Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Anti-Gang Seminar Targets Migrant Workers’ Children

CASTAIC — Migrant workers will be given advice on how to keep their children from getting involved in gang activities at a free conference Saturday at Castaic Elementary School.

The Spanish-language seminar will focus on warning signs parents should watch for and how to reduce tensions among cultures, said Carol Ramnarine, a program specialist with the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

She said gang infiltration among children of migrant parents in the Santa Clarita Valley is not rampant, but many parents requested the topic.

“Over a period of about three years, we’ve had at least nine students arrested for gang activities,” she said. “They’re not serious activities, but there’s enough that we want to say, ‘Let’s not let this get out of hand.’ ”

Ramnarine estimated there are about 185 children of migrant workers in the Santa Clarita Valley, down from about 400 several years ago. She said many of the area’s produce fields were shut down in 1989 by their owner, Boskovich Farms, causing much of the decline in the migrant population.

A mural created by about 25 students in grades six through 12 also will be unveiled at the conference before it is displayed at educational conferences around the country, Ramnarine said. She said the mural, titled “Harvest of Hope,” consists of three 36-by-48-inch panels with St. Guadalupe at the center.

“She is kind of similar to the Virgin Mary,” she added. “She bridges the Aztec culture to Catholicism.”

The mural features other images such as an Aztec sun calendar, a man representing the Mexican revolution and the border between the United States and Mexico.

The meeting is the second annual Migrant Parent Conference sponsored by the county Office of Education, the city of Santa Clarita and local community groups. Ramnarine said the conference is targeted at migrant parents, but all Latinos are welcome to attend.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the discussions will run from 10 a.m. to noon. Castaic Elementary School is at 31700 Ridge Route Road.