Happy Holidays!
The UAD Board expresses thanks to our community in support of UAD to stay strong. We wish you a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
We encourage you to join UAD OR you can always donate money to UAD before end of year. It is 100% tax deductible. To join, go to uad.org and click on ‘Join Us’. To donate, contact Adele Sigoda at fab622@comcast.net
President’s Corner
The showing of ASL Films: Beyond the Embers, Vol. 1 was successful!. A total of 94 people attended. Money earned at this showing will go to the 2015 UAD biennial conference. Thank go to our community for their support.
UAD will host a Deaf owned production movie: “No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy” at Megaplex at Thanksgiving Point. The showing might be SOLD OUT before you want to attend. Don’t wait until last minute to make your reservations! See page 6 for the flyer. For more information, click on this link: http://www.tugg.com/events/11869
The next biennial conference will be held in Provo on October 16 and 17, 2015. Do save the date! Informational announcements will be posted soon through UAD Announce and UAD Bulletin. Do join us! We will have UTRID in partnership with the UAD at the conference.
We strongly encourage you to join UAD as a member and support UAD; membership strengthens the organization. UAD needs your voice and your opinion to help move it forward in the future. Membership is only $15 and is tax deductible.
We hope you will consider donating to UAD before the end of year. It is 100% tax deductible.
To join, go to uad.org and click on ‘Join Us’. To donate, contact Adele Sigoda at fab622@comcast.net
We wish you and family a wonderful holidays and Happy New Year!
Philippe Montalette
President
pmontalette@me.com
Obituary
October 28, 2014 – Anna Robinson passed away in Post Falls, ID, in her early 40s. She lost her voice due to a booster shot reaction, but could hear. She had lived in Utah about three years, and made beautiful quilts. The funeral and burial took place in Spokane, WA.
October 30, 2014 – Cynthia Clark, 56, passed away at home after a long battle with an infection. Anyone who knew Cynthia fell in love with her amazing spirit and kind heart. She loved hummingbirds, playing games like Words with Friends on her tablet, spending time at the family cabin, and watching movies with her family and friends. She graduated from East High School in 1978. Funeral took place in South Jordan with burial in Murray.
November 4, 2014 – Paula Dorton Tasselli, 60, passed away peacefully in Anchorage, AK. Paula grew up in Salt Lake City and attended East High School. She moved to Alaska on an adventure with a friend where she met her husband Charles Tasselli. Paula was a vibrant soul who enjoyed all things crafty especially sewing for her children who were her passion and delight. She always kept a big, healthy garden, spent summers exploring the Alaskan outdoors and had a reputation for being one of the best pool players in the area. A memorial service was held in Eagle River, AK.
UAD Announces Addition of Community News
Valerie Kinney
The Utah Association of the Deaf is happy to announce a new feature of UAD Announce: community news.
We would love to post announcements of all that is going on in the deaf community. The UAD Announce would be happy to have news like:
~ announcements of births, weddings, deaths
~ birthday, wedding and baptism celebrations
~ awards, achievements, promotions
~ people in the news (newspapers)
~ people moving out of or moving into the state
This would not be limited to deaf people – interpreters, teachers of the deaf, anyone who has ties to the deaf community are welcome to use this feature.
For the news above, you can post it at uad.org. Announcements must be posted by 9:00 pm to ensure appearance the next morning. We have added a new category, Community News. Be sure your category choices include this new category. For instructions on how to post your announcement, contact Valerie Kinney. Email address is at the end of this announcement.
The above news would be included in the UAD Bulletin as well!
For the UAD Bulletin only (Jottings column) – information sent directly to Valerie Kinney. Email is at end of this announcement:
~ change of email addresses
~ change of physical addresses
~ change of phone numbers
Questions? Contact Valerie Kinney at 801-784-6962 or valerie.g.kinney@gmail.com.
December 2014 Holidays
7 Pearl Harbor Day
16 Chanukah lasts 8 days
21 Winter Solstice
25 Christmas Day
26 Boxing Day
31 New Year’s Eve
Jean Massieu School News
Aimee Breinholt
This has been a month full of scientific learning. Our students have participated in our school wide science fair. Students displayed their science projects and answered questions as the judges made their decisions. Our science fair winners will be announced the first Monday back from our Thanksgiving break. We are excited to have some participate in the state science fair. In addition to this all students had the opportunity to participate in a science day organized by David Oyler. We had a variety of activities from falcons and hawks to satellites, slime, and funny photography. It was a GREAT day!
Our first family night activity was held the second Thursday of November. This event was planned and coordinated with the Deaf community and JMS. Sego Lily helped teach our parenting class, PTA provided dinner, and several people pitched in to help with the activities for the kids. Our next Family Night Activity will be December 11th from 6-8pm at the Deaf Center. It will be our Winter Social. Please join us for dinner and great company. If anyone is interested in helping out, we are always looking for volunteers.
We are thrilled to announce Wade Hester as our new Athletic Director. He has jumped right in with the beginning of our basketball season. Our boys’ team has four games in December. We would love to have you join us for our home game at the Deaf Center on December 19th. The JV game starts at 5:30pm and the varsity at 7:00pm. Our girls’ team is anticipating three December games with two of them being home games at the Deaf Center. The two home games are December 2nd at 5:00pm and December 3rd at 5:30pm. Please come cheer our teams on to victory!
We cordially invite you to join us for our annual winter program. It will be held December 19th at JMS. This is an opportunity for our students to show you what they have been working on and celebrate the season.
JMS is looking to fill a couple of positions. We have a part-time aide position open. Please spread the word. Applications are being accepted online at http://jobs.utah.gov. We have a position for an auditory habilitationist who will help provide speech services for our students. Please watch for this job announcement. We rely on your support in spreading the word so we can fill these positions as quickly as possible.
Once again I want to emphasize that we love your involvement and thank you for your support!
Utah State Office of Education
Glenna Gallo
The Utah State Office of Education Special Education Services section supports school districts, charter schools, and the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind (USDB) in providing specialized instruction to students who are deaf and hard of hearing. The deaf community is a powerful advocate on behalf of students; this advocating results in improvements to the educational system and culture for all students.
We share a common goal: to improve educational outcomes for students, and this goal becomes more achievable and attainable when we work together to address areas of need. I invite you to engage in proactive ongoing communication with my section, USDB, and the USOE in a variety of ways, to discuss items that are both positive and in need of attention.
Please provide that input through emails, and in person, at either Utah State Special Education Advisory Panel (USEAP)or USDB Advisory Council meetings and Utah State Board of Education meetings.
Utah School for the Deaf News
Michelle Tanner
November has been a busy month for me; spent collaborating with many stakeholders and working on several projects to help improve deaf education in the State of Utah. I have had several meetings with individuals at the State Office of Education, met with several local community members, attended the ASL Round Table with several others from schools for the deaf across the nation and Canada, as well as participated in the strategic planning event for the Sanderson Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It is important that we address our needs locally and understand what is happening across the nation in the field of deaf education.
At USDB we value interpreters and want to do our part of elevate the status of this needed profession; as it benefits our students. One of the areas that I would like to promote is the continued professional learning of our educational interpreters. This year the goal is to offer professional development training for educational interpreters each month. In an attempt to achieve that goal, our educational interpreters attended a training provided by Peter Cook in September. In October, they were provided a webinar training on expansion techniques. In November, all educational interpreters were invited to an ethics training provided by Valerie Sturm at JMS. In December there will be another webinar, “Making Your Interpretation Dynamic: Incorporating Classifiers” for all educational interpreters. We anticipate there will be many more to follow throughout the school year. It is my hope that these trainings will continue to raise the bar and improve the quality of educational interpreters throughout the state.
I am hopeful that this professionalism will entice more interpreters to seek employment at USDB. We currently have several open positions. Although our pay is slightly less than the public sector, we offer fantastic benefits and steady hours. If anyone is interested in these or other positions at USDB, please go to the state jobs website at http://statejobs.utah.gov/ and search under the category of “Education” for all locations. We are considered part of department “400 – Utah State Board of Education.” We are looking for quality people to work with the students we cherish.
Thornsberrys Move to Alabama
Valerie Kinney
After seven years in Utah, the Thornsberrys – Kimberly, Brian and Ty – have pulled up roots and moved to Huntsville, Alabama. Kimberly has accepted a job as a mental health therapist, working in the Huntsville area, covering Region 1 counties. She hopes to expand her professional experiences and seek an associate counseling license. She looks forward to learning from experienced mental health professionals working with deaf/hard of hearing and deafblind populations. Once Ty, who is 8, is settled in at school, Brian plans to seek employment. He hopes to work with deaf and hard of hearing students in a school setting.
You might ask, why move to Alabama? Kimberly loves Alabama and her dream was one day to move back there as her father and step mom live in Russellville, about 45 minutes away from Huntsville. They have family land in Hackleburg which is about 30 minutes south of Russellville. Brian and Kimberly hope to build a cabin someday on the family land.
Brian’s family is in Idaho. Kimberly is originally from Michigan and spent summer months and winter breaks visiting with her dad and stepmom in Alabama. During undergraduate and graduate studies, she lived in Washington, DC, Oregon, Idaho, and Arizona prior to Utah.
July 2007 is when Kimberly started working as a case manager at the Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Her last day was November 7 as a case manager and clinical mental health counseling student intern. Her highlight of her years at the center was working with a wonderful team and to provide the best services possible to the deaf and hard of hearing population in Utah. Part of her is happy to go back to her home state but another part of her is heartbroken about leaving a wonderful work place and the many friends they made in Utah. Both Brian and Kimberly feel that it is in the best interest of the family to expand their professional opportunities.
Not to be forgotten, their daughter Stormi, 19, recently visited Ireland and flew back to the United States before Thanksgiving. She will resume her studies at Boise State University as a junior this January. Kimberly and Brian will visit with her in Idaho and she will come home to Alabama to visit.
No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie
Hosted by Utah Association of the Deaf
Thursday, December 04 6:30PM – 7:58PM
at Megaplex Lehi at Thanksgiving Point
2935 Thanksgiving Way, Lehi, UT, US, 84043 (map)
$10.00 General Admission
• Movie presentation of No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie
When a deaf actor who plays a superhero on television looks beyond his cape to influence a deaf boy to redefine what “being normal” means, he also finds inspiration to transform himself.
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