Miss-Delectable
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1971&dept_id=175429&newsid=16911255&PAG=461&rfi=9
Chelsea Tobin of Pierpont, and a 2005 Langford High School graduate, is shown after being crowned Miss Deaf America in Palm Springs, CA, last week Monday. Tobin is the daughter of Rodney and Evelyn Tobin of Pierpont.
Four years ago Chelsea Tobin told her mother that she was going to compete in the National Miss Deaf America contest.
Last week Monday she not only met that goal, she was selected as Miss Deaf America from a field of 26 other state winners.
Tobin, the daughter of Rodney and Evie Tobin of Pierpont and a 2005 Langford High School graduate, will wear the crown for two years as an ambassador for the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) and a spokeswoman for approximately 28 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans.
"We're still in a daze," said Tobin's mother, Evelyn, after returning from Palm Desert, CA, where the national event was held. "But the reality is starting to hit that I probably won't see her much for the next two years."
Tobin competed for the crown in four areas - platform, talent, evening gown, and an on-stage interview. She was the preliminary platform winner prior to winning the crown passed to her by Erin Casler, the 2004-2006 queen, also from South Dakota.
Her duties begin next week when she will attend a youth leadership camp in Oregon. During her reign she will travel throughout the country supporting NAD and youth programs. In August she will be heading to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the nation's only university for deaf students, before continuing her education at Augustana College in Sioux Falls in deaf education next spring.
Tobin has been in the spotlight many times in her 19 years. Two years ago she was the first deaf girl to ever attend South Dakota's Girls' State, and she was selected as a Girls' Nation delegate, just the second time ever that a deaf girl had received that honor. She was named Langford's Snow Queen, and while in high school participated in oral interpretation, was on the school yearbook staff, and played volleyball and basketball.
The new Miss Deaf America was also involved with Barrier Awareness Day for several years, speaking to students about what it was like to be deaf. She also attended the Youth Leadership Forum in Vermillion as a counselor and guest speaker.
It was while attending a national leadership and literacy camp in Maryland four years ago, that she was able to attend her first NAD Conference. It was then that she was exposed to the Miss Deaf America Contest, and her dream to compete was born.
"She came home and said she was going to do that," remembered Evie proudly. "As parents we're prejudiced, but we always thought she had it in her."
Tobin's latest honor didn't come as surprise to her former high school superintendent Monte Nipp.
"It really wasn't a surprise," said Nipp. "Now the rest of the nation knows what all of us from Langford and Pierpont always knew. They couldn't have picked a better person to represent the deaf community. And the fact that she grew up in a hearing community, makes her that much more viable."
Tobin was the only student among over 200 at the Langford School that was hearing impaired. But it didn't seem to make a bit of difference.
"Chelsea herself says, 'I can do anything but hear,' said long-time interpreter Joyce Levsen of Webster when Tobin was selected as a Girls' Nation delegate two years ago. "The sky's the limit for that girl."
Nipp saw that for the five years he was superintendent while Tobin was a Langford School student.
"Her family never once said to her that she couldn't do something because she was deaf," noted Nipp. "And if you asked her what she missed out on by being deaf, she would probably say she hadn't missed out on a thing. But if she had, she would want to know what it was!
"A person with a disability can go the other way very easily and say, 'poor pitiful me.' Or they can go the route that Chelsea went. She always said, 'I'll do it,' and she made it happen."
That background likely laid a foundation for Tobin's platform as Miss Deaf America entitled, "Vanquishing Audism." Her premise is that deaf people have battled the perception from the hearing community that they can't do certain things because they are deaf. But she says the deaf are also kind of oppressing themselves and need to get rid of that thinking and work together to support themselves.
Nipp said that Tobin's bubbly personality and positive attitude also rubs off on those around her.
"She's not only a good role model for the hearing impaired but for everybody. She just wants to experience it all, and she really feels like there's nothing she can't do. She has convinced me that if she puts her mind to it, she can achieve whatever she wants to achieve."
Tobin's talent presentation at the Miss Deaf America competition epitomizes that philosophy. She performed "Dr. Seuss ASLized," (ASL stands for American Sign Language) which was partially based on the Seuss book, ""Oh, The Places You'll Go."
"Chelsea has already opened a lot of doors, but this is just going to open more of them for her," predicted Nipp. "The rest of us are just sitting back to see where the places are that Chelsea will go."
Chelsea Tobin of Pierpont, and a 2005 Langford High School graduate, is shown after being crowned Miss Deaf America in Palm Springs, CA, last week Monday. Tobin is the daughter of Rodney and Evelyn Tobin of Pierpont.
Four years ago Chelsea Tobin told her mother that she was going to compete in the National Miss Deaf America contest.
Last week Monday she not only met that goal, she was selected as Miss Deaf America from a field of 26 other state winners.
Tobin, the daughter of Rodney and Evie Tobin of Pierpont and a 2005 Langford High School graduate, will wear the crown for two years as an ambassador for the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) and a spokeswoman for approximately 28 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans.
"We're still in a daze," said Tobin's mother, Evelyn, after returning from Palm Desert, CA, where the national event was held. "But the reality is starting to hit that I probably won't see her much for the next two years."
Tobin competed for the crown in four areas - platform, talent, evening gown, and an on-stage interview. She was the preliminary platform winner prior to winning the crown passed to her by Erin Casler, the 2004-2006 queen, also from South Dakota.
Her duties begin next week when she will attend a youth leadership camp in Oregon. During her reign she will travel throughout the country supporting NAD and youth programs. In August she will be heading to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the nation's only university for deaf students, before continuing her education at Augustana College in Sioux Falls in deaf education next spring.
Tobin has been in the spotlight many times in her 19 years. Two years ago she was the first deaf girl to ever attend South Dakota's Girls' State, and she was selected as a Girls' Nation delegate, just the second time ever that a deaf girl had received that honor. She was named Langford's Snow Queen, and while in high school participated in oral interpretation, was on the school yearbook staff, and played volleyball and basketball.
The new Miss Deaf America was also involved with Barrier Awareness Day for several years, speaking to students about what it was like to be deaf. She also attended the Youth Leadership Forum in Vermillion as a counselor and guest speaker.
It was while attending a national leadership and literacy camp in Maryland four years ago, that she was able to attend her first NAD Conference. It was then that she was exposed to the Miss Deaf America Contest, and her dream to compete was born.
"She came home and said she was going to do that," remembered Evie proudly. "As parents we're prejudiced, but we always thought she had it in her."
Tobin's latest honor didn't come as surprise to her former high school superintendent Monte Nipp.
"It really wasn't a surprise," said Nipp. "Now the rest of the nation knows what all of us from Langford and Pierpont always knew. They couldn't have picked a better person to represent the deaf community. And the fact that she grew up in a hearing community, makes her that much more viable."
Tobin was the only student among over 200 at the Langford School that was hearing impaired. But it didn't seem to make a bit of difference.
"Chelsea herself says, 'I can do anything but hear,' said long-time interpreter Joyce Levsen of Webster when Tobin was selected as a Girls' Nation delegate two years ago. "The sky's the limit for that girl."
Nipp saw that for the five years he was superintendent while Tobin was a Langford School student.
"Her family never once said to her that she couldn't do something because she was deaf," noted Nipp. "And if you asked her what she missed out on by being deaf, she would probably say she hadn't missed out on a thing. But if she had, she would want to know what it was!
"A person with a disability can go the other way very easily and say, 'poor pitiful me.' Or they can go the route that Chelsea went. She always said, 'I'll do it,' and she made it happen."
That background likely laid a foundation for Tobin's platform as Miss Deaf America entitled, "Vanquishing Audism." Her premise is that deaf people have battled the perception from the hearing community that they can't do certain things because they are deaf. But she says the deaf are also kind of oppressing themselves and need to get rid of that thinking and work together to support themselves.
Nipp said that Tobin's bubbly personality and positive attitude also rubs off on those around her.
"She's not only a good role model for the hearing impaired but for everybody. She just wants to experience it all, and she really feels like there's nothing she can't do. She has convinced me that if she puts her mind to it, she can achieve whatever she wants to achieve."
Tobin's talent presentation at the Miss Deaf America competition epitomizes that philosophy. She performed "Dr. Seuss ASLized," (ASL stands for American Sign Language) which was partially based on the Seuss book, ""Oh, The Places You'll Go."
"Chelsea has already opened a lot of doors, but this is just going to open more of them for her," predicted Nipp. "The rest of us are just sitting back to see where the places are that Chelsea will go."
