Mayrani Romero Luna (Decatur High School, 2007) is a Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) certified medical interpreter with a fulltime staff position.

She says, "I have a great job that I love!"

Silvia Yanez (Tyee High School, 2008), also DSHS certified, is working fulltime as a freelance medical interpreter for three different interpreting agencies.

Elizabeth Arteaga (Highline High School, 2010) earned her DSHS certification a full year before she graduated from high school. She is looking forward to working for herself as a medical interpreter this summer.

These talented young people love being bilingual and bicultural. While in high school they all attended the Translation and Interpretation Program at the Puget Sound Skills Center (PSSC) in Burien.

This program is for bilingual high school juniors and seniors in the Highline, Tukwila, Tahoma and Federal Way school districts.

Students who take this program learned to speak a language other than English at home or growing up in another country. Some sign up for the Translation and Interpretation Program because they are already interpreting for family members and they want to become better at it.

Others have heard that participation in the class is a good way to improve reading, writing and speaking skills in both of their languages.

These skills give students a leg up in other career paths as well. Daniel Luna (Mt. Rainier High School, 2011) realizes that there is a need for bilingual teachers; he plans to go to college to become an elementary school teacher.

Mitzi Gonzalez (Foster High School, 2010) wants to go to college to become a bilingual nurse and Shani Patrick (Foster High School, 2007) uses her language skills tutoring international students at a community college to help pay her way at Seattle University.

Romero says, "The Translation and Interpretation Program definitely helped me get my job. You have to know what to do and what not to do."

Yanez agrees, "The Translation and Interpretation program prepares you to be a professional. I like the feeling of knowing that I'm helping others and doing a job that I like."

The program teaches bilingual students how to make maximum use of their language skills. At a time when jobs are scarce, graduates of the program are finding that they are well-qualified and getting hired for many exciting jobs.