BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Geri Schleich, president of the N.J. Chapter of the Pajama Program, reads to children in the Migrant Education Program at West End School in Long Branch on July 25. LONG BRANCH — America is seen as the land of opportunity by many migrant workers seeking job opportunities, but how do their children adjust as they are moved from place to place?

A bit easier with the help of the Migrant Education Program (MEP), according to Roger Gilbert, coordinator for the program’s Monmouth County chapter.

“Migrant workers move around often looking for work in agriculture and fishing and their children are forced to move around with [their families],” said Gilbert. “We work to provide support to these children.”

MEP is a national program funded by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) with chapters throughout the country.

The program assists the children of migrant workers by providing educational, social and medical support, Gilbert said.

The Monmouth County chapter operates out of West End School in Long Branch and the Monmouth County Library Headquarters, Manalapan.

The Monmouth County chapter runs a six-week summer program that provides medical care and educational programs for about 80 children.

“We have a lot of children that do not speak a word of English, and this program is essentially an interim for them as they begin their education,” Gilbert said.

“We see a lot of the children change as a result of the program. But what impresses me is how appreciative the children and their families are.”

Gilbert explained that if children in the program need special services, such as tutors, representatives from the MEP will go to the district the child will be attending and make sure that these services are available.

“Seeing changes in the children is sometimes a slow process,” Gilbert said. “But the program is a significant help in assisting the children to adapt to a new atmosphere. We receive positive feedback from the school districts.”

The MEP, which was begun in the 1960s, supports high quality and comprehensive educational programs for migrant children to help reduce the educational disruption and other problems that result from repeated moves, he said.

The summer program provides six weeks of intensive work and counseling, and is very helpful, Gilbert said.

He said one of the aims of the program is to ensure that migrant children who move along with their parents are not penalized by disparities in curriculum among the states, graduation requirements and state academic content and student academic achievement standards.

He said the program enforces this by reaching out to the school districts.

Migrant children are provided with educational services that address their special needs in a coordinated manner through the program and get support in meeting the same challenging state academic content that all children in the country are expected to meet, he said.

Programs are designed through the MEP to help migrant children overcome educational disruption, cultural and language barriers, social isolation, various health-related problems and other factors that inhibit the ability of such children to do well in school.

The Monmouth County program consists of approximately 80 children ranging in grade levels from pre-Kindergarten to seventh grade, with the majority being of Mexican descent, Gilbert said.

The children attend the program for six consecutive weeks from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. where reading, writing and math classes are taught at the appropriate academic level of each child by three certified teachers at each location, according to Jean Jordan, a teacher with the program at the Manalapan library.

The children also participate in an outside recess, crafts and are brought into the library to encourage reading, Jordan said.

“This is our summer project and we love it,” Jordan said.

“It is a great way for the children to adjust to new surroundings, a new environment and a new school,” she said.

Jordan said that English is a second language for a majority of the children and many of them do not speak it at all, so bilingual teachers are assigned to help them learn the language.

“This program is about culturizing the children,” she said.

In order for children to qualify for the program, they must have moved to a community with a parent seeking a farming job in that area, Gilbert said.

Once a child qualifies for the program, he or she is permitted to stay in the program for up to three years.

“Children are usually in one area for less than a year,” Gilbert said. “There is a lot of movement, so only a few actually come back. But we do what we can while they are here.”

The summer program provides medical, dental and eye tests and includes academic lessons and outdoor activities such as trips to the beach.

The program does extend into the winter, according to Gilbert, who said tutoring, counseling and social work is provided, if necessary.

But Gilbert said the program is limited as to what it can do because it operates on a small budget.

The national program has appropriated $390.4 million from the DOE for 2005, which is dispensed among the chapters country-wide and $250,000 of that is given to the northern New Jersey district of the program.

The DOE allocates funds to states based on the state migrant student count, the number of migrant children who receive summer or intercession services and the cost of education in each state.

“We do not have a big budget so we rely on other people,” Gilbert said. “These are poor children so we try to get other programs to volunteer or donate clothing.”

One such program that participated in this year’s Monmouth County MEP is the Pajama Program.

The Pajama Program is a worldwide program that gives disadvantaged and abused children brand-new pajamas and books, according to Geri Schleich, president of the New Jersey chapter of the Pajama Program.

The New Jersey chapter formed just over a year ago, and since has distributed over 2,000 pairs of pajamas to children in the state, said Schleich, of Lincroft.

“I was absolutely shocked to see how many needy people there are in Monmouth County,” she said. “The children are always so pleased when we visit. We get the same reaction from the children wherever we go.”

On July 25, the Pajama Program came to West End School in Long Branch and distributed pajamas and books to about 38 children. The following Tuesday, the group visited the location at the Manalapan library and gave another 40 children pajamas and books.

“Many of the kids do not even get to wear pajamas to bed and those who do are usually wearing their brothers or sisters old pajamas,” Schleich said. “I tell them I hope they can go home and get into their new pajamas and read a book.

“The kids were so excited.”

Schleich said the program is looking for more volunteers and those interested can visit the Web site at pajamaprogram.org or e-mail at GeriS2@webtv.net.

Gilbert said programs like the Pajama Program are why the MEP is successful.

“[The pajama program] came and their efforts were really appreciated by the children,” he said.

“The children are so thankful.”

For more information on the MEP, call (202) 260-1164.