Miss-Delectable
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stjoenews.net | Sound determination
At a small ice cream shop in downtown Atchison, Kan., customers clamor for a sweet treat after an evening of Christmas festivities. Savanna Law calmly attends to each one — scooping ice cream, making salads and pouring drinks like a seasoned pro. The way she confidently handles the cash register, works the cappuccino machine and cleans the counter, you’d think the 17-year-old had been working at the Snow Ball for years instead of just four months.
And there’s no way you’d know she’s deaf.
The home-schooled senior has worked hard to make it that way. For years she studied with a teacher for the deaf on her vocabulary and lip-reading skills, working as hard as she could to make sure she could live comfortably in a hearing world.
“I can do anything hearing people can do, except hear,” she says with a smile.
That sheer determination led Savanna to start a job search last summer. While many other teens her age hung out poolside, she read the classifieds, filled out applications and pounded the pavement in search of a job. It proved to be a challenge, not just because of the economy, but because, she says, she faced some not-so-subtle discrimination.
“I applied at a lot of different jobs before I applied at Snow Ball,” Savanna says. “A lot of the other places I felt like they discriminated against me. They had a lot of excuses like, ‘What if you can’t hear the loud speaker, or can’t wear headphones’ or whatever. Like they were afraid I would be too much of an inconvenience.”
But when she met Snow Ball’s owner Albert Valdez, she found the chance she was looking for.
“He was very encouraging the first few days I was here,” Savanna says. “It was a bumpy road those first couple of days. People didn’t know I was hearing impaired. They didn’t understand.”
Soon the pair realized they needed to come up with a way to explain the situation. A small sign placed on the counter when she is on duty made all the difference. Now instead of getting grumpy customers who mumble their way through an order and can’t understand why she doesn’t hear them, people are more likely to make sure they’re looking at her when they talk so she understands every word.
“Our customers are really nice,” Savanna says. “I’m getting to know the regulars and what they like.”
She says the best part is having a boss who understands her and goes out of the way to make her feel comfortable.
“He made the effort in telling people how I functioned,” she says. “And he made the effort to learn some sign language in order to communicate with me better. He’s a really great boss.”
The feeling’s mutual. Despite the initial challenges, Mr. Valdez says the extra time in making the sign and working with her in training is worth it.
“She is one of my best employees,” he says.
At a small ice cream shop in downtown Atchison, Kan., customers clamor for a sweet treat after an evening of Christmas festivities. Savanna Law calmly attends to each one — scooping ice cream, making salads and pouring drinks like a seasoned pro. The way she confidently handles the cash register, works the cappuccino machine and cleans the counter, you’d think the 17-year-old had been working at the Snow Ball for years instead of just four months.
And there’s no way you’d know she’s deaf.
The home-schooled senior has worked hard to make it that way. For years she studied with a teacher for the deaf on her vocabulary and lip-reading skills, working as hard as she could to make sure she could live comfortably in a hearing world.
“I can do anything hearing people can do, except hear,” she says with a smile.
That sheer determination led Savanna to start a job search last summer. While many other teens her age hung out poolside, she read the classifieds, filled out applications and pounded the pavement in search of a job. It proved to be a challenge, not just because of the economy, but because, she says, she faced some not-so-subtle discrimination.
“I applied at a lot of different jobs before I applied at Snow Ball,” Savanna says. “A lot of the other places I felt like they discriminated against me. They had a lot of excuses like, ‘What if you can’t hear the loud speaker, or can’t wear headphones’ or whatever. Like they were afraid I would be too much of an inconvenience.”
But when she met Snow Ball’s owner Albert Valdez, she found the chance she was looking for.
“He was very encouraging the first few days I was here,” Savanna says. “It was a bumpy road those first couple of days. People didn’t know I was hearing impaired. They didn’t understand.”
Soon the pair realized they needed to come up with a way to explain the situation. A small sign placed on the counter when she is on duty made all the difference. Now instead of getting grumpy customers who mumble their way through an order and can’t understand why she doesn’t hear them, people are more likely to make sure they’re looking at her when they talk so she understands every word.
“Our customers are really nice,” Savanna says. “I’m getting to know the regulars and what they like.”
She says the best part is having a boss who understands her and goes out of the way to make her feel comfortable.
“He made the effort in telling people how I functioned,” she says. “And he made the effort to learn some sign language in order to communicate with me better. He’s a really great boss.”
The feeling’s mutual. Despite the initial challenges, Mr. Valdez says the extra time in making the sign and working with her in training is worth it.
“She is one of my best employees,” he says.