Miss-Delectable
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Former Miss Deaf America thrives in first education job
When Chelsea Paulson competed in the Miss Deaf America pageant in 2006, she merged lines from the Dr. Seuss books, “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” and “I Can Read with My Eyes Shut” to tell a new story.
Paulson, a teacher at the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind, followed the words from “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” last summer to Gooding. There, a poster of Horton the elephant and the words, “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” is tacked above the 23-year-old’s desk as a reminder to her students.
There’s nothing small about the energy the first-year teacher and former Miss Deaf America from South Dakota brings to her classroom. Her hands and facial expressions say what her voice doesn’t, and her lively personality fills her classroom.
“Idaho and South Dakota are exactly the same but Idaho has more Botox than South Dakota,” Paulson said while describing the states’ landscapes. “This is a good place to spark discussions. Idaho hasn’t had a Miss Deaf America for a long time.”
She joked that her options were to be a teacher, a farmer or a nurse. While her parents are farmers, Paulson said her heart has always been in deaf education.
“We’re thrilled to have Chelsea. She brings a lot of enthusiasm and creativity into her classroom,” said Gretchen Spooner, ISDB director of education and special services. “She has really great skills in relating to students and in delivering instruction in ways that they can understand.”
Deaf since birth, Paulson attended public schools with the help of classroom interpreters. Her parents learned American Sign Language quickly and her father was adamant that Paulson learn to be independent. He would give her “sermons” on how to be successful, Paulson said.
Now she teaches that concept to her ISDB students and encourages them to be effective communicators. It’s something she’s learned to do well, both with the deaf and those who can hear. Her husband, Jared, doesn’t have a hearing disability and works at ISDB as well. They met in high school and after a few attempts to flirt through a 40-year-old interpreter, Paulson said Jared learned her language, although he has his own style of signing.
A self-described farm girl at heart, Paulson was the only contestant to enter the Miss Deaf South Dakota pageant in 2006. She proved to be the best of her peers, winning that year’s national competition. Through it Paulson traveled to 15 states to speak about her platform against audism — discrimination against the deaf or hard of hearing — and to share her talent. She dressed as the Cat in the Hat to perform her Dr. Seuss piece in various venues.
“Now I tell my girls in class to sit up straight and keep their shoulders back,” Paulson signed, demonstrating the way she learned to sit properly.
While Paulson’s motto isn’t from Dr. Seuss, she’s kept the laughter and lightheartedness of his books with her.
“Do-Do? Laugh! In ASL to English it means, ‘What can we do? Laugh!’” Paulson said. “It’s better laughing over our problems than worry about it.”
When Chelsea Paulson competed in the Miss Deaf America pageant in 2006, she merged lines from the Dr. Seuss books, “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” and “I Can Read with My Eyes Shut” to tell a new story.
Paulson, a teacher at the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind, followed the words from “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” last summer to Gooding. There, a poster of Horton the elephant and the words, “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” is tacked above the 23-year-old’s desk as a reminder to her students.
There’s nothing small about the energy the first-year teacher and former Miss Deaf America from South Dakota brings to her classroom. Her hands and facial expressions say what her voice doesn’t, and her lively personality fills her classroom.
“Idaho and South Dakota are exactly the same but Idaho has more Botox than South Dakota,” Paulson said while describing the states’ landscapes. “This is a good place to spark discussions. Idaho hasn’t had a Miss Deaf America for a long time.”
She joked that her options were to be a teacher, a farmer or a nurse. While her parents are farmers, Paulson said her heart has always been in deaf education.
“We’re thrilled to have Chelsea. She brings a lot of enthusiasm and creativity into her classroom,” said Gretchen Spooner, ISDB director of education and special services. “She has really great skills in relating to students and in delivering instruction in ways that they can understand.”
Deaf since birth, Paulson attended public schools with the help of classroom interpreters. Her parents learned American Sign Language quickly and her father was adamant that Paulson learn to be independent. He would give her “sermons” on how to be successful, Paulson said.
Now she teaches that concept to her ISDB students and encourages them to be effective communicators. It’s something she’s learned to do well, both with the deaf and those who can hear. Her husband, Jared, doesn’t have a hearing disability and works at ISDB as well. They met in high school and after a few attempts to flirt through a 40-year-old interpreter, Paulson said Jared learned her language, although he has his own style of signing.
A self-described farm girl at heart, Paulson was the only contestant to enter the Miss Deaf South Dakota pageant in 2006. She proved to be the best of her peers, winning that year’s national competition. Through it Paulson traveled to 15 states to speak about her platform against audism — discrimination against the deaf or hard of hearing — and to share her talent. She dressed as the Cat in the Hat to perform her Dr. Seuss piece in various venues.
“Now I tell my girls in class to sit up straight and keep their shoulders back,” Paulson signed, demonstrating the way she learned to sit properly.
While Paulson’s motto isn’t from Dr. Seuss, she’s kept the laughter and lightheartedness of his books with her.
“Do-Do? Laugh! In ASL to English it means, ‘What can we do? Laugh!’” Paulson said. “It’s better laughing over our problems than worry about it.”