Upward Migration : Education: Children of farm workers are given a taste of college life at Cal State Fullerton to inspire them to go the distance.

At 14, Rogelio Olivares is young to be in college, but he says he’s enjoying it immensely.

And his mother, Ofelia Olivares of Santa Ana, said she’s proud of her boy, who she hopes will one day be attending a university full time. “It will be hard, because we lack money, but if he works, it is possible,” she said.

Rogelio Olivares is among 38 high-school-age students from Orange and San Diego counties who are spending three weeks this summer on the Cal State Fullerton campus. They are children of migrant workers or former migrant workers.

“This is a program to motivate these children of migrant farm workers so that they will want to attend college,” said Isaac Cardenas, chairman of CSUF’s Chicano studies program. “These are all students who will be freshmen in high school next year. Being here on campus lets these students know what college is like, and we want to motivate them so that they will complete high school and will go on to college.”

Called Project BEST (Basic Education Skills for Tomorrow), the federally funded program is in its fifth year. School districts in Orange and San Diego counties nominate students of migrant workers to attend.

Cardenas directs the BEST program. “All of the students who are picked for this program are at risk--in danger of being possible high school dropouts,” Cardenas said. “So these are not all students with high grade averages. There’s a cross-section here, but all are at risk.”

A key part of the BEST program is motivating parents. On Wednesday, about 20 parents who are, or recently were, migrant workers came to the Cal State Fullerton campus.

Among the parents was Ofelia Olivares, a slim, soft-spoken woman. In Spanish, she said she found the BEST program “very interesting,” adding that she thinks her son, Rogelio, will benefit and that he may possibly go to a university after high school.

Rogelio himself appeared very confident. “Yes, I will go to college,” he said. “I want to be a doctor.”

Sitting in front of a computer in CSUF’s Computer Sciences building, Rogelio carefully followed instructions that flashed on the computer screen. Like the other young high school students, he found computers to be like interesting games.

As Rogelio and other BEST students worked at the computers, parents stood in the aisles to watch.

One parent of four, Maria Sandoval of Oceanside, decided to try out the computers herself. Speaking in Spanish, she praised the program and said she wants all her children to attend college.

The statistical odds are against migrant workers and their children. Few children of migrants manage to finish high school, Cardenas said, and fewer yet make it into college. But Cardenas and other staffers said the situation can be improved by helping the students and encouraging the parents.

Margaret Lewis, a regional director of the state Education Department’s migrant-education program, said BEST is a move in the right direction.

“It gives students an opportunity to have a little bit of a university experience,” she said. “The students who we recruit are those just entering high school. This is a critical time for them: They’re beginning academic programs, which could get them into college. We believe it’s best to catch them while they’re young--to get them on the college track now.”

The 38 high school students began their BEST program at CSUF on Sunday and will continue through Aug. 13. They live in dorms on campus during the week, and go home to visit their parents on weekends. During class days, they hear lectures, play games and get exposed to life on a college campus.

The program costs $44,000, which is paid by a federal grant through the state Department of Education.

Ines Lopez of Huntington Beach said she considers the program a wonderful thing for her daughter, Blanca Ines Lopez, 13. “I want my daughter to go to college, and I am going to get more education myself,” she said. Blanca agreed that higher education is the way to succeed.

“I want to be a policewoman,” Blanca said.

One parent, Mario Mora, 46, of Fallbrook, said that, to him, education is the ticket to the American dream.

“We people of Hispanic origin want to help this wonderful country,” Mora said. “We want our children to get good educations and to work and build this strong, great country in which we live. It is our country, and we love it, and we want to help it.”

Help for Migrant Students

* Name: Project BEST (Basic Education Skills for Tomorrow)

* Goal: To motivate children of migrant farm workers to go to college

* Site: Cal State Fullerton

* Duration: July 25-Aug. 13; students live in campus dorms

* Students: Migrant high school freshmen at risk of being dropouts

* Funding: $44,000 federal grant

* Director: Isaac Cardenas, chairman of CSUF Chicano studies program

Source: Cal State Fullerton