Thursday, October 15, 2015

Culture of Excellence Award: Kendrick Chiles


L-R Dent Middle School Assistant Principal Tamala Ashford, R2 Superintendent Debbie Hamm, Kendrick Chiles and Marianne Preudhomme 

On the first day the 2015-2016 school year District Technology Support Technician Kendrick Chiles came to rescue of parent Marianne Preudhomme. As she was picking up her child at Blythewood Middle School, bystanders alerted Marianne that her car was rolling backwards in the carpool lane. Without hesitation, Kendrick asked her to throw him the keys, and he sprinted off after the car. He chased it down for nearly two blocks and was able to hop in and stop it as it approached a a curb and a post. His quick actions prevented a car accident and potential injury.

Monday, October 12, 2015

A Day in the Life of a Student Interpreter Recap

Denis Heidi Amanda Maria

By the middle of the first week of October, student interpreter Denis has given several tours to new students in Spanish, translated a parent letter and interpreted a phone conversation. Denis is one of 13 student interpreter who work at Richland Northeast and Spring Valley high schools, helping to bridge the language barrier between English and non-English-speakers. Nearly 8 percent of Richland Two's more than 27,000 students are Hispanic.

Denis didn't have access to an interpreter when she learned English in early elementary school in another state but wishes she had. She says the students and families she helps appreciate the effort.

"They feel more comfortable having someone who speaks their language, and it makes them open up to us more," she says.

Denis begins first period on Thursday, October 1, making runs for the Richland Northeast High Counseling Department. When she returns, Iris another interpreter, is on the phone with a parent. She lists the documents she will need to bring to the office to withdraw her son.

During the next period, senior, Heidi, spends some time interpreting for a student in class. The sophomore speaks very little English. Her teacher, Ms. Doyle says Heidi has been "an invaluable asset," to the student's improvement.

The English II class breaks into teams of two for a project. Following a list of questions on the whiteboard, students interview each other and then introduce their partner. Heidi kneels down next to the student's desk and speaks clearly into the student's ear. When it's time to present, the student gives her report in Spanish, and then Heidi translates. When she returns to the office, she immediately begins making phone calls scheduling appointments for families to pick up their Kajeet hotspot.

Later, she says she remembers what it was like to be surrounded by people speaking a language she didn't understand and is glad to be able to help students in that position now.

During lunch at Spring Valley High, district Hispanic Family Liaison Ron Huff conducts a training for the student interpreters. He encourages the group to practice shadowing, repeating speech verbatim in their target language, at least once every other day for 15 minutes. It's preparation for simultaneous interpretation, a highly specialized area of translations, which requires accurate and complete translation, orally and at the same rate of speech as the speaker, with only a few seconds of lag time. This is the goal for each of the interpreters. An upcoming assignment requires students to read and translate an article about shadowing.

The group runs through a scenario with various students playing the role of student, interpreter and non-English speaking school official. "You can look directly at her," Mr. Huff tells a student and then turns to the rest of the group. "Remember that you as the interpreter make the other person present in the conversation." Mr. Huff then demonstrates simultaneous interpretation. After, students note that it seemed to take less time and felt more like a real conversation.

During fifth period in the School Counseling Department, junior Maria starts to work on Mr. Huff's assignment. She grew up speaking both English and Spanish at home and dreaming of becoming an interpreter.

"Being bilingual, to me, is a gift. It doesn’t matter what language you may know. Wherever you go someone may not know English and may need an interpreter," she says. "I am glad to be a part of this program, and I hope to help many families this school year."

She and senior Amanda spend a portion of sixth period scheduling appointments for families to pick up their Kajeet hotspot. Amanda steps out to take a phone call on the Counseling line from parent looking for details about an upcoming event.

"I've been waiting for a program like this to start," Maria says. "When Ms. Ham told me about this, I was really excited because I knew I was going to be a part of it."

The girls discuss the test interpreters take to get certified. Amanda proudly shows off her certificate from LanguageLine Solutions, noting that she was just a few points from the professional level (5). To be eligible for the district student interpreters program, students must earn at least a 3 on the test. Five is the highest score. Amanda too has realized the benefit of being bilingual and hopes to use it to travel the world and learn about other cultures.

"I would also like to get my medical interpretation certificate next year with the goal of later obtaining the legal interpretation certification," says Amanda. She also studies French and plans to take up Mandarin in college.

Back in the Spring Valley Guidance conference room, the girls try simultaneous interpreting for the first time with Mr. Huff's guidance. After, he commends Maria for not getting flustered when she couldn't remember the translation of a particular word. "That's good. Because the other person is going to continue speaking, and you don't want to get stuck."

The student interpreters are one of six initiatives of Si Se Puede, an R2Innovates project whose mission is to extend efforts to equip staff and empower families, ensuring Latino student success. The name Si Se Puede translates to "Yes you can!" or "You can do it!​"

The other initiatives are:
  • Welcome Wagon - training front office staff in creating an inclusive environment 
  • Spanish for Educators - beginner and intermediate courses for teachers 
  • Fiesta Conexiones! - fall party to connect parents with school, district and local resources 
  • Latino Recruitment - seeking to hire a professional and support work staff that mirrors our community 
  • Spanish R2 App 

Below is the translators' day in photos. Visit our A Day in the Life album on Flickr to see more!


Friday, October 9, 2015

Schools on two-hour delay beginning October 12

Beginning, Monday, Oct. 12, school will start on a two-hour delay. This delay will last at least
through the week. Three-year old half-day classes are canceled during this two-hour delay.


A two-hour delay means:
If your school normally starts at 8, it will now start at 10 a.m. Dismissal times remain the same.

Bus pick-up times are delayed at least by two hours. Due to the numerous road closures, multiple bus routes have been adjusted. Click here to access information on changes to bus routes.


There will be bus delays. Please be patient and safe. There will be congestion on roads due to multiple road closures. Remember, do not drive around or move any barricades. Families of car riders and student drivers, check your route to school by clicking on the links below to maps that show road closures.


Breakfast will be available and lunch will be served. For schools impacted by the boil-water advisory, bottled water will be provided.

If the two-hour delay creates a hardship for families, limited staff will be available so that schools can open their doors at the normal time.

Returning to a familiar routine after a natural disaster is important for our students. As always safety is our number one priority. Thank you for working with us as we strive to get our students back in school safely.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Update on facilities, property, transportation routes and other issues in Richland School District Two as of Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015

Since Monday, Richland Two Operations Department and school custodial staff have been checking buildings and campuses to assess damage from what is being reported as a 1,000-year rain storm. Overall, district building facilities fared very well. While there has been erosion on some athletic fields and water damage around facilities, only minor leaks have been found in a few rooms in a few buildings. Some cleanup was required where rain had blown in under doors.
Damage to district property includes:

Athletic facilities at Ridge View High School: Three washouts have occurred. The first two were discovered on Sunday. One encompasses a substantial area between an upper and lower practice field. The other is located in an area leading from the upper practice field down to the softball field. On Monday staff found a washout at the track on the upper competition field and beneath the visitor stands. This washout is located along the fence above the baseball field.

Both of these erosion sites are located between the upper and lower athletic fields. They are not near the school building and pose no threat to the structural integrity of the building.

Students and school staff will be kept away from the areas, which have been clearly marked off.

Operations staff met with a civil engineer and a contractor on Tuesday to assess the erosion damage. 

The civil engineer is now putting together the necessary plans and drawings in order for the contractor to make the required repairs.

Athletic facilities at Spring Valley High School: A sinkhole has developed on the service road leading down to the football field and water damage has occurred on a practice field.

Parking lot at Support Services: A sinkhole has developed in the parking lot at the Special Services Transportation Hub.

Transportation
There are many damaged roads in our district. Sinkholes and washouts continue to develop and the list of road closures changes frequently. Road closures will require substantial changes to bus routes as well as the routes used by our employees and parents who drive their children to school. District transportation staff members are checking routes to determine viable options for re-routing. Information will be communicated to parents if changes require adjustments to locations of bus stops.

Water and Power
At this time, all of our schools have power and running water, but the water is not drinkable as we are still under a boil-water advisory. Therefore, the district is securing bottle water for drinking if needed when we return to school.

Meals Provided Oct. 8 and Oct. 9
Richland School District Two Food Services, operated by Sodexo, will open sites to provide meals to Richland Two students while schools are closed because of the flooding in the Midlands area. This service is similar to the district’s summer feeding program.
Meals will be served from 8-9 a.m. and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, and Friday, Oct. 9, in the cafeterias at Bethel-Hanberry Elementary, Bridge Creek Elementary, Conder Elementary, Dent Middle, Forest Lake Elementary, Keels Elementary, Killian Elementary, Sandlapper Elementary, Summit Parkway Middle and Windsor Elementary. The sites were selected based on locations that students and their families could travel to safely either by walking or driving a short distance.
Families impacted by the flood will also be able to talk with district staff from Learning Support Services at these sites.

Make-up Days
The three inclement weather make-up days built in the school calendar include: Feb. 15; March 25; and April 29. At this point, we have not finalized plans for how those days will be used and how to make up additional days. We will be sure to keep students, parents and employees informed.

Questions
You can send questions to the district via our website at: https://www.richland2.org/Pages/contact.aspx

Richland Two offers free meals to students

Richland School District Two Food Services, operated by Sodexo, will open sites to
provide meals to Richland Two students while schools are closed because of the flooding in the Midlands area. This service is similar to the district’s summer feeding program.


Meals will be served from 8–9 a.m. and 11 a.m.–1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, and Friday, Oct. 9, in the cafeterias at Bethel-Hanberry Elementary, Bridge Creek Elementary, Conder Elementary, Dent Middle, Forest Lake Elementary, Keels Elementary, Killian Elementary, Sandlapper Elementary, Summit Parkway Middle and Windsor Elementary. The sites were selected based on locations that students and their families could travel to safely either by walking or driving a short distance. As always, safety is our number one priority.

Families impacted by the flood will also be able to talk with district staff from Learning Support Services at these sites.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

September 2015 Culture of Excellence Award winner Kendrick Chiles



L-R Dent Middle School Assistant Principal Tamala Ashford, R2 Superintendent Debbie Hamm, Kendrick Chiles and Marianne Preudhomme 
District Technology Support Technician Kendrick Chiles is the September 2015 Culture of Excellence Award winner.

On the first day of school (August 19, 2015) Chiles came to rescue of parent Marianne Preudhomme. As she was picking up her child at Blythewood Middle School, bystanders alerted Marianne that her car was rolling backwards in the carpool lane. Without hesitation, Kendrick asked her to throw him the keys, and he sprinted off after the car. He chased it down for nearly two blocks and was able to hop in and stop it as it approached a a curb and a post. His quick actions prevented a car accident and potential injury.

Winners receive a letter from the Superintendent, a plaque and are treated to a dinner for two at a restaurant of their choosing.

Do you know a Richland Two employee (required) who should receive this award? Download the form here!