kennettsquarebilingualism-blog
kennettsquarebilingualism-blog
Bilingualism in Kennett Square: Chester County
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Marissa C., Stephanie F., Edwin K., Rachel M., and Whitney W. explore the advantages of bilingualism in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania for their Fall 2014 LIN 211: Language Communities in the US and Canada course.
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source: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/benefitsofbilingualismintheworkplace-130905210036-/95/benefits-of-bilingualism-in-the-workplace-6-638.jpg?cb=1378434198
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Study: The Evolution of the Mushroom Industry in Kennett SquareBy Samuel E. Flammini, June 17, 1999
...The industry, which was started by Pennsylvania Quakers, utilized family members and friends in the early days. The small farms of the time needed only a few hands to run the operation. As operations got larger in the 1920s, the work was largely preformed by Italian immigrants (Bussel 4).
Picking mushrooms is very hard and dirty work. Most people don’t want to do it. However poor immigrants who came to this country with nothing constituted a willing labor force. Over time these immigrants assumed ownership positions and started farms of their own. In the 1930s and 1940s these Italian growers began to employ local youth, both white and African-American. In the 1950s, as these workers found better opportunities elsewhere, growers began recruiting poor southern whites and African-Americans.
Once again the course of departure from the industry continued, and Puerto Ricans supplanted native-born workers (Bussel 5). Puerto Ricans would comprise the majority of the workforce from the late 1950s until well into the 1970s (Smith, 1992). This wave of workers came from rural areas in Puerto Rico where they worked the sugar cane crop which only provided work for a couple of months out of the year (De Leon).
The mushroom industry in Chester County presented an opportunity for better pay and year round work. The familiar course of upward economic mobility among the industry’s workforce would continue as poorer Mexican workers gradually replaced the Puerto Rican workforce in the late 1970s. Today approximately 98% of the workforce is composed of Mexican laborers (Art Read Interview). These Mexican workers were largely recruited through kinship networks (Bussel 5). As one Mexican immigrant recounted, "Everyone knew someone who was working in Kennett Square and they hoped someday they too would go there to pick mushrooms" (Gus Carmona-Ernst Interview)...
This study was done to study the history of the mushroom farms in Kennett Square: West Chester, Pennsylvania. The reason I chose this is because the Hispanic community is greatly present within the labor force today. Looking into this was interesting because the farms have a history of being bought by the labor force in succession throughout it's history. Word Count: 59
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ESL Services at KHS
         Because of the large ESL population in Kennett Square, PA, Kennett High School has an entire department (comprised of three staff members) dedicated to providing classroom ESL services to the high school students. ESL classes range from students who have very low proficiency in English to students who are advanced in their ESL studies, and classroom material is catered to the English ability of those students. Class size ranges from about 5 students to 20 students.
Word count: 76 words
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Survey Data
From the survey data: 90% of the people surveyed responded that they spoke two languages: Spanish and English. The primary language spoken at home by most is Spanish.
**Some of the workers at La Comunidad agreed to also take the survey. Their primary language spoken at work and at home is English. Although most people who took the survey spoke Spanish primarily, this skewed the data slightly.
From the survey data: Almost 100% of people surveyed responded that they Somewhat Agree or Agree that being bilingual has advantages, speaking Spanish opens job opportunities, that they are comfortable speaking English at work but are most comfortable speaking a language other than English, and that they believe their boss is accepting of employees who speak a language other than English at work. 
Although most are comfortable speaking English at work, most people still responded that they have experienced challenges by being bilingual, and a majority said that they have experienced challenges specifically in Kennett Square. 
From the survey data: Participants who only spoke one language have found themselves in situations where being bilingual would have benefited them. One person in particular commented that this would help in work situations. This person also commented that being bilingual would greatly help parents who do not speak English fluently. 
**When asked how comfortable they are with speaking English in general, most commented that they are comfortable speaking English in settings outside of work. On the other hand, when asked how comfortable they are speaking their native language while interacting with other members of the community, the people surveyed were significantly less comfortable. 
From the survey data: 80% of people surveyed commented that they first learned to speak English through a school/ in a classroom. It was rare that people learned English through listening to parents and family members. Many commented that their parents did not speak English fluently at home. 
OVERALL: Most people felt that bilingualism enhances their lives, and does not hinder it. Most commented that being able to communicate with different groups of people was a positive. Others commented that being bilingual helps them to aid their parents with communicating in different English speaking situations. Being bilingual seems to have a beneficial impact on many people's lives, not a negative impact. 
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         This article, written by Victor Garcia from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, details a study of Mexican migrants in southern Chester County, with the purpose of identify and describing the migrant population. Garcia examines why there is such a concentrated population of Mexican migrants in Chester County and provides a social and economic profile of the community. According to Garcia, “Pennsylvania has the second largest Latino population in the northeast” (2). Around 1985, professionals from city areas began to settle in Chester County, transforming the area from rural to suburban. The Mexican population began to increase and change demographics of the area. Between 1980 and 1990, the Mexican population in Kennett Square rose from 24 to 374 people, an increase of 1,450%
         Two factors caused this increase in the Mexican population leading into the 1990s: the SAW program and the mushroom industry. The SAW program enables legal workers to sponsor the immigration of family members from Mexico to the U.S. Community resources helped undocumented workers to apply for SAW status in order to have their families join them in the U.S. Another factor that saw the increase in Mexican American population is the mushroom industry of Pennsylvania. Mexican Americans make up about 90% of the mushroom workers, with an estimated 2,245-4,000 laborers in Chester County alone.
Word count: 206 words
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Article: Those who don't speak Spanish may be left behind
By Deborah Sharp, USA TODAY- 06/19/2001
¿Entiende Ud. español? If your answer to, "Do you understand Spanish?" is "no," get ready to be left behind. With the surge over the past decade in the Hispanic population in the United States, speaking Spanish is becoming more of a necessity than a choice in many parts of the country. From feedlot managers in Nebraska to New York City stockbrokers, Americans are scrambling to learn a language that is now spoken by many of the 35.3 million Hispanics in the United States.
Americans are finding that not knowing Spanish can be a handicap, whether dealing with immigrants or schmoozing at a business lunch in the boss' native tongue. Even pop culture references sail over the heads of the unilingual — from the taco-craving Chihuahua's "Yo quiero Taco Bell" to the crazy life, "la vida loca," made famous by singer Ricky Martin.
"There's nothing foreign about Spanish anymore. It's the second language of the United States," says Sam Slick, who founded Command Spanish, the nation's largest firm specializing in teaching Spanish for the workplace.
But the rising linguistic tide also has sparked tension and resentment in many communities. Mauro Mujica, who heads the one-language advocacy group U.S. English, says it's fine for people who speak English to learn Spanish but not if it creates the notion that those who speak Spanish needn't learn English.
"The problem is we are slowing down the assimilation of new immigrants by making it way too easy to come to this country and not learn English," says Mujica, a native of Chile.
"An immigrant is an invited guest to this country," he says. "We invited ourselves. The least we can do is integrate and become part of the new country."
Type "studying Spanish" in to any Internet search engine, and thousands upon thousands of options appear.
Spanish dominates all other foreign languages in the USA's public schools. Enrollment has nearly doubled over the past two decades to about 3.3 million high school students. Similar statistics aren't available for adults in thousands of night classes and private Spanish language courses. But school owners say the numbers are soaring, even in the most unexpected areas.
Many have discovered that dim high school memories of conjugating verbs and reciting "¿Donde esta la biblioteca?" ("Where is the library?") mean nada (or nothing) in the workplace. So, in Ontario, Ore., Orchard Bank foots the bill for its staffers to study Spanish. In Washington, a teachers union offers lessons to members. And in Fountain Inn, S.C., and Detroit, law enforcement officials are lining up para habla español (to speak Spanish).
"The need is tremendous," says Conce Magaña, who teaches workplace Spanish at Garden City Community College in Kansas. Kansas has seen its Hispanic population double in the past decade, to 188,252 in 2000.
More in the website: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-05-09-spanish-usat.htm
This article goes into how it is becoming a necessary skill to be bilingual with English and Spanish. For one, it goes into how the Spanish language is now currently dominating parts of the country, from our education system to popular media such as music. Other aspects are also mentioned such as politics, websites, businesses, etc. In short, Spanish is rapidly becoming a rival to English in becoming the dominant language and greatly boosts the chances of bilingualism being more commonplace. Word Count: 81
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Working with Spanish Speakers in Chester County
Being bilingual in the work force definitely has its benefits. Since Chester County is an area with a high percentage of Spanish Speakers, Esther is able to find jobs easily because employers, especially in the service industry, want to be able to provide their services for members of the surrounding community.
During my freshman year, I worked with Esther at a store in West Chester. While I worked at the store, which was only 8 minutes away from campus, I was surprised how many Spanish speakers would come in! On staff, there were 6 other workers and 3 of them were bilingual Spanish-English speakers. This was really beneficial because there were many occurrences where people needed help finding items, but my Spanish skills were nowhere near proficient enough to help. Therefore, having bilingual speakers on the staff really helped the store provide to their customer’s needs, and allowed them to shop and ask questions to the clerks with ease.
After working in West Chester, I have noticed that many places in the borough and in the surrounding areas have bilingual Spanish and English speakers on staff. This makes sense since Chester County has a high percentage of Spanish speaking residents. 
Stephanie Frasca; Word Count: 200
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         La Comunidad Hispana is an organization in Kennett Square, PA dedicated to providing important services to the bilingual community. Their mission is "To help low-income residents of southern Chester County to stay healthy, build strong families and lead productive lives by providing high-quality, culturally welcoming services." Community services include case managements for clients who need long-term assistance achieving personal stability, adult English education, business courses, GED courses, and citizenship classes. La Comunidad Hispana also offers health services at their location, providing primary care, urgent care and prenatal care to its patients. Another important way that La Comunidad Hispana helps the bilingual community is through offering free legal assistance to low-income residents of the community. Their lawyers help with immigration and naturalization cases, domestic and family law, landlord/tenant disputes and labor and employment issues, among other legal aid offered.
Word count: 138 words
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Espejos y Ventanas, edited by Mark Lyons and Leticia Roa Nixon
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Working with bilingual students in Kennett High School
            This semester, as a Writing Zones mentor, I worked with bilingual students in Kennett High School. Specifically, I worked closely with two sections of a "Literature Lab" course at KHS, reading Espejos y Ventanas with the students. Espejos y Ventanas (in English, Mirrors and Windows: Oral Histories of Mexican Farmworkers and Their Families) is a collection of interviews with Mexican American citizens who live in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and work the mushroom farms. Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Espejos-Ventanas-Mirrors-Windows-Farmworkers/dp/0971299668/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417482787&sr=8-1&keywords=espejos+y+ventanas+book) describes the book:
Espejos y Ventanas details the individual stories of the Mexican community of Kennett Square, a community of three generations who have migrated to work in the world's largest mushroom industry, and details their personal and political aspirations. Published with both Spanish and English versions, these oral histories provide a window into the lives of retirees who came north twenty-five years ago; of mothers and children who stayed in Mexico and finally made it over; of teenagers building a house for their family in Mexico; of children graduating from college, their feet planted in two worlds. In doing so, it provides a window into the general struggles of immigrant populations for social, political, and economic rights.
The students read individual interviews from this book both during independent reading and reading as a group. Students were able to choose the specific chapter they wanted to read, and many of the students actually knew the individuals whose stories were recounted throughout the book. The students enjoyed reading stories written by individuals in the community who they knew, and the bilingual students could relate to the struggles and successes of other bilingual members of the Kennett Square community.
Word count: 271 words
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Conversation
Interview with Esther Ayala Torres
Esther is one of my former co-workers from Lima, Peru. She has dual citizenship in Peru and the United States, and comes to Chester County, Pennsylvania every Summer and Fall to work. This "snippet" of the interview describes her experiences with the Spanish/English community of Kennet Square, bilingualism, and finding a job.
Stephanie (S): "How often do you communicate with Spanish speakers from Kennett Square?"
Esther (E): "Pretty often. I am close with one family. They are from Mexico. They came here to work too, a lot of people from Mexico come to this area and work."
S: "What jobs are available for Spanish speaking people here?"
E: "Many people come here to work on the farms. The family from Mexico I was talking about, the husband works on the mushroom farm in Kennett Square and the wife use to work on the farm, but now works at a store in West Chester."
S: "Do you think job opportunities are easier to find here than at home?"
E: "Yes! I have good luck finding jobs here. Right now I work at a market, and they liked that I speak Spanish and English. There are a lot of people who come in to my work that only speak Spanish."
S: "Are the people who only speak Spanish usually older or younger people?"
E: "Usually older. They know some English, but not much. They usually always bring their kids with them to translate for them if no one knows Spanish."
S: "Do you think being bilingual is beneficial?"
E: "Yes. Since I know Spanish and English I am able to talk to many different people, and it helps me find jobs in this area. Plus, it helps me learn more. Everyday I learn new things about English and American culture that is really different from my own."
Stephanie Frasca; Word Count: 305
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The town in Chester County has lots of immigrants, legal and not, who work at mushroom farms.
One reason that Kennett Square has a huge population of Spanish immigrants is because the town is the mushroom capital of the world. This town provides immigrants with jobs that other people would not deem as desirable. 
This article from WHYY, from 2010, discusses what could happen if the same immigration laws that Arizona was placing at time were mandated in Kennett Square, PA. The article explains that, at the time, Pennsylvania voters wanted to see the same immigration laws in Arizona enforced in the state of Pennsylvania. This would be terrible for towns like Kennett Square, who actually benefit from immigration and high percentage of native Spanish speakers.
If immigration laws were mandated in PA, racial profiling could happen. In Arizona, people who appeared to be of "foreign" descent had to hold onto papers that displayed their legal immigration status at all times. If the individuals stopped were not in the country legally, they were immediately deported. 
Kennett Square's main industry is mushroom farming. In fact, many people who are from Mexico come to Kennett Square to work on the mushroom farms. If this were to occur in Kennett Square, the amount of people living and working in the town could potentially decrease, and racial/ ethnic tension would increase due to profiling. 
According to the article, a Mexican born resident of Kennett Square states that there is no tension towards the Spanish-speakers of Kennett Square; however, if intensive immigration laws were in the State of Pennsylvania, then tension would most definitely occur. 
-Stephanie Frasca; Word Count: 253
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Historical Kennett Square, PA language spoken at home information of the residents.
This article shows the percentage of people from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania who speaks either Spanish or English at home. The information from this website comes from data collected by the United States census. From the charts, it is clear that the amount of people who speak Spanish at home in Kennett Square is rapidly increasing.
In class, we compared charts of L1, L2, L3, and L4 language speakers in California. It was noted that the highest percentage of speakers of other languages were L1 and born outside of the US. On the same charts we looked at in class, the amount of speakers in the L2, L3, L4 categories descended in that order; Therefore, the L4 speakers were the group that was least likely to maintain their family's native language, and most likely to speak English. 
Since the charts on USA.com also show that the population of citizens living in Kennett Square is increasing, it makes me wonder if the high percentage of Spanish speakers in this area are L1 speakers, or if the community is just successful in maintaining and passing on their native language within their families and communities.
-Stephanie Frasca; Word Count: 184
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  This picture set was taken from the ABC television show Modern Family. Gloria, a main character of the television show, is from Columbia and still has a Spanish accent. She tends to use some words incorrectly, such as "talking in my shoes for one mile," instead of saying walking a mile in my shoes. This segment from the show portrays the struggle some people face when speaking two languages. Many bilingual speakers, although fluent in two languages, may still make simple errors during conversational speech without even realizing it. Because of this, we should be understanding to someone who is bilingual instead of being judgmental and critical. That person still put in the effort to learn English as a second language, even though an accent is still prevalent, or some errors still occur. This picture was added to the blog to further enhance why bilingual speakers in Kennett Square may sometimes struggle or feel uncomfortable when speaking English.
-Rachel; Word Count 158
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Article: Groups find a growing demand for Spanish - Teaching language a part of building community
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - October 18, 2005
Author: Todd Mason INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The mostly middle-aged students in an evening class looked like they wanted to crawl debajo de (under) the table as their teacher began quizzing them on prepositions. After a struggle, John Little, a freshly promoted international sales manager, declared that he was seated al lado (beside) Jack Trevisan, a Kennett Square police detective. Conversational Spanish is suddenly a hot ticket across the region and the nation. Rapid immigration and a global economy are prompting monolingual Americans to try another tongue. La Comunidad Hispana started an evening class in September, after Kennett Square residents began asking the community group for help. Latinos now constitute 27 percent of the borough's 5,300 residents. In Warminster, the Latino Leadership Alliance of Bucks County began Spanish classes last month. "Some of the social services agencies don't have bilingual personnel," Jose Rivera, the alliance's director, said. Similar classes have popped up in Lancaster, Reading, Gettysburg and elsewhere, said Norman Bristol-Colon, executive director of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Latino Affairs. Pennsylvanians are recognizing "the need, in the workplace particularly, to understand a few words of Spanish," Bristol-Colon said. The problem is more acute in suburban and rural areas, where immigration is new. Latinos come for construction and service jobs in the suburbs and agriculture jobs in the countryside. This immigrant group "tends to be working-age adults, and men rather than women," said Sonya Tafoya, a researcher at the Pew Hispanic Center. They can't draw on bilingual Latinos, as they might if they moved to established communities in urban areas, Tafoya said. What's more, they have more interaction with Americans who can't speak Spanish. The Alliance in Bucks and La Comunidad in Kennett Square teach English to Latinos, and help them with health care and other services. Latinos in exurban areas work harder to fit in, said Isidoro Gonzalez Jr., La Comunidad's executive director. "There is a lot more to pick up faster," he said. "It forces people to assimilate." Kennett Square has been willing to help. The YCMA of Brandywine Valley also offers Spanish classes to adults and preschool children. "We have really worked on building community," YMCA director Denise Day said. "It was important to learn Spanish so we could be more welcoming." Employees reached the same conclusion at Genesis HealthCare Corp., said Lisa Salamon, a spokeswoman for the nursing home chain based in Kennett Square. Employees who run a mentoring program for Latino children want Genesis to help them learn Spanish so they can be more effective, she said. Immigration critics find fault with this "creeping institutional bilingualism," as Peter Brimelow described it. A second language adds costs for businesses and governments and raises economic barriers for the majority who can't speak it, said Brimelow, editor of Vdare.com, an anti-immigration Web site. Mihaela Fulga, a legal secretary, spoke to the advantage of being bilingual before class began at La Comunidad Hispana. "If you are bilingual, you get more money," she said. Clara Saxton, a Kennett Square business owner, described her interest in Spanish as a sense of civic duty. "It will help if people can learn to talk together," she said. Frank Rivas, a Downingtown lawyer, said he was surprised at a conference in the Netherlands to see how easily Europeans switch languages. "It's really embarrassing," he said. The Bucks Alliance recently found a way to use fumbling to its advantage. The community group brought a class of Latinos struggling with English to Bristol High School to meet students wrestling with Spanish. Latino students asked for the meeting, said Rivera, the Alliance's director. "They said they wanted more conversational opportunities" in English.
SOURCE:
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/resources/doc/nb/news/10D5C2FD54C9CED0?p=NewsBank
The article depicts how La Communidad, located in Kennett Square, started classes for people in the community who are looking to learn Spanish. In today's society, bilingualism should be encouraged instead of criticized. Many people who speak English in the community are realizing how beneficial bilingualism can be, not only in work environments but in social situations as well. Bilingualism is a way to bring a community with a higher Spanish speaking population together. Many people have the mindset that Spanish speakers should be forced to learn English, but I do not think that is the best solution. There are so many benefits to being bilingual which can aid many people, not hurt them. 
-Rachel; Word Count 114
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Article: Pennsylvania Mushroom Farms Depend on Migrant Mexican Workers Immigrants: Hispanic influence is apparent on market shelves and at McDonald's, which offers `leche' and `cafe.' But the influx has created some problems.: [Bulldog Edition]
At the end of a long work day, Martin Sabala, 24, relaxed for the first time since 5 a.m. and talked about his 11-year career as a mushroom picker in rural southeastern Pennsylvania.
"The hours are long and there is nothing to do at night, but economically for me, this is the No. 1 place to make money for my family," said Sabala, whose stone-washed jeans and long hair make him look more like a high school student than a husband and father.
With tales of good wages, abundant work and tranquilidad spinning in his head, at age 13 Sabala followed his own father here from Moroleon, Mexico. His brothers, a cousin and an uncle soon followed him.
More than 80% of the Chester County, Pa., mushroom industry's 10,000 workers are Mexican; many come from Moroleon, a town of fewer than 50,000 people in the mountains of central Mexico.
Since the early 1970s, Moroleon men have left their wives and children behind to work almost nonstop for six or seven months at a time in the mushroom camps of Pennsylvania.
Recently, however, the 2,000-mile commutes have begun to ebb. Motivated by loneliness and a 1986 change in U.S. immigration laws, thousands of laborers are bringing their kin north permanently.
Many favor the farms of Pennsylvania because mushrooms are grown indoors and offer year-round employment. The state produces almost half the nation's mushrooms.
Migrant workers are nothing unusual in Chester County. At the turn of the century, Quaker mushroom growers employed Italians, who then began to buy their own farms and hire black laborers, who in turn were followed by white Tennesseans and later Puerto Ricans.
In the 1970s, as Puerto Rican workers moved on to other areas and higher-paying jobs, the young men of central Mexico began to replace them.
But the recent settling-in of these Mexican immigrants has created some unexpected problems in this small community 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia.
La Comunidad Hispana, a local service organization, estimates that more than 200 Mexican families have moved to Chester County in the last year.
In one school district last September, about 40 Hispanic children, few of whom spoke English, showed up unexpectedly for classes. And workers at Project Salud, a health clinic, are seeing an average of two to three new families every week.
Lack of affordable housing in Chester County has caused some Mexican workers to commute from neighboring Delaware. Families double up in trailers and apartments to save money on rent. Single men live in one-story dormitories on the mushroom farms or cram into apartments with as many as a dozen other workers.
"It's a type of homelessness," said Sheila Druley, executive director of La Comunidad Hispana.
Most of the mushroom pickers earn the minimum wage-$4.25 an hour-or about $1.10 a basket. Bonus pay for every pound picked and 60-hour workweeks help pickers afford cars for themselves and clothing and other goods for relatives in Mexico.
The growing presence of the low-income immigrants has erected an invisible wall between them and many natives of predominantly white Chester County.
"This tends to be a conservative area," Druley said. "There is some discomfort at guys standing around on a corner, seeming to do nothing. Some locals don't understand that many of the workers come from small villages, where they have a kind of plaza to go to congregate and socialize."
But in a county whose economy depends on mushrooms, everyone agrees that sensitivity toward the Hispanics has grown in the last year.
Two bilingual police officers and a Spanish-speaking dispatcher have been added to the state police force in nearby Avondale. Several local churches have migrant-ministry programs. A task force of mushroom-growers and community leaders is exploring possibilities for more low-income housing.
Kennett Square, population 5,210, at first seems like any other small town in rural Pennsylvania, except that the Hispanic influence is evident: rows of tortillas, jalapeno peppers and sliced mango at the local supermarket, "leche" and "cafe" on the McDonald's menu.
At Kennett Middle School, teacher Palmira Matos helps newly arrived Mexican students make the transition to American classrooms. Matos herself is a picker's daughter who came to Chester County from Puerto Rico when she was 13.
"I know what my students are going through," she said. "They are battling two evils: not knowing English and the everyday difficulties of school."
Matos said county schools need more bilingual teachers. The migrant workers are no longer as transitory as they once were. "Parents dream about going back to Mexico," she said, "but the reality is different."
Mushroom picker Martin Sabala now faces that reality. He longs to be back in Mexico with his wife and year-old son, whom he last saw four months ago. Instead, he said, he will soon start the legal procedure to bring them to the United States. Then he'll be able to work year-round.
The job of tracking the changing work status of Sabala and other pickers at Modern Mushroom Farms falls to Marcelo Ortiz.
Ortiz left Puerto Rico in the 1950s with thousands of other laborers in search of better employment. His bilingualism helped him work his way from picker to general foreman. Now Ortiz, 54, sees the 135 men he supervises cope with the same difficulties he once thought he would never overcome.
Problems with housing, discrimination and living a long distance from home may continue, but most of the workers will remain on the mushroom farms, he said, "because they need it."
SOURCE:
http://search.proquest.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/docview/282057901?pq-origsite=summon
This article depicts how there are many Spanish speaking migrant workers in Kennett Square. Kennett Square is popularly known as the Mushroom Capital of the World. Migrant workers will travel thousands of miles to work on the mushroom farms. Because of this, there is a prevalent Spanish influence in the community. Because of migrant workers traveling to work on the mushroom farms, Kennett Square has definitely become a thriving bilingual community. 
-Rachel; Word Count: 71
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This video correlates to the Modern Family picture set, and portrays how much of a struggle it can be living life with two languages. The video is taken from the YouTube channel Just Listen: Youth Talk about Learning. The boy in the video is in 11th grade in high school. During this short video, he reflects on some of the ways that he uses both English and Spanish in everyday life. 
-Rachel; Word Count: 71
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