Miss-Delectable
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wcbstv.com - Deaf Child Helped Out In School By...Tennis Balls!
When the roar of the U.S. Open subsides later this week, some of the 50,000 leftover tennis balls will be used to reduce the racket in a Westchester classroom. It's all an effort to help a young boy hear his teacher.
To 4-year-old Luc Bordier, a tennis ball is more than a toy to share with his dog. It's also a tool to create the best possible learning environment when Luc enters kindergarten.
"Luc is deaf, he was born deaf, it's a genetic thing, transmitted from his mother and I," says Robert Bordier, Luc's father.
But Luc can hear, thanks to the amazing technology of a cochlear implant, which uses a microphone and transmitter. The technology works best when there's limited background noise. Hence, the addition tennis balls now on every chair and table leg in Luc's kindergarten classroom.
The goal is to reduce ambient background noise, like the scraping sound of kids moving their chairs. With tennis balls, the scraping noise is virtually eliminated.
"It reduces the noise so that Luc and concentrate on hearing the teacher," Robert says.
Teacher Joan Cruz at Luc's school, the Church Street Elementary School in White Plains, wrote to the USTA because of the need for the tennis balls. The association responded by quickly donating hundreds of "gently used" U.S. Open balls.
"I figured with the high number of balls that we needed that I needed to go to the head of the class," she says. "He kept holding up the ball saying, 'Do you think Serena Williams hit this? Could have been her sister, could have been Rafael Nadal!'"
Luc's dad was humbled by the gesture.
"I'm amazed, I'm really impressed by the teacher. I think she went above and beyond in so many ways," he says.
Cruz says they're also putting tennis balls on chair legs in the art room and library, making good use of the more than 400 balls donated by the USTA.
When the roar of the U.S. Open subsides later this week, some of the 50,000 leftover tennis balls will be used to reduce the racket in a Westchester classroom. It's all an effort to help a young boy hear his teacher.
To 4-year-old Luc Bordier, a tennis ball is more than a toy to share with his dog. It's also a tool to create the best possible learning environment when Luc enters kindergarten.
"Luc is deaf, he was born deaf, it's a genetic thing, transmitted from his mother and I," says Robert Bordier, Luc's father.
But Luc can hear, thanks to the amazing technology of a cochlear implant, which uses a microphone and transmitter. The technology works best when there's limited background noise. Hence, the addition tennis balls now on every chair and table leg in Luc's kindergarten classroom.
The goal is to reduce ambient background noise, like the scraping sound of kids moving their chairs. With tennis balls, the scraping noise is virtually eliminated.
"It reduces the noise so that Luc and concentrate on hearing the teacher," Robert says.
Teacher Joan Cruz at Luc's school, the Church Street Elementary School in White Plains, wrote to the USTA because of the need for the tennis balls. The association responded by quickly donating hundreds of "gently used" U.S. Open balls.
"I figured with the high number of balls that we needed that I needed to go to the head of the class," she says. "He kept holding up the ball saying, 'Do you think Serena Williams hit this? Could have been her sister, could have been Rafael Nadal!'"
Luc's dad was humbled by the gesture.
"I'm amazed, I'm really impressed by the teacher. I think she went above and beyond in so many ways," he says.
Cruz says they're also putting tennis balls on chair legs in the art room and library, making good use of the more than 400 balls donated by the USTA.
