Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Lifestyle/Scene - Anita Creamer: A young alum helps school for deaf kids - sacbee.com
It's not too dramatic to say that the Children's Choice for Hearing and Talk Center made a world of difference in Mitchell Harry's life after he was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at age 2. Now, at 14, he's found a way to return the favor.
The Elk Grove High School freshman is visiting CCHAT Center Principal Laura Turner's office to talk about his Eagle Scout project: the renovation of the school's playground.
But first, a few words about Mitchell, who wears two hearing aids.
"When I started kindergarten," he says, "I was able to have a normal life and interact with the other kids because of CCHAT. I was able to function like any other kid."
That's putting it mildly.
"Tell her how well you do in school," prompts Turner.
"I'm No. 1 in my class academically, out of 550 freshmen," Mitchell says.
Smart kid.
"But also I'm involved in a lot of different activities," he says. "I'm a peer counselor at school, and I'm planning on running for president of my class."
"Tell her about the dance thing," says Turner.
For his school's winter homecoming dance, each class elects three dukes and duchesses.
"And I was one of those dukes," Mitchell says.
He's not bragging; not really. He's just stating a few facts, which Elk Grove High School administrators confirm.
You may not realize that deafness is the most common birth defect: One in 1,000 infants is born deaf, and six in 1,000 have some hearing loss.
Today, children can be diagnosed as young as 6 weeks. With the notion of preventing speech and educational delays, intervention can begin that early, too.
Not so when Mitchell was younger. After his diagnosis, his parents – Mike and Anne Harry – learned that the Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in Redwood City was opening a satellite in Sacramento, the CCHAT Center. In 1996, Mitchell was one of the school's first eight students.
"I don't really remember that," he says. "You know, I was 3."
By kindergarten, he was mainstreamed into public school. And he thrived.
When he was a Cub Scout, he told his mother – who currently is CCHAT's board chairwoman – that for his Eagle Scout project one day he wanted to help the school.
And so the playground at the school's new location in a former day care facility in Rancho Cordova. With his father's help, Mitchell began working on his project in July, clearing debris, replacing fences, removing trees and installing drip-line irrigation for the yard.
He made presentations to businesses like Home Depot, C.C. Myers and Teichert Construction, and they pitched in crews to help. And when playground equipment inspectors declared the existing structures unsafe, he didn't hesitate.
"The last thing I want is to have kids out there on something that's not safe," says Turner. "And here's Mitchell saying, 'I'll take this project to the finish.' He just assumed he'd do it all."
Of course.
"I started this thing," he says. "I don't want to leave CCHAT hanging. So I decided to raise money for the new playground structures."
So far, he's raised about $12,000 of the $35,000 he needs to complete the playground and landscaping.
But that's OK: Time is on his side. He has until he's 18 to finish his Eagle Scout project.
Through his hard work, the playground has been cleared down to the dirt. Scrawny crape myrtles donated by the Sacramento Tree Foundation line one edge of the yard. There's an area set aside for garden boxes.
In short, a work in progress.
"It's great to see Mitchell and other alumni kids doing neat things," says Turner. "In reality, they have a significant disability. But he's turning it around and giving back to the community instead."
It's not too dramatic to say that the Children's Choice for Hearing and Talk Center made a world of difference in Mitchell Harry's life after he was diagnosed as profoundly deaf at age 2. Now, at 14, he's found a way to return the favor.
The Elk Grove High School freshman is visiting CCHAT Center Principal Laura Turner's office to talk about his Eagle Scout project: the renovation of the school's playground.
But first, a few words about Mitchell, who wears two hearing aids.
"When I started kindergarten," he says, "I was able to have a normal life and interact with the other kids because of CCHAT. I was able to function like any other kid."
That's putting it mildly.
"Tell her how well you do in school," prompts Turner.
"I'm No. 1 in my class academically, out of 550 freshmen," Mitchell says.
Smart kid.
"But also I'm involved in a lot of different activities," he says. "I'm a peer counselor at school, and I'm planning on running for president of my class."
"Tell her about the dance thing," says Turner.
For his school's winter homecoming dance, each class elects three dukes and duchesses.
"And I was one of those dukes," Mitchell says.
He's not bragging; not really. He's just stating a few facts, which Elk Grove High School administrators confirm.
You may not realize that deafness is the most common birth defect: One in 1,000 infants is born deaf, and six in 1,000 have some hearing loss.
Today, children can be diagnosed as young as 6 weeks. With the notion of preventing speech and educational delays, intervention can begin that early, too.
Not so when Mitchell was younger. After his diagnosis, his parents – Mike and Anne Harry – learned that the Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in Redwood City was opening a satellite in Sacramento, the CCHAT Center. In 1996, Mitchell was one of the school's first eight students.
"I don't really remember that," he says. "You know, I was 3."
By kindergarten, he was mainstreamed into public school. And he thrived.
When he was a Cub Scout, he told his mother – who currently is CCHAT's board chairwoman – that for his Eagle Scout project one day he wanted to help the school.
And so the playground at the school's new location in a former day care facility in Rancho Cordova. With his father's help, Mitchell began working on his project in July, clearing debris, replacing fences, removing trees and installing drip-line irrigation for the yard.
He made presentations to businesses like Home Depot, C.C. Myers and Teichert Construction, and they pitched in crews to help. And when playground equipment inspectors declared the existing structures unsafe, he didn't hesitate.
"The last thing I want is to have kids out there on something that's not safe," says Turner. "And here's Mitchell saying, 'I'll take this project to the finish.' He just assumed he'd do it all."
Of course.
"I started this thing," he says. "I don't want to leave CCHAT hanging. So I decided to raise money for the new playground structures."
So far, he's raised about $12,000 of the $35,000 he needs to complete the playground and landscaping.
But that's OK: Time is on his side. He has until he's 18 to finish his Eagle Scout project.
Through his hard work, the playground has been cleared down to the dirt. Scrawny crape myrtles donated by the Sacramento Tree Foundation line one edge of the yard. There's an area set aside for garden boxes.
In short, a work in progress.
"It's great to see Mitchell and other alumni kids doing neat things," says Turner. "In reality, they have a significant disability. But he's turning it around and giving back to the community instead."