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Oldest state school marks 150 years - KansasCity.com
As the oldest state educational institution in Kansas reaches its 150th anniversary, organizers are planning several events in Olathe to mark the milestone this month.
The Kansas School for the Deaf, which began in a two-room house in Baldwin City, is linked in history to Kansas statehood and the Civil War, including a close call with Quantrill’s Raiders.
Several cities, including Topeka, vied for or housed the school, but in 1865, Olathe built a small stone structure at what would prove to be its permanent location.
The K-12 school now accommodates more than 150 students in buildings on several blocks along Park Street. The complex includes dormitories for approximately half of its students who commute from across the state during the week and return home on weekends.
Sandra Kelly, the executive director of the Deaf Cultural Center across the street from the school, compiled a pictorial history of the school that’s being released this month.
Although it’s not directly affiliated with the school, the cultural center — one of only three in the world — features many exhibits pertaining to the Kansas School for the Deaf’s history, including some of its more famous graduates.
One of them was Luther “Dummy” Taylor. He was a key pitcher in the New York Giants’ National League championship teams of 1904 and 1905, and he influenced the development of baseball sign language.
Paul Hubbard, a KSD student in the late 1800s and later a teacher and coach at the school, is credited with inventing football’s circular huddle. As quarterback at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., Hubbard had his players form a circle to prevent his sign language signals from being seen by the opposing team.
Such rich history is what the Kansas School for the Deaf is celebrating this month with events including a pep rally, volleyball game and the homecoming football game. Kelly recalls the first deaf football game she attended. “Sitting in the stands, it was so quiet to me,” she said, “and they use a drum to snap the ball.”
The school can boast of beating the Kansas Jayhawks twice in baseball, and of several National Deaf Championships in volleyball, football and basketball. But the Kansas School for the Deaf is much more than sports.
Employing a bilingual philosophy — the English language along with American Sign Language — it is respected for both its college-preparatory academics and its career and transition program. Kelly hopes the general public will take advantage of the Sept. 22 and 23 tours of the school and cultural center and their respective museums.
“The school truly does have a great reputation,” Kelly said, “especially among other schools for the deaf. They see Kansas as really being ahead of the pack.”
The school draws many students and their families from other areas. “I’m one of them,” said Ken Milner, who came from western Kansas to attend KSD. “When I graduated I stayed here, I married here and I worked here,” for 36 years at Delco Battery in Olathe.
Ken’s three deaf children also attended KSD, and son Kevin is now the middle and high school head teacher.
Jeremiah Thompson’s parents moved their family from Oklahoma. “They felt that KSD was one of the best schools for the deaf and they knew, in order for me to be as successful as possible in my education, it was important for me to attend school where I could communicate directly with my classmates and my teachers,” Thompson said in email.
Thompson attended KSD from 1993-2009. Now working toward a bachelor’s degree in business administration/marketing at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, he would like to return to Johnson County after graduation.
“I consider KSD to be one of the best deaf schools in the nation,” Thompson said. “I would like to live in the KSD community and do what I can to support deaf children, deaf education.”
When the academic and social needs of her three deaf children were not being met in Lincoln, Neb., Kathi Hesser moved them to Olathe. “There was a really good deaf community in place,” Hesser said. “KSD had good academics and provided a lot of positive deaf role models.”
The family has commuted for several years between the two cities. Hesser teaches science at KSD while her husband continues to work in Lincoln.
Their son Michael graduated in May, and is now studying political science at Gallaudet University. After daughters Amy and Sara graduate from KSD next spring, Hesser believes there’s a strong possibility they will settle in Johnson County. “They have tight friends and they like the community,” Hesser said. “I think there’s more opportunity for them here than there ever will be in Nebraska.”
In 2009 a national deaf organization named Olathe as one of America’s “Top Deaf Friendly Cities.”
“I think the school has broadened the hearing community’s horizons as well,” Hesser said, “because they’ve had the opportunity to have regular exposure to another culture.”
Nancy Crews agrees. She taught at KSD for 32 years and is now an administrative assistant at the cultural center. “The history of the school is the history of the county,” Crews said, “and the history of the city.”
Hesser said the Kansas School for the Deaf offered her children unique opportunities.
“The school has provided my kids with the opportunity to be taught, and to have a regular school experience just like their hearing peers,” Hesser said. “To be able to be involved in government of the school, in sports and activities outside the school, be taught in their native language — all of those things are not possible anywhere else.”
•For information about the Kansas State School for the Deaf, including 150th anniversary events on Sept. 22-25, go to Kansas State School for the Deaf.
•For information about the Deaf Cultural Center and the book “Kansas School for the Deaf: A Pictorial History, 1861-2011” go to Kansas Educational Foundation Deaf Cultural Center or call 913-782-5808.
•Sandie Kelly of the Deaf Culture Center and William J. Marra Museum will share stories from the Kansas School for the Deaf’s 150-year history at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Mahaffie Heritage Center, 1200 Kansas City Road in Olathe. The free event is sponsored by the Olathe Historical Society.
As the oldest state educational institution in Kansas reaches its 150th anniversary, organizers are planning several events in Olathe to mark the milestone this month.
The Kansas School for the Deaf, which began in a two-room house in Baldwin City, is linked in history to Kansas statehood and the Civil War, including a close call with Quantrill’s Raiders.
Several cities, including Topeka, vied for or housed the school, but in 1865, Olathe built a small stone structure at what would prove to be its permanent location.
The K-12 school now accommodates more than 150 students in buildings on several blocks along Park Street. The complex includes dormitories for approximately half of its students who commute from across the state during the week and return home on weekends.
Sandra Kelly, the executive director of the Deaf Cultural Center across the street from the school, compiled a pictorial history of the school that’s being released this month.
Although it’s not directly affiliated with the school, the cultural center — one of only three in the world — features many exhibits pertaining to the Kansas School for the Deaf’s history, including some of its more famous graduates.
One of them was Luther “Dummy” Taylor. He was a key pitcher in the New York Giants’ National League championship teams of 1904 and 1905, and he influenced the development of baseball sign language.
Paul Hubbard, a KSD student in the late 1800s and later a teacher and coach at the school, is credited with inventing football’s circular huddle. As quarterback at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., Hubbard had his players form a circle to prevent his sign language signals from being seen by the opposing team.
Such rich history is what the Kansas School for the Deaf is celebrating this month with events including a pep rally, volleyball game and the homecoming football game. Kelly recalls the first deaf football game she attended. “Sitting in the stands, it was so quiet to me,” she said, “and they use a drum to snap the ball.”
The school can boast of beating the Kansas Jayhawks twice in baseball, and of several National Deaf Championships in volleyball, football and basketball. But the Kansas School for the Deaf is much more than sports.
Employing a bilingual philosophy — the English language along with American Sign Language — it is respected for both its college-preparatory academics and its career and transition program. Kelly hopes the general public will take advantage of the Sept. 22 and 23 tours of the school and cultural center and their respective museums.
“The school truly does have a great reputation,” Kelly said, “especially among other schools for the deaf. They see Kansas as really being ahead of the pack.”
The school draws many students and their families from other areas. “I’m one of them,” said Ken Milner, who came from western Kansas to attend KSD. “When I graduated I stayed here, I married here and I worked here,” for 36 years at Delco Battery in Olathe.
Ken’s three deaf children also attended KSD, and son Kevin is now the middle and high school head teacher.
Jeremiah Thompson’s parents moved their family from Oklahoma. “They felt that KSD was one of the best schools for the deaf and they knew, in order for me to be as successful as possible in my education, it was important for me to attend school where I could communicate directly with my classmates and my teachers,” Thompson said in email.
Thompson attended KSD from 1993-2009. Now working toward a bachelor’s degree in business administration/marketing at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, he would like to return to Johnson County after graduation.
“I consider KSD to be one of the best deaf schools in the nation,” Thompson said. “I would like to live in the KSD community and do what I can to support deaf children, deaf education.”
When the academic and social needs of her three deaf children were not being met in Lincoln, Neb., Kathi Hesser moved them to Olathe. “There was a really good deaf community in place,” Hesser said. “KSD had good academics and provided a lot of positive deaf role models.”
The family has commuted for several years between the two cities. Hesser teaches science at KSD while her husband continues to work in Lincoln.
Their son Michael graduated in May, and is now studying political science at Gallaudet University. After daughters Amy and Sara graduate from KSD next spring, Hesser believes there’s a strong possibility they will settle in Johnson County. “They have tight friends and they like the community,” Hesser said. “I think there’s more opportunity for them here than there ever will be in Nebraska.”
In 2009 a national deaf organization named Olathe as one of America’s “Top Deaf Friendly Cities.”
“I think the school has broadened the hearing community’s horizons as well,” Hesser said, “because they’ve had the opportunity to have regular exposure to another culture.”
Nancy Crews agrees. She taught at KSD for 32 years and is now an administrative assistant at the cultural center. “The history of the school is the history of the county,” Crews said, “and the history of the city.”
Hesser said the Kansas School for the Deaf offered her children unique opportunities.
“The school has provided my kids with the opportunity to be taught, and to have a regular school experience just like their hearing peers,” Hesser said. “To be able to be involved in government of the school, in sports and activities outside the school, be taught in their native language — all of those things are not possible anywhere else.”
•For information about the Kansas State School for the Deaf, including 150th anniversary events on Sept. 22-25, go to Kansas State School for the Deaf.
•For information about the Deaf Cultural Center and the book “Kansas School for the Deaf: A Pictorial History, 1861-2011” go to Kansas Educational Foundation Deaf Cultural Center or call 913-782-5808.
•Sandie Kelly of the Deaf Culture Center and William J. Marra Museum will share stories from the Kansas School for the Deaf’s 150-year history at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Mahaffie Heritage Center, 1200 Kansas City Road in Olathe. The free event is sponsored by the Olathe Historical Society.
