Worcester Superintendent Meets Families at the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA

“I was delighted when I heard that the Worcester Superintendent, Dr. Rachel H. Monárrez wanted to meet with members of our community. When I realized that our community was made up of immigrants and refugees from different parts of the world and speaking several different languages, I became quite anxious. I didn’t know how we were going to pull that off as our families speak Vietnamese, Khmer, Dari, Arabic, Kharini and other Burmese languages.

I was relieved when staff from the Center for Health Impact (CHI) came prepared with United Nation style simultaneous Interpretation equipment and trained, multi-lingual interpreters.

Well, the superb CHI interpreters, SEACMA staff and communication enabling technology (provided by CHI) made the conversation between Dr. Monárrez and our families from Afghanistan, Burma, Vietnam, Nepal, and Cambodia flow with ease.

The parents and youth shared their concerns related to having enough resources and support from the WPS to be successful in their education. They also shared their hopes and dreams. Dr. Monárrez listened to feedback, answered some very lengthy questions and provided some innovative ideas.

The Southeast Asian Coalition community in Worcester thanks Dr. Monárrez for listening to our stories.

We want to let you know, Dr. Monárrez, that you can visit us anytime.”