Every year is made up of 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8760 hours, and most important of all, 525,600 minutes. What makes for "good school years" often depends on how we as parents, or students, or teachers fill those hundreds of thousands of minutes.

Each year, we make thousands of decisions that in turn bring an equal number of consequences, intended or not.

I have had the privilege of serving as Washington’s Migrant Director for exactly 525,600 minutes now. I am proud to say that the Washington Migrant Education Program worked very hard this year, making thousands of decisions that resulted in better services to migrant students and their families.

I have personally witnessed many hard-working teachers, principals, instructional aides, home visitors, superintendents, administrators, Migrant Education Region Office staff, Migrant Student Records System staff, Secondary Education Migrant Youth staff, , and many more professionals work long past 5 p.m.

Among these is the hardest-working staff I have ever been honored to work with right here in my state office. They all work so hard because they have a passion in their hearts to help migrant children realize the American dream their parents have worked so hard and overcome so much to give them.

The Washington Migrant Education program has filled the 525,600 minutes in 2001 very productively. Some of our accomplishments in 2001 were:

• Developing English as a Second Language (ESL) standards.
• Piloting a program to bring Internet access to our migrant families.
• Setting up an electronic list serve where teachers all over the state can share great ideas and concerns with each other.
• Developing new curriculum for secondary students to complete out-of-school coursework.
• Awarding brand-new Teaching Excellence And Migrant Students (T.E.A.M.S.) grants to 14 innovative migrant teachers.
• Creating a fund-raising committee to establish a permanent fund for awarding migrant students scholarships to college.
• Sending four migrants to Space Camp in Alabama.
• And accomplishing so much more than I can list here.

The new year promises to be equally productive. For example, the Migrant program is partnering with Bilingual Education to bring back the Washington Association of Bilingual Education Conference (WABE) to help teachers more effectively teach English Language Learners in their classrooms.

Also, a new statewide assessment for migrant students not yet English proficient is planned for 2002.

A new year brings new opportunities for all of us. Every minute of every day brings with it new choices and new decisions.

A promise to our migrant parents, you can rely on the Washington Migrant Education program to be equal partners with you for all those 525,600 minutes to help you ensure your children have every opportunity to graduate.

To our migrant students, know that it is in your power to make anything of your life. Each passing minute is another opportunity for you to change your present path so that it leads to a better future for you.

Refuse to let anything or anyone, including yourself, keep you from your destiny. Around you every day are many people anxious to help you attain your dreams.

Together, let’s make 2002 a year filled with all the right decisions.