{"id":10568,"date":"2022-11-09T10:32:26","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T15:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=10568"},"modified":"2022-11-10T08:59:11","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T13:59:11","slug":"inaugural-deaf-night-at-school-celebrates-inclusiveness-and-promotes-resources-available-to-our-deaf-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/inaugural-deaf-night-at-school-celebrates-inclusiveness-and-promotes-resources-available-to-our-deaf-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural \u2018Deaf Night at School\u2019 celebrates inclusiveness and promotes resources available to our Deaf community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2013by Svetla Tomanova<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On a late October day, Corporate Landing Middle \u201copened its doors\u201d for the inaugural \u201cDeaf Night at School,\u201d which was hosted by the school\u2019s Deaf and Hard of Hearing department. The event was inspired by the desire to build community, promote awareness of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) organizations and resources, share Deaf culture and encourage students to consider careers in DHH fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DHH students are as integral a part of our school as are any other students,\u201d said Principal Robert Yoshida during his remarks. \u201cYou can see how quickly relationships blossom between the students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruth Marcial, who is Deaf herself, a longtime Deaf community advocate and a parent of a DHH daughter, came to support the program and community and shared her take on the event.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the hearing world and Deaf\/Hard of Hearing world to be able to mingle and interact with one another in events such as this,\u201d said Marcial. \u201cI want my daughter to be proud of where she came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Led by sixth, seventh and eighth graders, the organizers offered a cotton ball toss, door prizes and an enjoyable family atmosphere to over 200 participants. The event was open to all Virginia Beach City Public Schools students and families. Volunteers from the National Junior Honor Society assisted with the setup.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Kathryn Russell with her son exploring resources offered by the Jefferson Lab. Her daughter has been involved in the DHH program for over five years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Families visited informational booths from the following organizations that offer free resources: Virginia Department of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH), Office of Family and Community Engagement, Families to Families, Technical Assistance Center for Children Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind (VSDB) Outreach, Jefferson Lab, division\u2019s Audiology and Interpreting Services offices, Colley Family and many others. They learned about DHH organizations and resources from all around the state too. They played games led by the American Sign Language (ASL) and Service Club members. And they talked to one another while having fun.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that the Deaf community has access to resources and stay supportive of one another,\u201d added Marcial.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s precisely what brought Kathryn Russell and her family to the event, she said. In addition to gaining more resources and interactions, Russell wanted to see how her daughter, who is a DHH student at Corporate Landing, \u201cfeels from it and what she will gain from tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of Bayside High School students who were interested in ASL interpreting careers came not only to show their appreciation to the Deaf community but also to explore the resources \u2013 as anybody else.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Guest speaker, Luke Colley, shared his five middle and high school survival tips.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first guest speaker, Eric Raff with VDDHH, had this appeal to the students: study sign language diligently and get involved in volunteering.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up I had no interpreters, no note-takers, no technology,\u201d said Raff. \u201cToday, you have video relay services offered by VDDHH that will enable you to communicate with standard telephone users.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Guest speaker Asia Riedinger Heath<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaker Asia Riedinger Heath offered these five ways of communicating with Deaf people: the most universal way is to write, use your phone note app, express yourself by gestures, lipread, and if you know any sign language \u2013 use it.<\/p>\n

Before COVID upended our reality, Brita Hampton, department chair of the DHH program, was instrumental in building \u201cDeaf Science Camp\u201d at Jefferson Lab. She also partnered with VSDB Outreach department to host \u201cScience Days\u201d around the state. The idea for \u201cDeaf Night at School\u201d was formulated after those two initial events. COVID halted Hampton\u2019s plans until this past summer when she started planning it in earnest. When asked if she plans another \u201cDeaf Night at School,\u201d she spoke categorically: Yes, most definitely there is one coming up in spring and another one in fall of 2023.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe success of this event will drive the planning for the next one,\u201d said Yoshida. \u201cAnd it is evident that everyone wants to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

We all walked away energized and with an eye to the next event. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n

For information on the next \u201cDeaf Night at School,\u201d please reach out to Brita Hampton at <\/em>Brita.Hampton@vbschools.com<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2013by Svetla Tomanova On a late October day, Corporate Landing Middle \u201copened its doors\u201d for the inaugural \u201cDeaf Night at School,\u201d which was hosted by the school\u2019s Deaf and Hard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10568"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10580,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10568\/revisions\/10580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}