Teachers and students walk to the entrance at the Mattahunt Elementary School in Boston's Mattapan before the day's start on Dec. 14, 2020. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Growing up in Vero Beach, Florida, I acted as a translator between my mother and my teachers. My mom, a native Haitian-Creole speaker, was still learning English and my school didn’t have staff able to speak our home language. I even acted as a translator during parent-teacher conferences. Looking back, I can see that this need for translation resources created a barrier to a better education for me and countless other children.