This past weekend I joined several other former classmates and some of their spouses in Worthington to celebrate our 55th class reunion. Our class has faithfully gotten together almost every five years since we graduated in 1964, and each time it seems we find new memories to remember. Not always, but most times we gather over Turkey Day weekend. A few times we have ridden in the parade, but this time we enjoyed touring the high school and also gathering at the Historical Society in the town library before enjoying free pancakes and the parade. We focused our time together learning how Worthington has changed in the many years since we shared life together in those high school halls.
After enjoying a delicious meal at Pioneer Village in the “barn”, we listened to a presentation on how “The World has come to Worthington”. Little did we know that it was actually in our senior year that probably one of the main changing factors in the Worthington community was starting right when we were embarking on our own journeys in life! In October of 1964 the Armour Meat Packing Plant opened with 375 employees. At that time five thousand hogs a day were processed. Fast forward to 2007, and the plant became JBS Swift and Co. Today it employees 2.200 people and 20-21 thousand hogs a day go through the operation. Of course, any business of this proportion is going to need workers and many of them.
Any of us who have lived in this area for several years have noticed Worthington’s changing demographics. At every class reunion, those who have moved away comment on changes that are quite evident. It was interesting to me to hear the time line of how these changes have come, and some of the results, both positive and negative. It seems that the influx of people that have come to call Worthington their home have come in “waves”. In the 1980’s, refugees with Lao, Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese backgrounds arrived. In the 1990’s the influx of immigrants were Hispanic and Latino, many coming from Mexico, Salvador, and Guatemala. Continuing in that decade were East African immigrants and refugees, mostly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan. At the turn of the century Karen began coming from Burma and Mayanmar.
The many languages spoken in Nobles County can cause problems alone. We were told that fifty-four languages are present, including heritage languages like German and Swedish. About thirty-four languages and dialects are actively spoken by immigrants and refugees. Much of our discussion centered around school, since we were former students and that interested us. Almost 30 percent of the district students are English language learners. That number compares to about 8 1/2 percent in the overall state of Minnesota. Worthington District 518 employs THIRTY English Language teachers!
The total K-12 enrollment in Worthington schools right now is 3,904. In 1989 students from diverse cultures present in the schools was about six percent; today the number has climbed to sixty-six percent. In this time of population change, the percentage of students that qualify for free and reduced lunches has also grown. Statewide, about 36 1/2 percent of Minnesota students qualify, but in Worthington over 62 percent do.
Because our class is now mostly in the “retired” section of the population, we were interested to learn about the many new businesses that are racially and ethnically diverse in the Worthington area. Twenty-six of these businesses are owned by the Hispanic and Latino culture, while another twenty have Asian, Indian or African owners. That is exciting, and also great to hear that the Worthington Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Economic Development staff works very hard to help the new owners begin and sustain their businesses.
Churches in the Worthington community have stepped up to do their part too. Twelve of them share their facilities with congregations from other cultures. Some use the church buildings on their own, while others join in with the existing group of worshippers.
Our neighbor to the south, Worthington, has changed in so many ways, and many of them have an effect on all of us as we do life here in SW Minnesota. Hopefully we can look for the positive changes and embrace them. Economic growth, integrated life experiences, diversity of ideas and aspects of culture, and opportunities to learn about other places and people are here to stay.
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