For as long as she can remember, Thompson School District sign language interpreter Tina Carey has always been drawn to helping people with unique needs and challenges.
“I had a family member with special needs who was very near and dear to my heart,” Tina says. “Everybody just supported him and encouraged him to do more than what was expected. I learned at a young age to be empathetic and caring and kind.”
Tina has been part of TSD for almost 24 years, initially working as a paraprofessional in classrooms with students who had special needs. As a para, Tina would use sign language to communicate with students who were non-verbal, which inspired her to enroll in a program to become an Authorized Sign Language Interpreter. Later, she obtained her certification from the Colorado Department of Education so that she could interpret for students in classrooms.
“Interpreters have a very in-depth role,” Tina explains. “We’re supporting students in having confidence and building self-advocacy. To provide the student equal access, we need to be listening at all times and provide interpreting whenever needed.”
For an interpreter in the classroom, this means that Tina (and other interpreters like her) are assigned to one student, who they then shadow throughout the school day, providing interpretation for that student in their classes, as well as supporting them during social interactions such as lunchtime, if needed. She has spent much of her time as an interpreter at Bill Reed Middle School, although interpreters in the district can move around to different schools depending on where there is a need for their services.
“All the students we work with are different; no two are the same,” Tina says. “You learn from them, they learn from you. We are always paying attention to what our student is doing, seeing if there’s conversation happening, or anything happening that we can provide support in.”
Tina Carey Connects Students Through Sign and Support
Tina’s co-worker Heather Hanks, an art teacher and Loveland-area Integrated School of the Arts (LISA) coordinator at BRMS, says that the school couldn’t ask for a better interpreter than Tina.
“Tina is everything a school and staff could hope for in a co-worker,” Heather says. “She is hardworking, innovative, thoughtful, and always up for some fun. Tina is committed to her role as an interpreter and goes above and beyond to provide opportunities to collaborate and share the experience of sign language.”
In addition to interpreting, Tina leads a small club at BRMS called Sign Social, where she teaches kids how to use sign language. She also works with students as an after-school arts instructor with the LISA program, leading them in projects such as jewelry making, bath bombs, personalized journals, and resin work.
“Art was very important to me growing up — a saving grace,” Tina says. “It’s something special to me that as an adult I want to share with kids.”
Her commitment to students is evident in her office, where she keeps a bulletin board covered with pictures of the students she has worked with, many of whom she still keeps in touch with today.
“BRMS students, staff, and families are lucky to get to work with Tina Carey,” Heather says. “I am thankful every day for her friendship, unwavering support, and limitless arts enthusiasm.”
For Tina, that dedication to her job and to her students is second nature and is vitally important to providing deaf and hard-of-hearing students with the educational experiences they deserve.
“I see myself in almost every single student that I work with,” Tina says. “It’s important to me to provide them with a solid foundation, not just with interpreting educationally, but socially. There’s those little things that happen through the day they may miss. You take the opportunity to share with them so they don’t feel isolated.”
