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Riverside schools marks Deaf Awareness week | PE.com | Inland Southern California | K-12
As a person who can hear, public information coordinator Laurie Pietro enters the deaf culture when she enters the California School for the Deaf's Riverside campus. There, people have different ways of getting others' attention, such as flicking light switches.
During Deaf Awareness Week, tours Wednesday offered a glimpse of that culture along with the 56-acre campus.
All staff who work with students are required to use American Sign Language to communicate. Speech is optional as staff sign as they speak to visitors.
Hearing staff who don't have direct contact with students, such as janitors, aren't required to use sign language, but the school is teaching sign language classes for staff not already fluent, said Ileana Doña, the family education coordinator who led tours.
She pointed out digital light boards at the middle school that showed the time and let students know how much time they have left to change classes. Classrooms have similar light boards, which alert students in the event of an emergency or school lockdown.
Doña also showed old dorms with peeling exterior paint that will be torn down once the new ones are completed in October. The school, one of two in the state for deaf students, serves students from San Luis Obispo to the Mexico border.
Buses line up after school to transport students as far away as Hesperia. About 150 live in the dorms during the week and go home on weekends, Pietro said.
Any deaf or hard-of-hearing child, from 18 months to 22 years, is eligible to attend. All expenses, except some for social events, are covered by the state.
Six new dormitories and a multipurpose activity center are in the final phases of construction, Pietro said. Five years ago, before the economy slowed, the state set aside money for their construction -- $70 million for the dorms and $8 million for the activity center.
Pietro says the school is a great resource for Riverside, where she said about 17 percent of the population is deaf, compared to 10 percent for the state. Many former students stay in Riverside after graduation or return after college to teach there, she said.
The mayor's Model Deaf Community committee teaches sensitivity training for Riverside businesses such as Best Buy, Pietro said. Former students stock shelves, take inventory and some assist customers.
"Deaf people are more courageous than hearing people," Pietro said. They're used to the look of shock and fear that cashiers frequently give when they realize deaf customers don't hear or understand their "Paper or plastic?" questions, she said.
As a person who can hear, public information coordinator Laurie Pietro enters the deaf culture when she enters the California School for the Deaf's Riverside campus. There, people have different ways of getting others' attention, such as flicking light switches.
During Deaf Awareness Week, tours Wednesday offered a glimpse of that culture along with the 56-acre campus.
All staff who work with students are required to use American Sign Language to communicate. Speech is optional as staff sign as they speak to visitors.
Hearing staff who don't have direct contact with students, such as janitors, aren't required to use sign language, but the school is teaching sign language classes for staff not already fluent, said Ileana Doña, the family education coordinator who led tours.
She pointed out digital light boards at the middle school that showed the time and let students know how much time they have left to change classes. Classrooms have similar light boards, which alert students in the event of an emergency or school lockdown.
Doña also showed old dorms with peeling exterior paint that will be torn down once the new ones are completed in October. The school, one of two in the state for deaf students, serves students from San Luis Obispo to the Mexico border.
Buses line up after school to transport students as far away as Hesperia. About 150 live in the dorms during the week and go home on weekends, Pietro said.
Any deaf or hard-of-hearing child, from 18 months to 22 years, is eligible to attend. All expenses, except some for social events, are covered by the state.
Six new dormitories and a multipurpose activity center are in the final phases of construction, Pietro said. Five years ago, before the economy slowed, the state set aside money for their construction -- $70 million for the dorms and $8 million for the activity center.
Pietro says the school is a great resource for Riverside, where she said about 17 percent of the population is deaf, compared to 10 percent for the state. Many former students stay in Riverside after graduation or return after college to teach there, she said.
The mayor's Model Deaf Community committee teaches sensitivity training for Riverside businesses such as Best Buy, Pietro said. Former students stock shelves, take inventory and some assist customers.
"Deaf people are more courageous than hearing people," Pietro said. They're used to the look of shock and fear that cashiers frequently give when they realize deaf customers don't hear or understand their "Paper or plastic?" questions, she said.