During the Dec. 14 Board Meeting, we honored our Multilingual Department and their outsized contributions to our schools with our Champion for Students honor.

The Multilingual department, represented by family liaison Liz Vargas, and ELL specialist Carole Nase, as well as Director Kinsey Martin, helps to connect our multilingual families with our schools in many different ways and their efforts make a powerful, positive difference, in particular for many families who have been historically underserved.

We have nearly 45 staff members serving in this department, including over 30 specialists, 8 liaisons, as well as other roles like instructional coaches and professional translators. Between them all, staff on this team speak 7 languages fluently, and the team includes native speakers of English, Spanish, Finnish, Persian, and Mandarin.

These staff work to integrate multilingual families into our existing systems and schools, while also elevating, highlighting and recognizing the contributions and voices of these students and families.

Thank you, to all of the Multilingual Department staff members, for being advocates and assets. Thank you for building connection and engagement through culturally-responsive practices. Thank you for all the work you do behind the scenes to ensure that our multilingual students thrive in our schools. We are proud to work together to make Bend-La PIne Schools a place where every student feels a powerful sense of belonging and connection.

Thank you - Multilingual Department, you are our Champion for Students.