Laura Morgado worked her way through college after moving to Batesville from Mexico when she was in the eighth grade.
Morgado, 29, who has worked as a Parents as Teacher’s staff member for the Batesville School District after graduating from the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville with an associate degree in early childhood development six years ago, was recently named the 2017 Scott Gordon Arkansas Home Visiting Professional of the Year by the Arkansas Home Visiting Network.
“I was clueless that I was getting the award,” Morgado said. “I was blessed and surprised at the same time because I didn’t know anything about it. It was a complete surprise.”
She received the award at the at the 2017 Arkansas Home Visiting Network Conference at the Hot Springs Convention Center on Nov. 7.
Parents as Teachers is a program which is federally funded and is a home-visiting model for children from babies until they go to kindergarten, said Lorrie McClure, coordinator for the Batesville School District.
“It helps with kindergarten readiness and family support,” she said.
Morgado was nominated for the award by McClure.
McClure said the Dr. Scott Gordon Award is a huge honor.
“It’s the Academy Award of home visiting,” McClure said, adding that no one from Batesville had ever received it. “It’s a very high honor.”
According to the program for the conference, the Scott Gordon Award “was established for the purpose of annually recognizing an individual who is making an outstanding contribution through home visiting [and] to building stronger families and brighter futures for the children and communities in Arkansas.”
Scott Gordon is a former doctor with Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. McClure said Gordon helped set up the statewide home-visiting network by working with the state Legislature on getting grants and funding for the program.
During the awards ceremony, the following was read about Morgado:
“Laura believes that the families she serves deserve the best, and she sees the best in them. She takes on the hardest cases, those where resources to offer families are scarce. She teaches and guides her families to work with the things they have to help their children learn. She sets the bar high for the families she serves because she knows they can meet it.”
Morgado became involved with the PAT program when her family was served by it because of her son, Hector Campos Jr., who was 2 at the time. Her caseworker was leaving the program as Morgado was about to graduate from UACCB. That led to an opportunity for her to work for the Batesville School District.
“I really enjoyed the program when I had my little boy Hector in there,” she said. “When there was an opening, I came in and applied. This is something that I always wanted to do — be a teacher. This is like teaching and being personalized with the children because early childhood is the foundation of children’s education. I want to help make a difference.”
McClure said a staff member with PAT usually needs at least a bachelor’s degree, but exceptions can be made, especially when trying to service families whose primary language is not English.
“I can’t speak Spanish, nor would they be open to our help,” McClure said of families with English as a Second Language (ESL) students. “They are coming to our schools. We want them to succeed in our schools.”
Morgado moved to Batesville on July 29, 2003, from Puebla, Mexico. She graduated from Batesville High School in 2007.
It took Morgado two years to receive her degree from UACCB.
Morgado said she feels fortunate to be working for the Parents as Teachers program.
“It feels amazing to give back,” she said. “I’m able to help others with the things that they helped me with at one time.”
McClure said Morgado is perfect for working with the ESL families.
“She’s great with her families,” McClure said. “She works primarily with ESL families, but she can work with English-speaking families, too. She holds the parents to a very high standard, and all of her parents meet it.
“As far as the parent standpoint, every teacher wants her child because they know she will push them and help with the classroom.”
Morgado said her caseload is pretty much all ESL families.
“I try to help them as much as I can, getting their Medicare going if they need help, translating for doctor’s appointments and things like that,” she said.
“When I came here, I didn’t know any English, and I was depending upon someone,” Morgado said. “So that is something I kept in mind when I learned that I was going to be able to help others.”
McClure said Morgado helps families from being taken advantage of by others.
“She’s very good to ask questions and not let them get taken advantage of,” McClure said.
McClure brought up a recent issue of a child in the program dying.
“She handled this with grace and dignity,” McClure said of Morgado. “In the past, we’ve had parents in our program pass away, but Laura had the first one in our program to have a child who passed away.”
McClure said a young boy had choked on a balloon, then spent a month in Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock before he died.
“Laura was translating and doing different things. When he did pass, you have a family here that knows nothing about cemetery plots or funeral homes,” McClure said. “The home visitor is the one calling [and telling] that they need a place to bury their son.”
“I helped them pick out the grave and helped them with the process,” Morgado said. “It was hard because no one had experienced that. It was the first time that it had happened to me. I helped them as much as I could.”
Morgado said her job is rewarding.
“I love to see the children’s success and get them ready for kindergarten,” she said. “That is one of my big things — that they are ready for the next step.”
Morgado and her husband, Hector Campos, have two sons, Hector Jr., 9, and Hayden, 2.
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.