Sean Forbes Performance

Philippe Montalette

Utah Association of the Deaf decided to host a special deaf owned music program. It was a smashing success!. Over 300 people were excited to come and watch the Sean Forbes performance.  After the performance, many people took opportunity to take pictures with him and his band.  They were fortunate to meet him in person and get his autograph when they purchased his pictures and t-shirts.  Thanks go to several UAD board members who came to make sure that this event went smoothly

 

President’s Corner

The Sean Forbes performance was a smashing success!  Thanks go to the community for coming and showing support   It was the first time for Utah Association of the Deaf to host this first time performance in Utah.  Many people enjoyed it.  It was good opportunity to expose ASL students and be aware of many deaf talented performers  there, both USA and the world.

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. Ticket prices can be purchased in advance of the conference.  We offer different plans such as early bird and seniors/students. Check it out on the UAD website. Flyers are on pages 7 and 8.

Sego Lily is hosting a fundraiser, the Purple Tie Gala on October 24 – a worthy cause!  See the flyer on page 9 for information.

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 page10 for more information. It is FREE. You will benefit in learning how to build relationships with important people in your area.  Don’t miss 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@mac.com

Obituary

September 28, 2015 – Dennis Platt, a long-time leader in sports and civic endeavors within Utah and throughout the United States, passed away. He was a lifetime member and a Golden Hand Award recipient in Utah Association of the Deaf.  Dennis was involved in NorthWest Athletic Association of the Deaf and the USA Deaf Sports Federation, in addition to USA Deaf Basketball.  He is survived by his wife, Shirley Hortie Platt, his children, Catherine Tarbet, John Platt and Roger Christian, as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Funeral services take place on October 3.

October 2015 Holidays

12  Columbus Day

16  Boss’s Day

24  Make a Difference Day

31  Halloween

Jean Massieu School News

Aimee Breinholt

JMS just celebrated Deaf Awareness week.  Brandon Hill, our ASL specialist planned activities throughout the week for students with a Hogwarts theme.  Students ended the week with quidditch, potions, wanted posters and wands.  It was a magical time.  Our PTA also held the annual fall festival in correlation with Deaf Awareness week.  Thank you to all who attended and helped make that a success!

We are looking forward to the following events:  International deaf magicians will spend the day performing and teaching workshops for our students on September 30th.

Utah High School Shakespeare competition will be held in Cedar City on October 1st and 2nd.  Our students have been working hard to prepare for this competition.  Sarah Leathers has directed them and will accompany them to Cedar City for this competition.

Our teachers will participate in a professional development day on October 2nd.  We are thrilled to have Jan Kelly King and Curt Radford come present on Literacy and academic ASL.

Fall Recess will be October 15th & 16th.  The UAD conference will be held that same weekend.  We encourage everyone to participate in this wonderful opportunity.

The end of the month with bring our celebration of Red Ribbon Week and Halloween.  We will have our annual elementary parade on October 29th at 10am.  Parents and community members are welcome to watch the parade in the cafeteria that morning.

We are thrilled to share the hard work of our middle school journalism students.  Brandon Hill has helped the students create a weekly news bulletin, the Buzz News.  This is now available to all who would like to subscribe through the YouTube channel – Jean Massieu School Buzz News – .

Please stop by and see us at JMS and thank you for your support!

Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind News

Michelle Tanner

The 2015-16 school year is well underway.  The new building construction has had a great start.  The new JMS playground is completed and large holes are being dug that will form the basement and foundation of the new building on the Salt Lake Campus.  This has made parking very tight at JMS, but we appreciate the staff and students being so cooperative and understanding during this phase of construction.

In the next few days, USD will host six International Deaf Magicians on our JMS campus.  They will perform for our student body and then provide several workshops for our students.  Students and staff are excited to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity.  We are grateful to the UAD for helping us make this happen.  Our collaboration with UAD provides many opportunities for our students and we value this connection.

As the Utah Schools for the Deaf continues to grow across the state, we are having increased requests for interpreters.  If you or someone you know is a certified interpreter interested in a Monday – Friday job with weekday hours and benefits, then USDB would be a perfect match.  Come join our team!  We have openings in many places throughout the state.   You can apply at statejobs.utah.gov

My door is always open and if you ever need to contact me, I can be reached at michellet@usdb.org or at my office at 801.629.4711 or by videophone at 801.903.2831.

Your support of every student in the state is incredibly valuable to me.   The contributions you provide by volunteering and participating in our events are so important and I appreciate each one of you.

PIP Update

Paula Pittman

The school year is well under way and we have been busy at PIP!  ASL/English and LSL Toddler Groups  and ASL Story Time have begun in Ogden, Salt Lake City and Orem, and this year we will be adding a new ASL Story Time location at the Barnes and Noble store in St. George.  We are excited about starting a new year and look forward to the fun of Toddler Group and ASL Story Time for our babies and their families.

This year we are piloting an ASL Class for families that will begin October 1.  The class is designed to support the concepts that families are learning from their Deaf Mentors, providing them with more review and practice so they can learn ASL skills more rapidly and apply what they are learning in a variety of setting.  The class will be taught by Roberta Dunlap, who has designed the class to be effective for both children and adults so that the entire family can participate in the class, regardless of their age.  We will run the class from October – December.  She is working on developing the second class right now that will be offered from January-May of 2016.  We hope to put the classes online in the future so families across the state can improve their ASL skills.

Thirteen of our staff members had the opportunity last week to attend the Western Regional Early Intervention Conference (WREIC) in Albuquerque, NM.  The conference was amazing and everyone learned new information that will help us serve our babies and families more effectively.  The WREIC conference is unique in that it is designed only for early interventionists who serve children ages birth to three who have sensory disabilities and their families.  We were fortunate to be able to attend and are grateful to an anonymous donor who provided $2,000 to allow all of our staff who were interested in the conference the opportunity to attend.

We look forward to the school year ahead, and as always are grateful for the support we receive from the Deaf Community and UAD!