Miss-Delectable
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Two to compete for national deaf teen title
Two outstanding students at Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf will travel to Michigan next month to compete in the 2009 Deaf Teen America competition.
Maggie Donaldson, 13, an eighth-grader from Cheswick, and sophomore Blaise Jugan, 16, of Glassport, will represent the Edgewood school at the annual pageant, which draws contestants from deaf education schools across the nation.
This year's competition will be April 8-12 at Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint.
Last month, Maggie and Blaise were named Mr. and Miss Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf by a panel of judges. Six other students competed for the title, the first step toward the Deaf Teen America recognition.
The Deaf Teen America competition is a five-day event for students in grades 8 to 11. Each contestant participates in a talent competition, panel discussion on teen issues and other events. Winners earn college scholarships.
Maggie is the daughter of Lilli and Tom Donaldson. She is an honor student who is featured in promotional videos about WPSD. For a portion of her school day, she attends Word of God Catholic School in Swissvale.
She plans to continue a split schedule next year at Oakland Catholic High School. After high school, she hopes to attend a large university and become a doctor or lawyer. Her brother, Shamus, is a senior at Deer Lakes High School.
Blaise, son of Rosa and Ken Jugan, is an honor student. He is interested in studying heating, ventilation and air conditioning after graduation, following in the footsteps of his brother, Adam, a student at Triangle Tech and a 2008 graduate of WPSD. Both brothers have a hereditary form of deafness.
For the talent portion of the school-level competition, Blaise acted out a story about soccer using every letter in the American Sign Language alphabet. Maggie signed the song, "Wonderful World," made famous by jazz artist Louis Armstrong.
Both students have attended WPSD since early childhood and communicate with a combination of speech and American Sign Language.
Maggie, who was diagnosed with profound deafness at 8 months, received a cochlear implant last year and likes it so well that she is planning to have a second one soon.
"Her speech was always good, but now it's even better," said her mother.
WPSD is an "all-inclusive communication environment" that encourages students to use any method that works for them, said spokeswoman Vicki Cherney. Established in 1869, it is the largest comprehensive school for deaf education in Pennsylvania and serves 200 children from birth to grade 12.
A brother-and-sister team from the school won the Deaf Teen America competition four years ago.
"We're very proud of Maggie and Blaise and know they will represent WPSD very well," said WPSD Superintendent Donald Rhoten. "This is a great opportunity for them to develop an even greater level of confidence and poise while meeting students from other schools all across the country."
Maggie said she is excited about the competition and looks forward to making friends and having fun.
Blaise, a veteran of regional and national competitions in soccer, basketball, track and chess, said he is headed to the competition with the mission of proving the preeminence of his city and school.
"I want to win the title and show that Pittsburgh and WPSD are the best," he said.
Both students said they would like hearing people to have a better understanding of the abilities of deaf people.
"Deaf people are the same as hearing people," Blaise said. "We can do anything they can do, except hear. Some people stereotype us as stupid and call us deaf mutes. I am deaf and I can talk."
Maggie added, "Some people may think that deaf people are not as smart as hearing people, but it's not true at all. We go to the same colleges. We learn at the same level."
Two outstanding students at Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf will travel to Michigan next month to compete in the 2009 Deaf Teen America competition.
Maggie Donaldson, 13, an eighth-grader from Cheswick, and sophomore Blaise Jugan, 16, of Glassport, will represent the Edgewood school at the annual pageant, which draws contestants from deaf education schools across the nation.
This year's competition will be April 8-12 at Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint.
Last month, Maggie and Blaise were named Mr. and Miss Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf by a panel of judges. Six other students competed for the title, the first step toward the Deaf Teen America recognition.
The Deaf Teen America competition is a five-day event for students in grades 8 to 11. Each contestant participates in a talent competition, panel discussion on teen issues and other events. Winners earn college scholarships.
Maggie is the daughter of Lilli and Tom Donaldson. She is an honor student who is featured in promotional videos about WPSD. For a portion of her school day, she attends Word of God Catholic School in Swissvale.
She plans to continue a split schedule next year at Oakland Catholic High School. After high school, she hopes to attend a large university and become a doctor or lawyer. Her brother, Shamus, is a senior at Deer Lakes High School.
Blaise, son of Rosa and Ken Jugan, is an honor student. He is interested in studying heating, ventilation and air conditioning after graduation, following in the footsteps of his brother, Adam, a student at Triangle Tech and a 2008 graduate of WPSD. Both brothers have a hereditary form of deafness.
For the talent portion of the school-level competition, Blaise acted out a story about soccer using every letter in the American Sign Language alphabet. Maggie signed the song, "Wonderful World," made famous by jazz artist Louis Armstrong.
Both students have attended WPSD since early childhood and communicate with a combination of speech and American Sign Language.
Maggie, who was diagnosed with profound deafness at 8 months, received a cochlear implant last year and likes it so well that she is planning to have a second one soon.
"Her speech was always good, but now it's even better," said her mother.
WPSD is an "all-inclusive communication environment" that encourages students to use any method that works for them, said spokeswoman Vicki Cherney. Established in 1869, it is the largest comprehensive school for deaf education in Pennsylvania and serves 200 children from birth to grade 12.
A brother-and-sister team from the school won the Deaf Teen America competition four years ago.
"We're very proud of Maggie and Blaise and know they will represent WPSD very well," said WPSD Superintendent Donald Rhoten. "This is a great opportunity for them to develop an even greater level of confidence and poise while meeting students from other schools all across the country."
Maggie said she is excited about the competition and looks forward to making friends and having fun.
Blaise, a veteran of regional and national competitions in soccer, basketball, track and chess, said he is headed to the competition with the mission of proving the preeminence of his city and school.
"I want to win the title and show that Pittsburgh and WPSD are the best," he said.
Both students said they would like hearing people to have a better understanding of the abilities of deaf people.
"Deaf people are the same as hearing people," Blaise said. "We can do anything they can do, except hear. Some people stereotype us as stupid and call us deaf mutes. I am deaf and I can talk."
Maggie added, "Some people may think that deaf people are not as smart as hearing people, but it's not true at all. We go to the same colleges. We learn at the same level."