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Greer tours West Tenn. School for Deaf | jacksonsun.com | The Jackson Sun
After making the rounds to different schools and other organizations throughout the weekend, Jabari Greer had another stop he was not going to miss.
The former South Side player and current member of the NFL champion New Orleans Saints visited the West Tennessee School for the Deaf in Jackson on Monday.
Greer said he did not know about the school being in Jackson until his mother, Sandra Stewart, mentioned it to him recently.
"This is my first time to be here, and the energy and spirit in here is incredible," Greer said. "These kids have so much to face, and they're in there working hard to overcome the obstacles, just like children in any other school."
WTSD principal Kristi Lindsey said Greer was not alone in not knowing about the school.
"I grew up in Humboldt, 15 minutes away from here, and I didn't know about it until I was a junior in college," Lindsey said. "And we want to make sure our name is out there because every parent who has a child that is deaf needs to know about this school.
"We want to be able to help every child in West Tennessee that we can."
The school is one of four special-funded schools in the state, along with Tennessee School for the Deaf in Knoxville, Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville and York Institute in Jamestown.
The school in Jackson helps children from ages 2-13, and there are a couple of options for each child once he or she graduates from the school.
"They can go on to TSD in Knoxville or some schools around here have programs available where they can be in school in West Tennessee," Lindsey said. "The children who go to Knoxville that are from Jackson fly to Knoxville on Sunday evening and fly back home on Friday to spend the weekend with their parents."
Lindsey said the program is funded by the state to allow children who are deaf the opportunity to have an education like other children who can hear.
There are 50 children attending the school now, and all of them got an autograph from Greer signed on sheets of paper where they told the Super Bowl champion what they wanted to be when they grew up.
Many wanted to be police officers when they grow up, but there were others who wanted to be a baker, mechanic and veterinarian. There was even one who wanted to play for the Minnesota Vikings. Greer signed his sheet, too.
Greer even learned a little sign language through his interaction with the students during his tour and their questions for him. After he told them "Good morning" through signing, he talked about overcoming obstacles to do whatever they want to do in life after high school.
"We appreciate Jabari taking time out of his schedule to come in and visit with the children and tour the school," Lindsey said. "We've never had a Super Bowl champion come to our school, but not many other schools have either.
"It's great for the kids, and they really enjoyed it."
Greer also spoke at the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce.
After making the rounds to different schools and other organizations throughout the weekend, Jabari Greer had another stop he was not going to miss.
The former South Side player and current member of the NFL champion New Orleans Saints visited the West Tennessee School for the Deaf in Jackson on Monday.
Greer said he did not know about the school being in Jackson until his mother, Sandra Stewart, mentioned it to him recently.
"This is my first time to be here, and the energy and spirit in here is incredible," Greer said. "These kids have so much to face, and they're in there working hard to overcome the obstacles, just like children in any other school."
WTSD principal Kristi Lindsey said Greer was not alone in not knowing about the school.
"I grew up in Humboldt, 15 minutes away from here, and I didn't know about it until I was a junior in college," Lindsey said. "And we want to make sure our name is out there because every parent who has a child that is deaf needs to know about this school.
"We want to be able to help every child in West Tennessee that we can."
The school is one of four special-funded schools in the state, along with Tennessee School for the Deaf in Knoxville, Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville and York Institute in Jamestown.
The school in Jackson helps children from ages 2-13, and there are a couple of options for each child once he or she graduates from the school.
"They can go on to TSD in Knoxville or some schools around here have programs available where they can be in school in West Tennessee," Lindsey said. "The children who go to Knoxville that are from Jackson fly to Knoxville on Sunday evening and fly back home on Friday to spend the weekend with their parents."
Lindsey said the program is funded by the state to allow children who are deaf the opportunity to have an education like other children who can hear.
There are 50 children attending the school now, and all of them got an autograph from Greer signed on sheets of paper where they told the Super Bowl champion what they wanted to be when they grew up.
Many wanted to be police officers when they grow up, but there were others who wanted to be a baker, mechanic and veterinarian. There was even one who wanted to play for the Minnesota Vikings. Greer signed his sheet, too.
Greer even learned a little sign language through his interaction with the students during his tour and their questions for him. After he told them "Good morning" through signing, he talked about overcoming obstacles to do whatever they want to do in life after high school.
"We appreciate Jabari taking time out of his schedule to come in and visit with the children and tour the school," Lindsey said. "We've never had a Super Bowl champion come to our school, but not many other schools have either.
"It's great for the kids, and they really enjoyed it."
Greer also spoke at the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce.