We recognize and celebrate Our People: Our Strength by highlighting a specific #TeamJeffco team or department each month! Our goal is to celebrate the great work they do and showcase how they contribute to the overall success of Jeffco Public Schools.
September 2023 Spotlight: Translation & Interpretation Services
What is the name of your team? What division is your team a part of?
Translation & Interpretation Services. Our team is part of the Division of Family and Community Partnerships.
How many employees are on your team?
Our team currently consists of:
- Three translators (translators take written text and convert it from one language into another)
- Two Spanish translators
- One Russian translator
- Six bilingual interpreter/liaisons (interpreters facilitate oral communication between speakers of two different languages)
- Five Spanish interpreter/liaisons
- One Russian and Ukrainian interpreter/liaison
- Two technicians
- One TOSA coordinator
We also partner with more than 10 contracted language service providers. These partner agencies serve as backup when our in-house team is booked and fulfill requests for languages we don’t have on staff.
A day in the life: What types of projects does your team do daily?
Our translators may translate a middle school newsletter, a board policy, or a flyer about a Teddy Bear Picnic.
Our interpreter/liaisons may interpret over the phone for a high school counselor and a parent, interpret in person for an IEP meeting or parent/teacher conferences, or interpret for an online PTA meeting in the evening.
Our technicians collaborate with agencies to secure interpreters or translations for families who speak languages from Acholi to Yue.
Each day is different, and some days include professional learning, team meetings, and email communication and follow-up with family members and Jeffco staff.
What is your big-term goal or project this year?
The goal of the Translation & Interpretation Services team for 2023-24 is to fully integrate with the Family and Community Partnerships Division, connecting Jeffco’s multilingual families with district programs and services Jeffco has to offer in order for their students to thrive.
What is a fun fact about the team?
In addition to living in the USA, our staff have also lived in a total of 15 other countries including Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, and Ukraine.
Our team members hold degrees in marketing, public relations, accounting, political science, law, international relations, music, modern languages, international relations, medical office administration, and comparative literature.
Share something you are most proud of when it comes to your team or share a proud moment about your team that happened recently.
From July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, our team processed and fulfilled 3,957 oral interpretation requests and 3,686 written translation requests for Jeffco departments and schools.
In the spring of 2023, our interpreter/liaisons provided simultaneous interpretation for more than 17 graduation ceremonies, continuations, and end-of-school events for which our translators also translated speeches.
Our coordinator presented at the 2023 Edu-Con of the American Association of Interpreters & Translators in Education, leading a session titled "Empathy Interviews for Assessing Effectiveness of Language Support Services."
What is your favorite team quote or mission?
We believe that equitable access to information and meaningful two-way communication in our families’ preferred language helps to promote understanding, partnership, and a sense of community among Jeffco families and staff.
Fun fact: September 30 is International Translation Day. Learn more about this day.