Audita Brockett loves her job as a Spanish interpreter for the Renton School District because she says she was once one of those students who needed help.

She moved from Chile to the United States with her parents when she was 11 years old and didn’t speak much English.

“I learned the language and learned how to adjust in school,” she said. “So, that’s why I love interpreting because I know what those families are going through; I know what the student goes through.”

Brockett has worked in the district for 11 years and recently was awarded Outstanding District Support Person for her work districtwide as a translator and interpreter.

Second to English, Spanish has been the top language spoken by families in the district for the last five years. It is followed by Vietnamese, Somali, Cantonese, Tagalog, Russian, Ukrainian, Punjabi, Romanian and Cambodian.

They all make up the top 10 languages spoken by families in the district, although there are some 80 different languages spoken by families total.

Accommodating all the different languages in the district is a challenge, said Vickie Damon, director of categorical programs for the district.

“I don’t think any school district in Washington state is at the level that they would like to be, reaching all of the families in a second language that our parents speak,” said Damon.

It is a challenge and complex issue, she said, because the district must find its own resources and funds to make that communication and outreach happen.

“It’s very complex because the federal government or the state government, they say that it’s the school district’s responsibility to communicate  with all parents as it is,” said Damon. “But, there are no funds set aside for that specific purpose.”

Because there are so many more families that speak Spanish than all the other languages in the Renton School District, the district created a resource hotline in 2004.

Brockett has been the friendly voice on the line, interpreting information for Spanish-speaking parents and providing a bridge for staff to reach families since the hotline’s inception.

Last year there were almost 2,000 calls to the hotline. In school year 2010-2011 there were 838 calls and in 2009-2010 there were 693 calls.

The district started the hotline at just three hours a day, twice a week. But, demand has taken it to now five hours a day, five days a week.

It is a free service to parents and it is Brockett’s job to communicate for them with teachers, administrative staff, transportation and nutrition services.

Attendance and academic concerns are the most common calls Brockett handles.

Recently a middle school called her because a student was absent for three days. Brockett was able to contact the family and determine the student was home sick because of health issues and needed accommodations at school.

The school would not have known this otherwise because the parents only speak Spanish.

She also explains cultural differences in the education system here in the United States in comparison to Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, where a many families in the district are from.

“So because a student brings home an ‘A,’ they don’t know what that means; for them it’s a grade, but they don’t know,” said Brockett. “If a student gets an ‘F’, they don’t know it’s a bad grade.”

Brockett believes the district is doing a good job of reaching out to Spanish-speaking families with parent involvement meetings once a month at the middle schools.

Parents are taught the grading system and where to go for after school resources.

When she’s not on the hotline, Brockett is traveling between schools interpreting for special education programs.

Her purse looks like a portable file cabinet bulging with color-coded folders of resource information.

Separate from her work with the district, Brockett volunteers with the Public Health – Seattle and King County as a public health promoter.

Should parents ask, she is ready with community-wide information as well.

What she most wants people to understand about Spanish-speaking families is that they care a lot about education.

“They want the best for their children,” Brockett said. “They’re here because they want their children to succeed. They want them to have a career, a better life than they did.”

Spanish-speaking parents are very involved in their children’s lives, she said.

Brockett has followed many families through their journey with the district until they are self-sufficient.

“As fast as they come in, as fast as they exit because they learn the language, they learn the system and then they advocate for their children on their own,” she said.