruction on school readiness skills in literacy and math to the pre-school sibling in the same home. As I drive home for the day, I see one of our English as a New Language tutors at a local farm. I stop to chat with him for a minute. He was excited to tell me about his students’ progress in their English language development and the progress they are making toward their goals.
The day ends as I plan for tomorrow. Although this is a typical day, no two days are ever the same. There are always new challenges to look forward to, and as a result of all of our hard work, there are students meeting their goals. It truly is extremely rewarding work.
Meet the North Country METS Program Center’s Staff!
- Laura Burnett, Director
- Jennifer Brown, Migrant Educator
- Tayler Chudzinski, Migrant Educator
- Lisa Colby, Project Staff Assistant
- Jennifer Furman, Migrant Educator
- Erica Gadway, Adolescent Outreach/Program Advocate
- Kayla Kesner, Migrant Educator
- Penny Matice, Migrant Educator
- Ana Miller, Migrant Educator
- Donna Miller, Migrant Educator
- Abbie O'Grady, Migrant Educator
- Corey Rogers, Migrant Educator
- Trina Roulston, Migrant Educator
- Tamie Stacy, Data Specialist/Manager
- Karen Swanston, ENL Specialist
- Mary Vondell, Recruiter
- Elijah Wannemacher, ENL Specialist
- Sarah Derouchie, Early Childhood Specialist
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