2 Students Honored by Migrant Program

Two students in the Oxnard Union High School District have received the highest awards for their region from the Migrant Education Program, school officials said.

Cesar Ochoa, a senior at Oxnard High, and Margarita Zuniga, a senior at Channel Islands High, were named Migrant Honor Students for Region 12 and Region 17, respectively, said Walter Dunlop program coordinator for the district. The program is divided into 18 regional units throughout California.

“I am very happy that I got the award,” Ochoa said. “It makes me feel like a role model for other students in the migrant program.”

The Migrant Education Program assists students whose parents have moved within the past three years to seek temporary work in the agriculture or fishing industry.

“The purpose of the award is to honor migrant students who have demonstrated leadership and high academic success,” Dunlop said. “These are students who overcame linguistic barriers and other obstacles they were faced with when they moved.”

Ochoa, who has a 3.9 grade-point average, hopes to become a premed student at UC Santa Barbara next year.

“My father worked throughout California and Washington following the crops,” Ochoa said.

Ochoa said the program helped him develop essential English-language skills.

The awards will be presented next month in Los Angeles at a state migrant education conference attended by about 1,000 parents and educators, Dunlop said.