Maria Martinez, Deysi Salazar, and Anabel Salazar, 16-year-old cousins, worked last summer thinning and hoeing sugar beets in Sidney, Montana. After the work was finished in Montana, they and their families headed to Kittitas, Washington, where they harvested potatoes until mid-November. Sidney and Kittitas are a long way from Del Rio and Eagle Pass, Texas, where the girls are enrolled in school. And the grind of working in the fields from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. is a long way from the summer and daily school activities of many of their classmates.

Still, against all odds, Maria, Deysi, and Anabel expect to graduate from high school, and to have a life that is vastly different from that of their parents.

They have this chance because they can work toward high school diplomas on laptop computers provided by HESTRELLA,1 an ambitious effort that unites the power of the Internet, the commitment of educators and parents, and the desire of students to reach academic goals while contributing to their family as workers. (Estrella is the Spanish word for star. The acronym stands for Encourage Students Through Technology to Reach High Expectations in Learning, Lifeskills, and Achievement.)

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Migrant Education and strengthened by a strong network of collaborating partners, HESTRELLA is focused on expanding opportunities for migrant students. "The purpose is to get kids graduated," says Robert Lynch, coordinator for the New York State component of the project. By the end of the 1999-2000 school year, 90 students had completed 148 courses and earned credit, and 17 had graduated. An additional 11 graduates are anticipated by summer of 2001. The overall dropout rate for kids in migrant families is over 50 percent in traditional school programs.

Students in the project are enrolled in a Texas high school or middle school and travel with their families to one of the three "receiving" states: Illinois, Montana, or New York (Minnesota is being added this year). Students sign a contract to devote at least 7 hours a week to their classes. Their parents commit to support the students and to try to create an environment conducive to studying. Because traveling families live in crowded and ramshackle housing, usually in migrant camps, finding a good place to study is not easy. Project staff members help kids find locations to connect their laptops, perhaps a school or library, or sometimes a phone line in their camp.

With the laptops, students are able to access courses from the Texas High School curriculum, available through NovaNET. All NovaNET work is monitored via modem by the project Interstate Student Coordinator and NovaNET lab teachers. The system tracks each student's work and maintains data on lessons attempted and completed, as well as assessments taken.

Satisfactory course completion means credit for each student in their home-base school district. Prior to graduation, each student also must pass the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). The TAAS preparation and practice tests are also available on the NovaNET system.

An Internet connection and an individual Yahoo account enable students to e-mail teachers, mentors, friends, and the HESTRELLA Interstate Student Coordinator. They can also visit many Internet learning sites. The laptops have become the focal point of many families, giving the older children a way to earn credit, younger children exposure to technology in their home, and parents a way to learn English, acquire basic skills, and study for general education diplomas.

Educators and migrant worker support staff in each state provide support and encouragement for students participating in HESTRELLA. Additionally, "cyber mentors," college students enrolled at the University of Texas-Pan American, provide encouragement and guidance about entering college. Cyber mentors come from a background much like the HESTRELLA students they work with. They also serve as role models, offering reminders about the importance of completing course work and passing on tips about planning ahead.

Cyber mentors share their own experience of leaving the extended family for the first time and taking the big step to higher education. One weekend each year, HESTRELLA students travel to the university campus to meet their cyber mentors in person and experience the world of college life.

In addition to NovaNET, HESTRELLA has a private-sector partnership with the Polaroid Education Program, which has developed a Visual Learning program. Students use both instant and digital cameras, learn to define and refine images, and then use the images as a basis for improving language and communication skills. Students contribute to a newsletter, strengthening their language capability and sharing experiences.

HESTRELLA's annual budget is $400,000. The level of investment has been criticized by some, questioning the dollars spent on technology versus increased instruction by teachers. The project leaders, all veteran migrant educators, refute this criticism. True, technology is the link, but most of the budget goes towards assuring that children receive considerable one-on-one support, including work with their parents. "It costs money, but it changes their lives," says Angela Branz-Spall, Montana Director of Migrant Education. "We decided to make a real difference, one child at a time."

Brenda Pessin, Project Director, has seen this project work for migrant children and is committed to the vastly expanded opportunities it creates for them. "Maria, Deysi, and Anabel, and the other HESTRELLA students are stars in the eyes of the project," she says. "More importantly, they are stars in their own eyes."

1. http:/www.estrella.org/