Polk County Public Schools
Nilda Soto, a Winter Haven resident and a 19-year employee with the Polk Public Schools, received the highest honor from a national farmworker organization last week at the organization’s conference in Arizona.
Soto was announced October 7 as the recipient of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Program’s (AFOP) Excellence Award during AFOP’s national conference in Carefree, Ariz. The Excellence Award is given to one frontline staff member among 52 farmworker programs nationwide. AFOP and its member organizations serve farmworkers in 49 states and Puerto Rico. They provide employment assistance, pesticide safety education, emergency assistance and are an advocate voice for farmworkers. Soto was nominated for the award by the Florida Department of Education’s Adult Migrant Program and Services.
Nilda’s title with the Polk Public Schools is farmworker employment specialist with the school district’s Farmworker Jobs and Education Program. Nilda has been doing this with the school district since April 1990. She does outreach with farmworkers that includes job placement, English As A Second Language, GED study and preparation or vocational training. The Farmworker Jobs And Education Program is federally funded and is part of the school district’s Workforce Education Department.
She recruits potential participants by going to homes, fields, businesses, agencies and schools. She assists participants with training, education, related supportive services such as healthcare and childcare, legal issues, emergency assistance, translations and immigration issues. Nilda counsels participants regarding barriers to obtaining stable employment. She helps to develop and place participants in jobs and monitors their job performance once placed.
Nilda is well-known and trusted in the farmworker community. She is a former farmworker who worked the fields from Michigan to Florida in the 1970s. She has succeeded both personally and professionally while bringing up four boys as a single mother. Nilda is also a former nominee for the Florida Migrant Education Department's "Success Story of the Year" award.
“Nilda does a superb job matching prospective employees with employers,” said Wanda Morales, acting manager of the Farmworker Jobs and Education Program. “Employers call her looking for job applicants. She works tirelessly for farmworkers and is on call day and night.”
“Her case management, job placement and motivational skills help make her site among the top producers in Florida,” said Linda Grisham of the Florida Department of Education’s Adult Migrant Program and Services Department. “Polk County is better today because of Nilda’s efforts fighting for farmworkers.” Grisham nominated Nilda for the the AFOP national award.
Nilda is also a certified pesticide safety trainer and has worked with growers about the dangers and risks of pesticides and has trained them on pesticide safety. Nilda has also been involved in a program for farmworkers about cancer awareness and prevention.
Nilda’s motto is: “Never forget where you came from.”
