Migrant Education Region IV
The California Mini-Corps Program
The California Mini-Corps Program is a statewide teacher-training program that was initiated in 1974 to increase the numbers of credentialed teachers who are sensitive and committed to the needs of migrant students. Students with rural migrant backgrounds receive extensive training while they attend classes at California State University Fresno, Fresno Pacific University, or West Hills College.
Approximately sixty Mini-Corps students provide direct classroom instruction to migrant students in forty school sites throughout Fresno County. Working under the guidance of a master teacher, they provide individualized and small group instruction on a year-round basis to assist the migrant students to meet or exceed academic performance standards. As role models with life experiences similar to those of the migrant students they serve, Mini-Corps students are highly valued by school staff for their abilities to effect academic and attitudinal changes. They also encourage the development of communication links between the migrant child, their parents, and the school.
During the summer months, district based direct instruction for migrant students is supplemented with two unique Mini-Corps educational projects:
- A series of weekly environmental education sessions is provided in a mountain setting for migrant students from various school districts throughout the state. Mini-Corps students commit to living at the outdoor education camps where they serve as bilingual instructors, naturalists, and advisors to the migrant students.
- A puppetry program is offered at district-based Migrant summer schools in which puppets are used as a vehicle for creative instruction. Topics addressed are substance abuse, safety, mental health, and self-esteem.
If you wish to learn more about this project you may e-mail Marsha Wernick
