Diego Fraire helps translate a parent teacher conference with Ms. Teresa Smith at Park Creek School. (Photo contributed by Paige Watts)
With large populations of both English and Spanish speakers, the language barrier in Dalton is sometimes a difficult thing to break. Students at Morris Innovative High School are assisting with bridging the communication gap within Dalton Public Schools by using translation skills beyond their own school.
Thirty students at MIHS have been working as translators within the community during parent teacher conferences, events such as health fairs, and even at Mohawk Industries. Starting in January, the students will start helping out at Hamilton Medical Center.
This is the first year of the program and is the first of its kind within the state.
“We have kids that are fluent in Spanish,” said world language teacher and program director Paige Watts, “so why not use their skills.”
Watts’s students go to any school that may need help with translation, and many even spend their days off (MIHS does not have classes on Mondays) helping at schools such as Roan.
Watts said the staff and teachers at the schools have been so impressed by the students, they request for certain students to come back and help out.
“It helps both groups,” Watts said. “The teachers don’t have to rely on their own kids to translate for other students.”
Watts usually hand picks her translators, but she has had some students come up and ask to be a part of the program. If Watts does not know the student asking to be a translator, she requests they send in a teacher recommendation. The final group of students also must show good behavior and have good grades—traits that Watts said usually go together.
“The teachers appreciate that the students are educated and professional,” Watts said. “We’ve never had a negative experience.”
One of the biggest events the translators assist with is parent teacher conferences— something the MIHS students wished had been available when they were in elementary school.
“I know how it feels,” said 17-year-old translator Cilene Boyzo. “I would have liked others to be there for my parents.”
Boyzo was also a factor in helping to discover that a Spanish speaking child’s “odd behavior” did not mean he needed extra help like many thought—the child turned out to be gifted.
The translators also spend time with the younger students that just simply may need a companion—Watts and her students pointed out occasions when one student had a family member deported and another had recently had a death in their family.
“Teachers sometimes don’t understand what’s going on,” Watts said of the students with a language barrier. “They’re spending time with kids that need it.”
“It gives you an opportunity to help others in need,” said 16-year-old Ronal Bueso.
“It makes a change in these (high school) students,” Watts said of the program. “It gets them outside of the four walls, and it’s a great way to do it.”
As the program continues to evolve, Watts said they will adapt as they go.
“It’s a privilege that other schools don’t offer,” she said. “I’m glad to be a part of it.”
By Lindsey Derrick, Dalton Public Schools Contributor
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