*Example of translated flyers for Kealakehe, taken from the* *website*.

As Transformative Translations celebrates its 5th year, the program continues growing in its mission to uplift languages and empower their speakers. Since we last interviewed the director, Natalie Lalagos, in February of 2024 (check out the article here), the Transformative Translations team has added even more options for students, including expanding to another campus and adding another year of dual credit!

This year, ‘Ehunui became the newest addition to the program, which was already running successfully at Kealakehe High, Konawaena High, and Kaʻū High. This semester there are 45 active students across these four campuses, representing Marshallese, Samoan, Tagalog, Bisayan, Mandarin Chinese, Ilocano, Kosraean, Spanish, Pohnpeian, and Hawaiian!

*Interns answered questions during the celebratory potluck held earlier this semester for instructors, students, families, and friends of the program.*

With great help from their UH Hilo partners, Transformative Translations extended the dual credit component into two years, for a total of 4 semesters and 12 college credits. To help with the expanded program, a third instructor, Kauā Segundo, has joined professors Scott Saft and Leisy Wyman. Students still enjoy an annual visit to UH Hilo to meet their instructors, experience campus life, and speak to current college students.

Career Pathways for Participants

Now that the program is in its 5th year with 25 completed internships, they have alumni to brag about! One former program participant is currently studying for a court interpreter certification exam, and will rejoin Transformative Translations as an assistant to help Natalie manage the growing scope of Transformative Translations.

The court interpreter certification is an example of a lesser-known living-wage local career pathway that career explorers can benefit from learning about, even if they do not choose to pursue that option. Transformative Translations doesn’t just advocate for awareness of interpretive services and related career pathways, but also helps interested students prepare for and sit the exam. The certification qualifies students for a well-compensated local job that utilizes their interpretive skills to make an impact in the community, a win-win for everybody.

*Information about the Court Interpreters partnership was shared during the 5-year celebration.*

Inside Transformative Translations or out in the world, it is important that multilingual (and those who might someday be!) people see that their skills are valuable and helpful to the community. Many young people don’t get much opportunity to utilize their skills in academic or work settings until they reach high school and can join this program.

Newest internship

Inspired by a project that participants enjoyed last year, Natalie is adding a new type of internship to engage students in creating podcast episodes in their own languages. In addition to providing interns with paid work experience, she hopes the content that students create will help with the program’s goal of “elevating all the languages of our community.” Interns are free to create podcasts on topics of their choosing, working in groups or alone, along with help from mentors. The internship takes place outside of school hours, and interns will be expected to work on projects independently, but also regularly join virtual checkins and collaborate with their team. We really like this approach of providing support to student-led projects that should also benefit the community, with the flexibility to accommodate students’ preferences as they develop independent work skills.

Additionally, the internship application, the program itself, and the adult mentors will help students with more generalizable skills like preparing resumes, doing job interviews, and working remotely.

How you can help

While we’re excited by the new podcast program and its podcast-savvy mentors, Natalie is always on the lookout for more mentors from a variety of backgrounds. Mentors help students not just with translations, but with confidence, job skills, and connections.

You can also donate to the program’s fiscal sponsor 501(c)(3) organization, Friends of the Future. Additional funds help the program expand, meet student needs, offer scholarships and stipends, and take on new projects like this year’s podcasting effort.

Donate or Volunteer

Of course, their free community translation services remain a key component of the program. We’ve submitted to them a few times, and can confidently recommend the service quality! (Here are some more examples of their work.) You can submit text, audio, and video requests at their website:

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