Do you believe history repeats itself? In April, sophomores in Ms. Clark’s and Ms. Farley’s classes found out about the plight of Oklahoma migrant farmers during the Dust Bowl era (1930s) from reading The Grapes of Wrath and researched and compared it to the plight of Mexican immigrant agricultural workers of today. These are the folks who pick your apples and peaches, green peppers and cabbages in the valleys of California. Has much changed since the 1930s? No! Agricultural workers are only beginning to have rights as the result of stricter work laws that control them but also protect them. And they are still overworked and underpaid. Students made scrapbooks that compared the stories of these groups of agricultural workers. They wrote short narratives that told their stories all based on a theme.

Some of the scrapbook themes from this year: Fruitful Eternity, Overpopulation of the Dream, Circular Flight Path, Two Families – One Goal, The Broken Phalanx, The Bittersweet Journey and Dynamics of Compassion!