Dave Cotlove (far left) presented a special recognition to the board from the American Translators Association.

The American Translators Association (ATA) is a professional association of translators and interpreters with 8,500 members from over 60 countries. Last week, 1,600 people came to Seattle for the 46th Annual ATA Conference.

On Wednesday, November 9, representatives from the ATA came to Highline High School to meet our Student Interpreters and to present a special recognition to the Highline Public Schools "for its pioneering Student Interpreter program, which will serve as a model for community building in schools across the United States."

The award was delivered to the School Board at their regular meeting that evening. The presentation to the students appeared on the 10 p.m. FOX News.

Then, on Friday, Student Interpreters Antonio Manriquez, Chanthea Hong, Fatima Navarro, Lilia Hueso, Maria Ramos, Miguel Carrion and Phuong Nguyen attended a reception for interpreters at the Space Needle. They spent the evening exchanging stories with over 100 professional interpreters from all over the world.

And on Saturday, these students, as well as Denisse Lara and Ronald Carrion, answered questions on the Student Interpreter program at a conference session at the Westin Hotel.

And with all this going on, the students still found time to provide interpreting services at Seahurst Elementary's Family Literacy Night.

Contributed by Dave Cotlove

Students from Mount Rainier's Global Environmental Studies

While the teachers are hard at work developing teaching strategies and assessments, among other things, and other students are conducting research and writing papers, students from Global Environment Studies, a small learning community at Mount Rainier High School, opted to spend the most recent waiver day at Camp Waskowitz as part of an AmeriCorps project.

"I came on this trip because I really enjoy being out in nature and just doing some physical labor. In addition, I know that I am helping keep up Waskowitz and that I am being productive," said Allexa Laycock, a junior at Mount Rainier, as she reflected on her reasons for joining a team of students headed to Camp Waskowitz for the day on November 2.

Working with Roberta McFarland, Bill Crossman, Andy Cockle, and Chris Wilder, the event was organized by Bethany Dearborn. Bethany is an AmeriCorps member with Youth Volunteer Corps, assigned to Highline Public Schools for the year. Bethany and the students joined forces with Waskowitz Resident Manager Ron Meyer to tackle two projects. 

For these students, this choice for waiver day activities was an easy one - they were able to spend the day outside, working in the Waskowitz forests, giving back to a place they love. They all remember attending sixth grade camp at Waskowitz and wanted to go back to help restore a place full of fun memories. Sally Thrall, a junior at Mount Rainer, said she decided to volunteer because, "I want to make a difference to help others enjoy our environment as much as I do." Freshman Jordan Sears had a slightly different take on the project, "The reason I wanted to come on this trip was because I wanted to get a sense of helping on the trails and just to have fun."

The students were very productive, working in the forests surrounding the main camp. They carried old roof shingles from a pile down a hill, loaded them into wagons and hauled them back to camp to be stored for use as kindling throughout winter and spring. The students also nailed down tar shingles onto slippery boardwalks, providing better traction on the pathways. 

The project wasn't all hard labor, however. The students gained a deeper understanding of themselves and their surroundings through the project. "We got to identify and see the types of trees and forests that we have been studying," Laycock said. She also learned that she really likes working in a natural setting and learning to push herself physically. Junior Anthony Wede reflected that he developed strength and honor through this activity, as well as a greater understanding of the environment. Vincent Trang learned that he has "more stamina than expected" as well as how to identify a variety of trees in the forest. Freshman Vincent Marocco also enjoyed the project, meeting new people, and even the physically strenuous work. 

At the end of the day, Ron Meyer said, "Today confirmed that there are great kids in our schools. The leader and kids were great. All were hard workers. We ended with one project complete and a great start on a second. It was a great experience."

If you would like to learn more information about getting involved in Waiver Day Service Learning projects or have ideas for other project-based learning, please contact Bethany Dearborn: dearbobl@hsd401.org .

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