Migrant Workers Graduate High School At Sac State

Twenty-five migrant farm workers from the Sacramento area will receive the equivalent of a high school diploma this weekend.
 
The graduates have spent the past year in a program at Sacramento State.

Dr. Viridiana Diaz, who oversees the program, says many of the graduates work 10-to-12 hour days in labor-intensive jobs and have plenty of other responsibilities -- most of them are parents, too.

"And yet," Diaz says, "they find the time and energy to come to class exhausted 3-to-4 hours every night."
 
The federal High School Equivalency Program grant provides $475,000 for five years to help migrant workers obtain diplomas.
 
The school says 80 percent of the graduates have enrolled in junior colleges.
 
Diaz says she hopes to have 70 migrant workers for the next class.
 
The school is recruiting. Classes are available in Sacramento, Woodland, Lodi and Stockton.
 
Diaz says about 25 percent of the graduates have children who attend Sacramento State and are part of the CAMP program for the children of migrant workers.