There are many students and families from all over the world at the school, and some of them do not speak English. That is where Mr. Jimmy Carrasquillo comes in.Mr. Carrasquillo comes in as the Hispanic Family Liaison at the school. He translates and helps those students and families to make their time at the school better.

Mr. Carrasquillo has been working at the school for five years. He works with students or families who do not speak fluent English and helps them with things like answering their questions, translating and making them feel more comfortable at the school.

Mr. Carrasquillo own parents spoke spanish and did not speak english, so he grew up speaking Spanish. This helped him to become a Hispanic Family Liaison.

“My grandfather was the one who made me speak Spanish,”  Mr. Carrasquillo said . “One of the first languages I learned was Spanish.”

With a large amount of diversity in the United States, and the school alone, many students experience many different nationalities on a daily basis. According to the school profile, the school in 34.4% hispanic.

“I think we have great diversity … I think overall it is a pretty good representation of not just the county, but our country in general, just because we do have a lot of different nationalities,” Mr. Carrasquillo said.

Although Arlington and the school are very diverse, the majority still speak English, so it can be overwhelming for students and their families to come to the school not speaking English fluently.

“[I] try to make sure that some of these parents and some of these families do not struggle and have at least the same opportunities that other families do,” Mr. Carrasquillo said.

Mr. Carrasquillo does not only help students, but he also helps teachers. Many of the teachers at school do not speak Spanish, while some of their students do not speak English. Mr. Carrasquillo translates things the teachers say for the students, connects with parents and helps students feel comfortable talking with him.

“I have about 30 students that do not speak English fluently, but about 60 whose parents do not communicate in English. Mr. Carrasquillo is key in connecting me with those parents, regardless of language,”  Ms. Hope Bolfek, a High Intensity Language Training (HILT) teacher, said.

Mr. Carrasquillo is not just the Hispanic Family Liaison at the school, he is also the boys varsity soccer coach. Mr. Carrasquillo has played soccer all his life and even played professional soccer for a year in South America, in Ecuador.

“If I am not playing soccer, I am watching it. And if I am not watching it, I am coaching it,” Mr. Carrasquillo said.

In 2016, the boy’s varsity soccer team at the school won the State Championship, with Mr. Carrasquillo as the head coach.

“It’s something that you talk about and think about, but [you are] not sure if you are ever [going to] achieve it … so when it finally happened it was something I was really proud of,” Mr. Carrasquillo said.

Both of Mr. Carrasquillo’s jobs are very different, but there are some connections between the two. According to Mr. Carrasquillo, in both jobs he tries to make sure everyone understands what he is saying, whether it is at a soccer practice or with parents who do not speak English.  

”More so than anything being available to them and being understanding that not everybody does things the same way and so kind of being open to kind of how they see things and how they maybe want to try to do things, whether it’s students or the parents,” Mr. Carrasquillo said.

Mr. Carrasquillo does not just coach boys. He is also the assistant coach at Bishop O’Connell High School for the varsity girls soccer team. Mr. Carrasquillo explained how it is a different environment l because O’Connell is a private catholic high school and because he is coaching girls there.

This school welcomes families from all over the world and Mr. Carrasquillo helps teachers, students, and their families to make this school a better place. He does it not only for the people who speak Spanish, but everyone.

“Just watching the students grow, watching you guys, you know, your successes, your failures and how you grow and just kind of helping you guide through that and help you push you along to the next adventure in life,” Mr. Carrasquillo said.