We’re excited to celebrate the first anniversary of The 9:30 Call en español.
As readers of this blog know, The 9:30 Call was launched in the early days of the pandemic as a statewide way to share information and support. Strategies for Children quickly took over the job of hosting the call.
Select to hear Harold Blanco and Paula Andrea Echeverri Durango.
As the pandemic ebbed, The 9:30 Call grew, becoming a communication tool that connected early educators, policymakers, funders, higher education, and local family-friendly businesses.
To reach Spanish-speaking early childhood educators, Strategies reached out to Harold Blanco and Paula Andrea Echeverri Durango, family child care educators and co-owners of Paula’s Barn, Inc.—Child Care in Springfield, Mass. Harold and Paula are alumni of Strategies’ Advocacy Network and co-founders of ECCHO-Latino, a new initiative that connects and informs Spanish-speaking early educators and family child care owners.
“The biggest surprise for me,” Harold says, “is that in the beginning when Strategies first spoke to us about the call, I thought we would host it two or three times.”
“Somebody reached out and said, Hopefully you’re going to have luck with this, because there were many other groups trying to do what you’re doing, and they didn’t succeed,” Paula adds.
Instead of just a few calls, the Spanish-language calls continued monthly, growing into a series: The 9:30 Call en español, which offers a welcoming safe space where early educators can connect, learn, share, and build community. Educators’ voices are amplified in their own native language, helping Strategies engage and inform Spanish-speaking educators in a more consistent, authentic, and meaningful way. Recordings of the calls are archived and shared in our YouTube playlist.
Harold praises The 9:30 Call en español for centering conversations in Spanish, explaining, “A lot of good information can be lost in translation.”
However, when the conversation is entirely in Spanish, it’s much easier for Spanish-speakers to understand and take advantage of resources. This was the case when Paola Tineo, CDA, a Project Specialist and Adjunct Professor at Urban College of Boston came to speak about the college’s programs for early educators.
Another popular call featured Mayra Rosado, Vice President of Business Development, and Doris Yepez, Incubator Director at Nurtury Early Education, who shared information about Nurtury’s business incubator for family child care educators.
As Strategies strives to make policy and advocacy content accessible in multiple languages, we rely on our multilingual advocates to lead the way. For example, it was Paula who raised the idea of providing translation services on The 9:30 Call when Amy Kershaw, commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care, was one of the speakers. Today, for Commissioner Kershaw’s monthly calls, live interpretation is provided in Spanish and Portuguese.
“We need to hear what they have to say in our own language,” Paula says of state education leaders. “What’s new in the field? What is their vision?”
Stay tuned. We’re excited to launch another year of The 9:30 Call en español. The next call, on Wednesday, March 19th, will feature Massachusetts State Representative Carlos González, who was recently named a Division Leader in the Massachusetts House, WWLP reports, adding González is the “first Latino from western Massachusetts to hold a leadership position in the House.”