Miss-Delectable
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Making a difference : Corpus Christi Local | Caller-Times |
When she could hear at age 5, Katherine "Katie" Deshea Murch didn't like what her mother told her, so she threw her hearing aids out the car window onto South Padre Island Drive.
Despite being born profoundly deaf and before completely losing her hearing from vertigo in 2004, Murch, now 21, flushed other hearing aids down the toilet, gave them to her dog to chew, left some at a camp in Colorado and buried others in the family's back yard, her mother said.
"We've never found them," her mother, Lesa Thomas, said of the buried hearing aids. "She's always done things her way, with her fingers in everything."
Murch, now 21, was crowned Miss Deaf Texas in June, and is twisting her passion for self-accomplishment into helping other youths with hearing limits realize their potential. She said her ability to speak comes from being a ferocious reader who heard some language sounds as a child.
"My drug is learning, I'm addicted to learning," she said. "I can't stop."
Seven regional winners competed in the state pageant in Arlington held by the Texas Society of Interpreters -- Miss Corpus Christi, Miss Dallas, Miss Mesquite, Miss Plano, Miss San Antonio, Miss Austin and Miss Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf.
Three judges selected Murch based on private interviews, platform presentation, talent, evening gown and on-stage interviews, officials said. Murch will compete for a national crown in New Orleans in July 2008.
"I'm proud of being deaf," Murch said, while signing the words as she spoke. "I hate the labels -- mute, deaf and dumb, and especially disabled, like we're not able to do things."
If she wins the national crown, then Texas' first runner up, Sericia Jackerson, Miss Deaf Austin, becomes the new Miss Deaf Texas.
"Katherine will do an outstanding job representing Texas," said Laura Loeb Hill, state pageant director for six years. "I have watched her compete the past three pageants, and her maturity level blossomed."
Breaking education barriers for deaf children is Murch's quest.
"Our biggest barrier is communication," she said. "It has to be more emphasized. I've gotten so much from educators that I want to give something back."
As a child Murch had limited access to the world, she said.
"Even computer programs were limited, but now video phones, Web cams and Blackberrys have opened a new world and I'm using all of it to help younger deaf children get the education they deserve."
Her desire to be mainstreamed into Flour Bluff schools in 1986 sparked a four-year court battle that ended with a writ of certiorari from the Texas Supreme Court in 1993 requiring the district to provide special programming for the incoming fourth-grader.
"Their attitude changed a lot after that," Murch said. "Having me there changed the way they looked at deaf people."
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, she was provided interpreters and note-takers, although Murch could read lips very well, she said.
"So many kids wanted to communicate with me," Murch said. "And they wanted to learn. They were trying to sign in the hallways, and on the soccer field."
Former classmate Joshua Jordan Ortegon, 21, a drilling fluids specialist in the oil and gas industry, learned to sign words after meeting Murch in calculus class.
"I went to the library to learn a little something to impress her," Ortegon said. "For a lot of people, it was intimidating and they didn't know how to approach her," he said. "I was so intrigued because she lights up a room when she walks in and smiles."
Ortegon and Murch have dated since high school, and she said his learning to sign "showed me he was a keeper."
In 2007 Murch completed an associate's degree at Del Mar College in business administration and now works as a marketing director for an online information system for parents and educators of the deaf. She plans to attend Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in the fall.
As Miss Deaf Texas she is active at the Corpus Christi Area Council for the Deaf, helping some of the 28,000 people the council serves with literacy training, case management and message relays.
"We're extremely proud of her accomplishments and are blessed to have Katie represent the local deaf community," said Benna Timperlake, executive director of the council. "She's a great representative for the entire world to see what deaf people can accomplish."
One in nine Texans has some level of hearing loss, according to statistics.
"Reading level of the average deaf high school student is fourth grade," Murch said. "This new title can get me into schools and classrooms, and I'm making sure everyone's working to change that."
When she could hear at age 5, Katherine "Katie" Deshea Murch didn't like what her mother told her, so she threw her hearing aids out the car window onto South Padre Island Drive.
Despite being born profoundly deaf and before completely losing her hearing from vertigo in 2004, Murch, now 21, flushed other hearing aids down the toilet, gave them to her dog to chew, left some at a camp in Colorado and buried others in the family's back yard, her mother said.
"We've never found them," her mother, Lesa Thomas, said of the buried hearing aids. "She's always done things her way, with her fingers in everything."
Murch, now 21, was crowned Miss Deaf Texas in June, and is twisting her passion for self-accomplishment into helping other youths with hearing limits realize their potential. She said her ability to speak comes from being a ferocious reader who heard some language sounds as a child.
"My drug is learning, I'm addicted to learning," she said. "I can't stop."
Seven regional winners competed in the state pageant in Arlington held by the Texas Society of Interpreters -- Miss Corpus Christi, Miss Dallas, Miss Mesquite, Miss Plano, Miss San Antonio, Miss Austin and Miss Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf.
Three judges selected Murch based on private interviews, platform presentation, talent, evening gown and on-stage interviews, officials said. Murch will compete for a national crown in New Orleans in July 2008.
"I'm proud of being deaf," Murch said, while signing the words as she spoke. "I hate the labels -- mute, deaf and dumb, and especially disabled, like we're not able to do things."
If she wins the national crown, then Texas' first runner up, Sericia Jackerson, Miss Deaf Austin, becomes the new Miss Deaf Texas.
"Katherine will do an outstanding job representing Texas," said Laura Loeb Hill, state pageant director for six years. "I have watched her compete the past three pageants, and her maturity level blossomed."
Breaking education barriers for deaf children is Murch's quest.
"Our biggest barrier is communication," she said. "It has to be more emphasized. I've gotten so much from educators that I want to give something back."
As a child Murch had limited access to the world, she said.
"Even computer programs were limited, but now video phones, Web cams and Blackberrys have opened a new world and I'm using all of it to help younger deaf children get the education they deserve."
Her desire to be mainstreamed into Flour Bluff schools in 1986 sparked a four-year court battle that ended with a writ of certiorari from the Texas Supreme Court in 1993 requiring the district to provide special programming for the incoming fourth-grader.
"Their attitude changed a lot after that," Murch said. "Having me there changed the way they looked at deaf people."
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, she was provided interpreters and note-takers, although Murch could read lips very well, she said.
"So many kids wanted to communicate with me," Murch said. "And they wanted to learn. They were trying to sign in the hallways, and on the soccer field."
Former classmate Joshua Jordan Ortegon, 21, a drilling fluids specialist in the oil and gas industry, learned to sign words after meeting Murch in calculus class.
"I went to the library to learn a little something to impress her," Ortegon said. "For a lot of people, it was intimidating and they didn't know how to approach her," he said. "I was so intrigued because she lights up a room when she walks in and smiles."
Ortegon and Murch have dated since high school, and she said his learning to sign "showed me he was a keeper."
In 2007 Murch completed an associate's degree at Del Mar College in business administration and now works as a marketing director for an online information system for parents and educators of the deaf. She plans to attend Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in the fall.
As Miss Deaf Texas she is active at the Corpus Christi Area Council for the Deaf, helping some of the 28,000 people the council serves with literacy training, case management and message relays.
"We're extremely proud of her accomplishments and are blessed to have Katie represent the local deaf community," said Benna Timperlake, executive director of the council. "She's a great representative for the entire world to see what deaf people can accomplish."
One in nine Texans has some level of hearing loss, according to statistics.
"Reading level of the average deaf high school student is fourth grade," Murch said. "This new title can get me into schools and classrooms, and I'm making sure everyone's working to change that."