Congratulations to Mrs. Diana Alejos, Migrant Counselor
2022 Association for Migrant Educators of Texas Distinguished Lifetime Service Achievement Award
Mrs. Diana Alejos was recognized last week at the annual conference of the Association for Migrant Educators of Texas (AMET) in San Marcos, Texas as the recipient of the 2022 AMET Distinguished Lifetime Service Achievement Award. AMET is a non-profit organization, that supports migrant educators of Texas to ensure that every migrant student in Texas has access to a quality education. Through the AMET yearly annual conference, we empower individuals at the national, state, and local levels as they equip each child with the skills and resources necessary to be successful. “The mission of AMET is to passionately advocate for migrant students and families, provide leadership and resources to educators of migrant students and to serve as a voice for the migrant education program,” said Jaime Miranda, Higher Education Advisor, and awards chair for AMET.
Mrs. Diana Alejos has served the migrant community for over 17 years. During that time, she has impacted and influenced the lives of countless students and families who come from migrant farm worker backgrounds. Mrs. Alejos, a former migrant farm worker herself, has traveled to Michigan, Delaware, and New Jersey where she worked with asparagus, cucumbers, cherries, and apples. Those experiences have allowed her to understand the struggles and triumphs her migrant students and families face each year. She has dedicated herself to not only serving her students and families, but also the migrant community through outreach and awareness. Throughout her seventeen-year career in migrant education, she has implemented numerous student programs such as the Sky’s the Limit Migrant Student Club in 2007. She was instrumental in the 2014 production of the Harvest of Dreams, a play based on the life of one of her students and the 2010 documentary feature by Umberto Romano “The Harvest”. She coordinated with the City of Edinburg, Texas and Migrants in Action, Inc. in 2013 to establish a citywide proclamation on the dangers of pesticides. She further organized her students to develop, coordinate and perform a student play for the Edinburg School District titled “El Moscas Y Los Pesticidas”, which was also performed at the Pharr Convention Center in front of over 1,500 students and staff from across the Rio Grande Valley in that same year.
Mr. Fidel Rodriguez, a parent writes, one of my biggest blessings has been witnessing six of my seven children obtain their high school diploma and continue their education. It takes a village to raise a child and Ms. Alejos was most definitely a part of that village. My children have achieved what my wife and I were not able to. Ana Karen Rodriguez, a former student shares, without the help of Mrs. Alejos, I don’t know where I would be or where my siblings would be. Three of us have attained a bachelor’s degree and two of us have gotten our master’s degrees. The impact Mrs. Alejos made in our lives will continue to transcend generations. Her dedication allowed me to pave the road and set the example for my younger siblings. This all started with a counselor who ensured we visited colleges, applied for scholarships, and wrote letters of recommendation. As per the chair of the National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education (NASDME) Scholarship Committee, Angela Branz-Spall, Johnny G. Economedes High School has had the most Albert Lee Wright, Jr., Scholarship Honorees from any one school in the Nation, due in no small part, to the excellence in guidance they received from Ms. Alejos and the Sky’s the Limit Migrant Club. Countless Johnny Economedes High School migratory students have benefitted from Ms. Alejos’ encouragement and wisdom.
Article by Mr. Jaime Miranda – AMET Higher Education Advisor. UT - Rio Grande Valley
