Help immigrant families participate in their child’s education « I.S.A. – International Studies Academy San Francisco

Help immigrant families participate in their child’s education

By MOM Sunday March 7, 2010

Pepsi is hosting a competition and if we get the most votes the SF Public Schools Volunteer Interpreter Program will receive much-needed funding.

Vote today at http://www.refresheverything.com/volunteerinterpreters

Goals

Train volunteer interpreters in Spanish and Cantonese
Help Spanish/Cantonese speaking parents to communicate with schools
Increase parent involvement in schools

Overview
The Volunteer Interpreter Program provides a key service to parents who would not otherwise be able to communicate with teachers and staff at their children’s schools due to language barriers. We will train a cohort of volunteers in interpretation methods specifically suited to school settings in order to help bridge the communication gap between Spanish and Cantonese speaking families and the school district. The school district does not have the capacity to serve the hundreds of families whose primary language is Spanish or Cantonese. The San Francisco Education Fund will receive referrals from the San Francisco Unified School District when they have requests for interpreters. We will also promote the availability of interpretation services via school, District and community-wide communications.

How will the 25K be Used?
Budget Notes: Additional costs associated with the volunteer interpreter program include staffing, recruitment, and clearance and ongoing training of volunteers and program evaluation.
$ 15,000	Interpretation training for volunteers
$ 10,000	Volunteer outreach, placement, and support