See the Benefits of School Outreach
ATA's School Outreach Program encourages professional translators and interpreters to visit classrooms—in person or virtually—and share their passion for language with students. We make it easy by offering presentation materials, tips, photos, and stories!
Attention Teachers and Students!
Would you like to request a visit to your classroom? Contact the School Outreach Program Coordinator at schooloutreach@atanet.org.
Understanding the Value of Educating the Public
In classrooms from grade school to graduate school, you can find the next generation of language professionals and the next generation of clients. The more these future doctors, lawyers, and business owners know about our field, the more likely they'll appreciate the importance of our work.
School Outreach Contest
Giving students a peek inside the profession is fun and rewarding. By sharing your story, you could win a free registration to the ATA Annual Conference!
Birgit Vosseler-Brehmer, winner of ATA’s 2012 School Outreach Contest, recalls that the idea of speaking to an 11th-grade English class at the Kurfürst-Salentin Gymnasium was daunting. But she was committed to getting translation career information in front of the students. “I remembered myself when I was young and didn’t have enough personal input on choosing…
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Marcelo Pelliccioni was the winner of the 2011 ATA School Outreach Contest. As a teacher at the Bristol Middle School in Connecticut, Marcelo knew that a few props would go a long way. He came to the classroom with a lab coat and a stethoscope to explain medical interpreting, a gavel and a gown to…
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Ana Safrin, an English>Brazilian Portuguese freelance translator in Cooper City, Florida, was the winner of ATA’s 2010 School Outreach Contest. Ana spoke with second- and third-graders during a career day. With a “show-me” strategy, she brought a copy of a popular children’s book and its Portuguese translation. When the students looked at the source and…
Read MoreThe ABCs of School Outreach
Get tips on what to say and how to say it, sample presentations you can customize, handouts for teachers, and an "extra credit" section with ideas to go beyond the classroom.
Making the Grade
For each grade level, you’ll find scripts, slides, handouts, and exercises for making it fun and interactive.
ATA-Certified Translators Earn CEPs
Earn 1 CEPs for each 1-hour presentation, up to 10 CEPs for each reporting period. Refer to Category E: Volunteerism. You may combine the total minutes of several presentations to reach the 1-hour mark, and no advance approval is required.