IN THE MIX:Interpreters -- the open doors to education

It was my first day as a parent at Sonora Elementary School when I witnessed an impressive and exciting event.

Grouped in a large classroom were a variety of parents, all nervous about how their kids would fare in their new surroundings and whether they would get the nice teacher or the scary one.

After a short introduction by a kindergarten teacher, another woman stood and repeated the message, this time in Spanish. I saw the parents who had previously sat, listening, but seeming distant, suddenly become attentive.

Throughout the meeting, and at subsequent meetings and events, there was Marcy Shands-Brown. As the school’s community facilitator, she ensured that all the parents were informed, could get involved and felt welcome.

Marcela Osorio wasn’t so lucky on her first day at Sonora. When she took her daughter to the school nine years ago she said she felt lost and usually confused about what she could do to help her child at school. There was no Shands-Brown back then.

At the time, Osorio spoke only Spanish. She said she felt embarrassed to ask the teacher questions and said there was no way she was ready to volunteer. That was until Shands-Brown showed up. A new world opened up for Osorio when she met the woman who would interpret for her at teacher conferences, and work with her and other parents who were eager to volunteer at fundraisers.

“There was more understanding,” Osorio said in Spanish of her relationship with her daughter’s teacher. She speaks English now but is still embarrassed to have a conversation in her adopted language.

It wasn’t long before Osorio got busy on campus. She started by getting involved with the Cinco de Mayo fundraiser. Soon she became a committee chairwoman, was elected the English-learner advisory committee president and was named the school’s representative at district English-learner advisory committee meetings.

Shands-Brown’s work doesn’t end when the translations are complete.

The woman works in a tiny office at the campus and travels from Sonora to Kaiser Elementary to help meet the needs of families at both schools. She organizes events, acts as a liaison for families with special needs and makes sure the holidays are special for all the children in the schools.

She works with Share Our Selves, Rock Harbor Church and Christian Outreach Ministries to adopt families for the holidays, create holiday food baskets and to deliver gifts.

The best part is, there are more than 20 Marcy Shands-Browns. This tiny army of soldiers is employed by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and makes a major difference in plenty of lives.

While spreading extra joy during the holidays is important, it’s not the program’s focus. Its priority is academics.

First, it works on getting students where they need to be in school — only then do they consider other needs of the family. Sometimes those needs are related, and they figure that out too.

Funding, you ask? That’s a story in itself.

About 12 years ago, a parent whose children were at Kaiser and about to attend Ensign Middle School decided something needed to be done to create equity on campus and bring in families that often felt separated by language and economic barriers. He anonymously donated money to start a liaison program and then more money to expand it.

That’s when they brought Amparo Ames aboard. Ames is now the coordinator of family outreach and advocacy programs at the district, but at the time, she was hired as a liaison. She said the Ensign Intermediate School principal didn’t want to know how she was going to get the parents involved — he just wanted results.

Six months after starting at the school, Ames set up the first meeting of Spanish-speaking parents. Ames initially thought there would be a handful of parents present, but when she arrived at the school for the meeting, she found a room packed with parents eager to get involved.

The program quickly grew from one liaison to 17. But after a decade, as the stock market dwindled, so did the anonymous parent’s ability to donate.

Fortunately, someone at the district was paying attention. According to Ames, “They saw.” The district picked up funding where the anonymous grant left off.

Now Ames oversees the community facility workers along with Karen Kendall, director of the department of English-learner programs for the district.

They work with site liaisons, teachers and principals to help students and parents get involved and overcome obstacles that get in the way of education.

If that wasn’t good enough: The district is now one of the few in the nation with ASK, Advocates Supporting Kids, a federally funded program focusing on the educational and emotional needs of parents in the district.

But that program’s a whole other story.