Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
State honors former leader of school for the deaf | The Janesville Gazette | Janesville, Wisconsin, USA
John S. Shipman believed impaired hearing should not impair a student's access to a good education.
Monday, his efforts to ensure academic opportunities for students at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf were recognized by State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster.
Shipman, who died in 2000, served as administrator at the school from 1974-92. In that time, he shifted the school's traditional focus on vocational training to an emphasis on academic achievement, said Stephanie Petska, state director of special education.
Petska, who worked with Shipman at the school for the deaf for 15 years, accompanied Burmaster to the school Monday. Burmaster toured the school and, in a short ceremony, presented Shipman's widow, Gerry, with a plaque honoring his leadership.
The plaque describes Shipman as "a man of vision and optimism."
"He loved this school," Gerry Shipman said in accepting the award. "I'm so happy his good work is continuing here."
On Oct. 13, the administration building on the school's campus will officially be renamed the Shipman Administration Building, said Alex Slappey, the school's current director. The decision to rename the building came from a committee of staff and alumni, Slappey said.
Burmaster said the state Department of Public Instruction has signed off on the name change.
Shipman's daughter, Denise Helgeland, and her husband, Duane, of Wautoma also were at the ceremony. Helgeland said her father grew up in Missouri with parents who were deaf and he learned to sign before he could talk.
Shipman started his career working with deaf children in Missouri. He was a teacher and football coach at the Louisiana School for the Deaf and was principal of the Virginia School for the Deaf before coming to the Wisconsin School for the Deaf as superintendent.
John S. Shipman believed impaired hearing should not impair a student's access to a good education.
Monday, his efforts to ensure academic opportunities for students at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf were recognized by State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster.
Shipman, who died in 2000, served as administrator at the school from 1974-92. In that time, he shifted the school's traditional focus on vocational training to an emphasis on academic achievement, said Stephanie Petska, state director of special education.
Petska, who worked with Shipman at the school for the deaf for 15 years, accompanied Burmaster to the school Monday. Burmaster toured the school and, in a short ceremony, presented Shipman's widow, Gerry, with a plaque honoring his leadership.
The plaque describes Shipman as "a man of vision and optimism."
"He loved this school," Gerry Shipman said in accepting the award. "I'm so happy his good work is continuing here."
On Oct. 13, the administration building on the school's campus will officially be renamed the Shipman Administration Building, said Alex Slappey, the school's current director. The decision to rename the building came from a committee of staff and alumni, Slappey said.
Burmaster said the state Department of Public Instruction has signed off on the name change.
Shipman's daughter, Denise Helgeland, and her husband, Duane, of Wautoma also were at the ceremony. Helgeland said her father grew up in Missouri with parents who were deaf and he learned to sign before he could talk.
Shipman started his career working with deaf children in Missouri. He was a teacher and football coach at the Louisiana School for the Deaf and was principal of the Virginia School for the Deaf before coming to the Wisconsin School for the Deaf as superintendent.