Jean Massieu School News

Aimee Breinholt

Our school year is coming to a close.  We are excited for our high school graduates and wish them the very best as they venture forth.  We are also proud of all of our students’ accomplishments as they advance to the next grade.  Both teachers and students have earned a much anticipated summer break! 🙂

The summer months will bring lots of construction to JMS.  The roof on our building will be replaced this summer.  Because of this, our building will not be accessible through the summer months.  In addition to this, construction will start for the new USDB building here in SLC.  We anticipate the building will take a year to complete.

We are grateful to collaborate with and use the facilities at the Sanderson Deaf Center.  We have several summer camps for all ages planned throughout June, July and August.  These camps will be held at the Deaf Center.  The camps are posted on the community calendar.  You can also find registration information on our website, www.usdb.org.  We would love volunteers from the community to help make these camps a success for all deaf/hard-of-hearing students.  If you are interested in volunteering or need more information about these camps please contact me at aimeeb@usdb.org.

With the end of this school year, we are saying goodbye to some of our teachers.  Denise Warren and Dave Simmons are retiring.  We will miss them and wish them a very happy and well deserved retirement!  In addition to that Dan Wilson, Trisha Richards and David Aranda will not be returning to JMS next year.  We love our teachers and would like to thank them for all they have done.

We are very pleased to announce 3 new teachers that have been hired on for the coming school year.  Please help us welcome Meme Kerr, Jeanna Chiodo, and Brynn Roemen.  We are thrilled to have them join our staff.

Enjoy the summer months!

Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind News

Michelle Tanner

School is ending and the summer is about to begin.  As we wind down this school year, USD has accomplished many things.  We began this year with new players in many key positions.  I assumed the role of Associate Superintendent of the Deaf, Aimee Breinholt became the new Director for JMS, Adam Billings replaced Marilyn Madsen as the Director of the Deaf South Division.  USD now has a logo to represent our identity.  We have completed our school accreditation, in the above average range.  We have been actively developing plans for a new building on the Salt Lake Campus.  Our students won the WSBCC for the first time in 54 years.  Our teachers have attended various trainings to improve their performance as educators.  The legislature has approved funding for more positions; which we are still actively recruiting.  But, most importantly, our students have made academic gains that will prepare them for college or a career while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

During the summer USD will be hosting several camps for our students.  We are partnering with the Sanderson Center to provide a basketball camp.  Other camps include drama, cheerleading, dance, adventure camp, independent living camp and reading clinics.  Our teachers and interpreters will be attending trainings to continue to improve upon their skills.

For those few remaining opening teaching positions, please send a resume and letter of interest to Carol DeRosier at carold@usdb.org.  We would love to interview all the quality applicants for these positions.

Thank you for all your support of USD!  Now it is time to get ready for the 2015-16 school year.

President’s Corner

Utah Association of the Deaf will host a documentary film by DeafNation on Thursday, June 18 at 7:00 pm. It is called “Deaf People in Havana.” The film will be shown at the Sanderson Community Center. Admission is FREE for everyone attending.  Donations would be appreciated for 2015 UAD conference.  More information is on page 6.  Hope to see you there!

The 2015 UAD biennial conference will be held in Provo October 16 and 17. Do save the date! Informational announcements will be posted through UAD Announce and UAD Bulletin. Do join us!  UAD and UTRID are partnering for this conference.  We have posted ticket prices in advance for the conference.  We offer different plans such as early bird and seniors/students. Check it out on the UAD website.

We are partnering with the Sanderson Community Center to host a legislative training for the first time. It will be on Saturday, November 14 from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. Check the flyer on page 10 for more information. It is FREE. It is a huge benefit for you to learn how to build relationships with important people in your area.  Don’t miss it out on it.  Lunch will be provided.

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 a year and is tax deductible.  To join, go to uad.org and click on ‘Join Us.’

Donations to UAD are always appreciated. To donate, contact Adele Sigoda at fab622@comcast.net.

Philippe Montalette, 
President
pmontalette@me.com

To a Higher Glory

May 8, 2015 – Virginia Brown Barish, 76, passed away in Surprise, AZ. A memorial service was held at the Surprise Church of Christ in the same town. She leaves her husband, Harold, and her sons, Jed and Joel Barish.  She attended Utah School for the Deaf in the ’40’s and ’50’s.

College Scholarship Awarded to Utah High School Senior by
Telecommunications Relay Service Provider Hamilton Relay

Hamilton Relay, Telecommunications Relay and Captioned Telephone Service provider for the state of Utah, has awarded a $500 college scholarship to Paige Burnham, a student of Spanish Fork High School in Spanish Fork, UT.

The Hamilton Relay Scholarship opportunity is available to high school seniors who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or have difficulty speaking. A recipient is selected within each of the states where Hamilton is the contracted service provider and is one of several ways the company gives back to the communities it serves.

“Hamilton takes pride in recognizing outstanding leadership and promoting education,” said Utah Outreach Coordinator Keaton McDonald. “We are excited to have the opportunity to contribute to furthering Paige’s education and wish her success in reaching her personal and professional goals.”

Paige was awarded the $500 Hamilton Relay Scholarship after completing the application process, including writing an essay under the topic of communication technology. Paige plans to attend college this fall to study nursing.

About Hamilton Relay
Hamilton Relay provides contracted traditional relay and/or captioned telephone services to 17 states, the District of Columbia and the Island of Saipan, and is a provider of Internet-based captioned telephone services nationwide. More information is available at www.hamiltonrelay.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2015 Holidays

6    D-Day, WWII
14  Flag Day
21  Father’s Day
21  Summer Solstice

BCGUAA Brunch a Success

Pamela Mower

The Beehive Chapter Gallaudet University Alumni Association (BCGUAA) hosted a brunch on April 25 at the Sanderson Community Center. The get together was a success! Fifteen people attended and enjoyed pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs cooked by BCGUAA board.

Board members asked members what they would like to see for the next event which will be in either August or September. The majority voted for a BBQ.

As president, Pamela Mower announced that if they were interested in becoming a board member, to please start thinking and be ready to nominate themselves at the next alumni meeting since some board members might not stay.  Paid membership is required before being nominated.

Watch for more information about this in July!

Deaf PIP Update

Paula Pittman

This past month while everyone in the school is winding down, we in Deaf PIP are gearing up for our biggest event of the year, our PIP Family Camp!  We have 94 adults and 88 children registered for our 2015 PIP Camp, our largest number of participants to date.  Our theme this year is “Life is a Circus: Let’s Play!”.  Our focus this year is on the benefits of play for children.  Often, families who have a baby or toddler who is deaf or hard of hearing are so overwhelmed with new information, doctor visits, hearing aids and therapy visits that they simply forget to play with their child.

It is through play that children learn all of the skills that they will need to be successful in life, including the development of thinking skills and language skills.  We have designed our Friday activities at the Sanderson Center around types of play that children engage in, including exploratory play, constructive play, dramatic play and literacy play.  On Saturday, we will move camp to USDB in Ogden where the children will be engaging in all kinds of play with our PIP staff and with several wonderful volunteers while the parents have an opportunity to meet one another and attend two workshops that will focus on play and ways they can make daily routines fun, encourage language development in their child, and be an effective play partner with their child who is deaf or hard of hearing.

We will have carnival games with the children, the zoo will be coming to introduce the children to some interesting animals and to learn more about those animals, and we will have a balloon artist who will be making fun balloon shapes for our kids and their siblings.  We will also have a photo booth so the children can practice their dramatic play skills and dress up for the camera.  Lunch will be provided by food trucks to give the whole day that circus feel.

We hope this will be a fun end of the school year event for our families and will help families launch their summer with some new and fun activities and ideas that they can implement in their homes to encourage play and development with their children through the summer months when there are so many opportunities to play.

We appreciate your support of Deaf PIP and hope you all have a wonderful summer!

GoFundMe for Ed & Lisa Bosson

Ed Bosson is well known in the relay service community as the father of VRS, and a co-founder of Convo.  He and Lisa suffered a devastating loss of their home in Wimberley, TX, which was severely hit by heavy rains and flooding.

Central Texas experienced many rainy days and multiple flash flood warnings in the past few weeks; a particularly bad storm flooded Wimberley recently on May 23.  Their home overlooked Blanco River from over 150 feet away. While it was pouring last that night, Ed and Lisa looked out the window and saw the water coming near their house.

Fortunately, they had keys to their neighbor’s two-story vacation house. They brought one of their dogs next door and as soon as they returned, the water had already crept in their house and came up to their ankles. They found the other dog and went back to the neighbor’s house. Then Ed and Lisa tried to salvage what they could from their home, but the water was flooding the house at an alarming rate, so they hurried to the upstairs of their neighbor’s home. A firetruck appeared at a far distance but didn’t see Ed and Lisa’s flashlight signals. The Bossons agreed to take turns in sleeping and keeping watch through the night. After the water went down some hours later, another firetruck approached and this time, Ed and Lisa’s flashlight signals caught the firemen’s attention and rescued them. Another neighbor that lived on higher ground got Ed and Lisa to stay with them for the night and graciously took in the dogs.

When the storm had passed, Ed and Lisa returned to their home and found extensive damage. The water had gone up to the ceiling. Shelves and tables were turned over. It looked like a tornado had hit inside the home. Even their cars were damaged in the storm. From large furniture to their clothes to their silverware— they lost it all. They turned to their insurance company in hopes of coverage, but their policy was limited in reimbursing the loss for Ed and Lisa’s situation. Currently, Ed and Lisa are staying at a friend’s home, borrowing clothes and buying basic essentials.

Ed and Lisa feel overwhelmed with gratitude for the emotional support that they have been receiving from the community and feel blessed to still have each other and their dogs, Halo and Faith. Their cat, Purrl, disappeared during the storm. They truly hope she is OK, wherever she is.

A GoFundMe account has been set up with a goal of $30,000 to benefit the Bossons. Click on http://www.gofundme.com/bosson.

Please help Ed and Lisa rebuild their lives by donating what you can today!