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Bikeworks helps deaf volunteers with wheels - Silver City Sun-News
Two deaf Americorps members living and working in southwestern New Mexico received free bikes and bike repairs courtesy of Dave Baker of The Bikeworks.
Ludmila Mounty-Weinstowck, 24, and Joseph "Jo Jo" Lopez, III, 25, spent several hours Sunday night at The Bikeworks with Baker, picking out and repairing their free bikes.
Both are Americorps members with the New Mexico School for the Deaf and have spent the past six months working in rural New Mexico communities teaching American Sign Language to deaf children and their hearing teachers and parents in classrooms and in homes. The program, just established in October, has opened up a whole new world for the pair's young students, some of whom had never met a deaf adult, Jo Jo said.
"Most of them don't know their own language," said Jo Jo, through a sign language interpreter at The Bikeworks on Sunday. "I learned ASL when I was 2 years old."
Both Ludmila and Jo Jo are graduates of Gallaudet University, in Washington, D.C., the only liberal arts university in the country specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. After graduating in May of last year, the students discovered the Americorps teaching program through the New Mexico School for the Deaf. The program has seven members who work in rural areas of the state teaching in schools and homes.
Jo Jo, who is originally from Riverside, Calif., moved to Las Cruces for the job, and works with children from toddlers to teenagers in Socorro, T or C,Hatch, Anthony, Sunland Park, White Sands Missile Range, Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, Mescalero, Ruidoso and Las Cruces.
The job involves a lot of driving, but Jo Jo said he doesn't mind.
"I love the New Mexico landscape," he said, "and the culture, and the traditions, and the food. And I really enjoy working with the children, because American Sign Language is their language and I really cherish the language and I want to give that back to them."
Most are elementary-school age students, he said, many of whom have never met a deaf adult because they are living in such rural areas.
In addition to teaching the children their own language, the two serve as examples of successful deaf adults for their young students and their parents and teachers.
"One little boy I work with, I asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'" Jo Jo said. "He said 'nothing.' And I said, 'Well, do you want to work in an office, or be a doctor?' Not all parents that we work with see examples of deaf adults. We want to show them that we can be successful."
Ludmila was born in Russia and adopted by a deaf couple in the U.S. when she was 7 years old. That's when she learned American Sign Language.
"When I found out about this position through the New Mexico School for the Deaf, it really inspired me because my parents taught me ASL and I felt like I could pass it on to the children in New Mexico," she said.
Ludmila now lives in Santa Clara and works with 15 children in six schools in the region, in Silver City, Santa Clara, Deming and Bayard. After spending her days teaching in the schools, she also does home visits.
"I love this job," she said. "The money is not great, but it's really about the kids and teaching them ASL and exposing them to a deaf adult. By us living in their communities, we are able to interact with them. And I've seen huge improvements since I've begun working with them."
Ludmila said coming to New Mexico was a little bit scary, as she had grown up in Maryland and went to high school and college all on the campus of Gallaudet University. Leaving that familiar place for a new one was nerve-wracking.
"But I love it. I love New Mexico and it is nice to get out of Maryland and be in a new place," she said.
The pair were connected to The Bikeworks through Sally-Ann Anderson, regional supervisor for the New Mexico School for the Deaf's Step*Hi program - an early intervention program serving deaf/hard-of-hearing children 6 years old and younger in their home environments. Anderson was looking to help Ludmila and Jo Jo get more involved with the community, and that led them to The Bikeworks.
"That's what The Bikeworks is all about," said Baker. "To act as a resource and get bikes to people who don't have them. I'm happy to find homes for two more bikes."
As the pair finished repairing their bikes Sunday night, Ludmila noted that her bike was made in Taiwan. In 2009, as part of the deaf volleyball U.S.A. team, she went to Taiwan and took second place. In 2013, the team is headed to Greece, she said.
Now that they have their free bikes, Jo Jo noted, "Now I can save my money and I don't have to take it to a repair shop."
The pair hope to bring some of their students to The Bikeworks to help them pick out and repair their own bikes as well, and Ludmila said she may even join The Bikeworks crew in one of their Saturday morning rides around town.
"The Bikeworks rocks!" she said.
Two deaf Americorps members living and working in southwestern New Mexico received free bikes and bike repairs courtesy of Dave Baker of The Bikeworks.
Ludmila Mounty-Weinstowck, 24, and Joseph "Jo Jo" Lopez, III, 25, spent several hours Sunday night at The Bikeworks with Baker, picking out and repairing their free bikes.
Both are Americorps members with the New Mexico School for the Deaf and have spent the past six months working in rural New Mexico communities teaching American Sign Language to deaf children and their hearing teachers and parents in classrooms and in homes. The program, just established in October, has opened up a whole new world for the pair's young students, some of whom had never met a deaf adult, Jo Jo said.
"Most of them don't know their own language," said Jo Jo, through a sign language interpreter at The Bikeworks on Sunday. "I learned ASL when I was 2 years old."
Both Ludmila and Jo Jo are graduates of Gallaudet University, in Washington, D.C., the only liberal arts university in the country specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. After graduating in May of last year, the students discovered the Americorps teaching program through the New Mexico School for the Deaf. The program has seven members who work in rural areas of the state teaching in schools and homes.
Jo Jo, who is originally from Riverside, Calif., moved to Las Cruces for the job, and works with children from toddlers to teenagers in Socorro, T or C,Hatch, Anthony, Sunland Park, White Sands Missile Range, Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, Mescalero, Ruidoso and Las Cruces.
The job involves a lot of driving, but Jo Jo said he doesn't mind.
"I love the New Mexico landscape," he said, "and the culture, and the traditions, and the food. And I really enjoy working with the children, because American Sign Language is their language and I really cherish the language and I want to give that back to them."
Most are elementary-school age students, he said, many of whom have never met a deaf adult because they are living in such rural areas.
In addition to teaching the children their own language, the two serve as examples of successful deaf adults for their young students and their parents and teachers.
"One little boy I work with, I asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'" Jo Jo said. "He said 'nothing.' And I said, 'Well, do you want to work in an office, or be a doctor?' Not all parents that we work with see examples of deaf adults. We want to show them that we can be successful."
Ludmila was born in Russia and adopted by a deaf couple in the U.S. when she was 7 years old. That's when she learned American Sign Language.
"When I found out about this position through the New Mexico School for the Deaf, it really inspired me because my parents taught me ASL and I felt like I could pass it on to the children in New Mexico," she said.
Ludmila now lives in Santa Clara and works with 15 children in six schools in the region, in Silver City, Santa Clara, Deming and Bayard. After spending her days teaching in the schools, she also does home visits.
"I love this job," she said. "The money is not great, but it's really about the kids and teaching them ASL and exposing them to a deaf adult. By us living in their communities, we are able to interact with them. And I've seen huge improvements since I've begun working with them."
Ludmila said coming to New Mexico was a little bit scary, as she had grown up in Maryland and went to high school and college all on the campus of Gallaudet University. Leaving that familiar place for a new one was nerve-wracking.
"But I love it. I love New Mexico and it is nice to get out of Maryland and be in a new place," she said.
The pair were connected to The Bikeworks through Sally-Ann Anderson, regional supervisor for the New Mexico School for the Deaf's Step*Hi program - an early intervention program serving deaf/hard-of-hearing children 6 years old and younger in their home environments. Anderson was looking to help Ludmila and Jo Jo get more involved with the community, and that led them to The Bikeworks.
"That's what The Bikeworks is all about," said Baker. "To act as a resource and get bikes to people who don't have them. I'm happy to find homes for two more bikes."
As the pair finished repairing their bikes Sunday night, Ludmila noted that her bike was made in Taiwan. In 2009, as part of the deaf volleyball U.S.A. team, she went to Taiwan and took second place. In 2013, the team is headed to Greece, she said.
Now that they have their free bikes, Jo Jo noted, "Now I can save my money and I don't have to take it to a repair shop."
The pair hope to bring some of their students to The Bikeworks to help them pick out and repair their own bikes as well, and Ludmila said she may even join The Bikeworks crew in one of their Saturday morning rides around town.
"The Bikeworks rocks!" she said.