Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Bowling Green Daily News
Miranda Stewart’s students struggle on a daily basis. Many have problems learning English, and because they make up a sliver of the student population, they rarely get to interact with one another.
So, Stewart is spearheading an event for deaf and hard of hearing students across western Kentucky. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Spelling Bee is 9 a.m. Tuesday at Greenwood High School.
About 40 students in 11 school districts, including Warren County Public Schools, are participating in the spelling bee. Students range from first- to eighth-graders - there were not enough high school participants for an older student category, said Stewart, deaf and hard of hearing teacher for Warren County middle and high schools.
It’s the first time a deaf spelling bee has been held in the area. Stewart helped develop the idea after attending another event for deaf students in Owensboro, dubbed Hands Alive. Each spring, deaf students, interpreters and mentors gather for the conference, where they learn about deaf culture as well as communication and language skills.
Stewart and other organizers wanted to hold a sister event during the fall semester.
“We felt like an important part of educating a child who is deaf and hard of hearing is to give them the opportunity to interact with other students from other schools that are deaf and hard of hearing,” she said.
Students will be separated into groups according to their grade level, and three judges - two of whom are deaf - will score the contest. Judges will speak and sign the word, and students will spell it on a dry erase board, Stewart said.
All students will receive medallions and the winners and runners-up will get trophies.
“It will be interesting to watch,” said Andy Hensley, regional outreach consultant for the Kentucky School for the Deaf. “I’m slated to be one of the judges, so I’m just as curious as anybody else to see how it goes and how they’re going to pull it off.”
It’s probably the first time such an event has been held in Kentucky, and it’s essential for deaf and hard of hearing students to interact with one another, Hensley said.
Those students make up such a small percentage of a school population that they rarely meet other children who have trouble hearing, he said.
That isolation can lead to social and academic challenges. Many deaf and hard of hearing students struggle with English.
It’s important they “have the opportunity to communicate with other kids who see the world through the same lens that they do,” he said.
Most people learn the language at an early age by hearing it, and it’s difficult to grasp parts of the language without the ability to hear, Hensley said.
“There are so many words in the English language that have multiple meanings, and semantics is a difficult experience for them,” he said. “They don’t get jokes very often. ... Idioms actually drive them nuts.”
Organizers hope Tuesday’s event will not only allow hard of hearing students to mingle, but will also boost their language skills, Stewart said.
“We wanted to do something that would be very academic and have high expectations,” Stewart said, “and challenge the students to learn to master English because that’s something that is difficult.”
Miranda Stewart’s students struggle on a daily basis. Many have problems learning English, and because they make up a sliver of the student population, they rarely get to interact with one another.
So, Stewart is spearheading an event for deaf and hard of hearing students across western Kentucky. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Spelling Bee is 9 a.m. Tuesday at Greenwood High School.
About 40 students in 11 school districts, including Warren County Public Schools, are participating in the spelling bee. Students range from first- to eighth-graders - there were not enough high school participants for an older student category, said Stewart, deaf and hard of hearing teacher for Warren County middle and high schools.
It’s the first time a deaf spelling bee has been held in the area. Stewart helped develop the idea after attending another event for deaf students in Owensboro, dubbed Hands Alive. Each spring, deaf students, interpreters and mentors gather for the conference, where they learn about deaf culture as well as communication and language skills.
Stewart and other organizers wanted to hold a sister event during the fall semester.
“We felt like an important part of educating a child who is deaf and hard of hearing is to give them the opportunity to interact with other students from other schools that are deaf and hard of hearing,” she said.
Students will be separated into groups according to their grade level, and three judges - two of whom are deaf - will score the contest. Judges will speak and sign the word, and students will spell it on a dry erase board, Stewart said.
All students will receive medallions and the winners and runners-up will get trophies.
“It will be interesting to watch,” said Andy Hensley, regional outreach consultant for the Kentucky School for the Deaf. “I’m slated to be one of the judges, so I’m just as curious as anybody else to see how it goes and how they’re going to pull it off.”
It’s probably the first time such an event has been held in Kentucky, and it’s essential for deaf and hard of hearing students to interact with one another, Hensley said.
Those students make up such a small percentage of a school population that they rarely meet other children who have trouble hearing, he said.
That isolation can lead to social and academic challenges. Many deaf and hard of hearing students struggle with English.
It’s important they “have the opportunity to communicate with other kids who see the world through the same lens that they do,” he said.
Most people learn the language at an early age by hearing it, and it’s difficult to grasp parts of the language without the ability to hear, Hensley said.
“There are so many words in the English language that have multiple meanings, and semantics is a difficult experience for them,” he said. “They don’t get jokes very often. ... Idioms actually drive them nuts.”
Organizers hope Tuesday’s event will not only allow hard of hearing students to mingle, but will also boost their language skills, Stewart said.
“We wanted to do something that would be very academic and have high expectations,” Stewart said, “and challenge the students to learn to master English because that’s something that is difficult.”