Miss-Delectable
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D.C. walkout cited in School for Deaf demonstration - The Clarion-Ledger
Frustrated.
That's how several students at the Mississippi School for the Deaf say they feel about four of their 26 high school teachers not being proficient in sign language.
So they took a cue from Gallaudet University in Washington. That's where deaf and hearing-impaired students in October successfully protested the hiring of a president who is deaf but didn't grow up using American Sign Language.
The students' actions led Victorica Monroe, 17, a 10th-grader from Arcola, to get about 19 of her classmates to walk out of classes one day last week.
On Friday, state Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds said two administrators, Superintendent Delores Mack-Smith and Principal Pamela Hervey, were no longer employed there.
Listed telephone numbers for Mack-Smith and Hervey could not be found Monday.
Bounds would not say specifically why the women were no longer working at the school, citing personnel issues.
Last week he said there were "leadership issues ... with adults at the school. This should have never risen to the point where students felt they needed to walk out of class."
Through interpreter Olivia Rowan, Monroe said Monday the situation at Gallaudet inspired her.
"I know in my heart that I wanted to make this school different," she said. "There is a lot of frustration."
The Jackson facility is the only state-funded school in Mississippi for students who are deaf or hearing impaired.
Monroe said she and other students are interpreting in classes when teachers can't.
"The students are depending on me, stopping my work so I can explain to them what the teacher is not signing," she said.
Senior Geoffrey Boyd, 19, of Richland, said, also through Rowan, that students "have feelings of being left out" when the teacher can't sign well.
Signing "allows the students to understand the teacher so they can communicate easier," he said.
Like Monroe, he's been used as an interpreter in one class. "I was unable to catch up with my work. My grades were not good because the teacher was not allowing me to work," he said.
Bounds said the school has not been able to find enough teachers. "I would be delighted to have appropriately certified people in every position. That's exactly what we want," he said.
In general, the state has a significant teacher shortage, Bounds said.
But Charlene Moulds, in her ninth year of teaching English at the 118-student school, said the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences turns out teachers who know sign language.
"The last several years they have not been recruited," said Moulds, speaking through Rowan. She commutes each day to school from Meridian, about 90 miles away.
Sandra Edwards, elementary principal who is now also serving as high school principal, said she wants a strong link with USM and hopes that will help in finding qualified teachers.
She had one elementary opening in August and all three candidates were signed. The person she hired was a USM graduate.
Edwards said a lot of other deaf schools have communication policies in place that require teachers to be able to sign before they even interview.
Many use a process called Sign Communication Proficiency Interview to screen candidates. Mississippi doesn't have a policy that requires it.
"At this point, (getting a policy is a) very high priority," Edwards said.
Edwards has been using a committee to rate job candidates' signing abilities.
Shirley Williams, who has been working there 31 years, said she didn't know sign language when she started.
After taking several classes, the English teacher said she's still learning new signs.
"If you can find people who are qualified and fluent in sign, I would prefer to hire them first, yes. If you can't find them, you just can't do without teachers," she said. "You can teach without signing. You can write, you can explain. If you're a good teacher you can get your point over."
But Janet Soard of Clinton, whose daughter Sarah, 19, is a student, thinks students lose out.
"The kids get shortchanged if the teachers can't communicate with them. ... If a deaf child cannot understand that teacher and they have to use an interpreter - especially if the interpreter is another student in the classroom - something might get misinterpreted," Soard said.
"I don't think it's fair for a deaf kid not to be taught by somebody who can directly relate to them. It's like being in a foreign country and you're the only one who can't speak that language," she said.
Frustrated.
That's how several students at the Mississippi School for the Deaf say they feel about four of their 26 high school teachers not being proficient in sign language.
So they took a cue from Gallaudet University in Washington. That's where deaf and hearing-impaired students in October successfully protested the hiring of a president who is deaf but didn't grow up using American Sign Language.
The students' actions led Victorica Monroe, 17, a 10th-grader from Arcola, to get about 19 of her classmates to walk out of classes one day last week.
On Friday, state Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds said two administrators, Superintendent Delores Mack-Smith and Principal Pamela Hervey, were no longer employed there.
Listed telephone numbers for Mack-Smith and Hervey could not be found Monday.
Bounds would not say specifically why the women were no longer working at the school, citing personnel issues.
Last week he said there were "leadership issues ... with adults at the school. This should have never risen to the point where students felt they needed to walk out of class."
Through interpreter Olivia Rowan, Monroe said Monday the situation at Gallaudet inspired her.
"I know in my heart that I wanted to make this school different," she said. "There is a lot of frustration."
The Jackson facility is the only state-funded school in Mississippi for students who are deaf or hearing impaired.
Monroe said she and other students are interpreting in classes when teachers can't.
"The students are depending on me, stopping my work so I can explain to them what the teacher is not signing," she said.
Senior Geoffrey Boyd, 19, of Richland, said, also through Rowan, that students "have feelings of being left out" when the teacher can't sign well.
Signing "allows the students to understand the teacher so they can communicate easier," he said.
Like Monroe, he's been used as an interpreter in one class. "I was unable to catch up with my work. My grades were not good because the teacher was not allowing me to work," he said.
Bounds said the school has not been able to find enough teachers. "I would be delighted to have appropriately certified people in every position. That's exactly what we want," he said.
In general, the state has a significant teacher shortage, Bounds said.
But Charlene Moulds, in her ninth year of teaching English at the 118-student school, said the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences turns out teachers who know sign language.
"The last several years they have not been recruited," said Moulds, speaking through Rowan. She commutes each day to school from Meridian, about 90 miles away.
Sandra Edwards, elementary principal who is now also serving as high school principal, said she wants a strong link with USM and hopes that will help in finding qualified teachers.
She had one elementary opening in August and all three candidates were signed. The person she hired was a USM graduate.
Edwards said a lot of other deaf schools have communication policies in place that require teachers to be able to sign before they even interview.
Many use a process called Sign Communication Proficiency Interview to screen candidates. Mississippi doesn't have a policy that requires it.
"At this point, (getting a policy is a) very high priority," Edwards said.
Edwards has been using a committee to rate job candidates' signing abilities.
Shirley Williams, who has been working there 31 years, said she didn't know sign language when she started.
After taking several classes, the English teacher said she's still learning new signs.
"If you can find people who are qualified and fluent in sign, I would prefer to hire them first, yes. If you can't find them, you just can't do without teachers," she said. "You can teach without signing. You can write, you can explain. If you're a good teacher you can get your point over."
But Janet Soard of Clinton, whose daughter Sarah, 19, is a student, thinks students lose out.
"The kids get shortchanged if the teachers can't communicate with them. ... If a deaf child cannot understand that teacher and they have to use an interpreter - especially if the interpreter is another student in the classroom - something might get misinterpreted," Soard said.
"I don't think it's fair for a deaf kid not to be taught by somebody who can directly relate to them. It's like being in a foreign country and you're the only one who can't speak that language," she said.