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Westchester teens in quiz contest for deaf | lohud.com | The Journal News
Growing up deaf is difficult enough. But when you're one of the only deaf students in school, things can be even more challenging.
Not being able to express yourself as well as you would like can be
stressful, and other students too often mistake that as a reflection of your
intelligence. At Blind Brook High School, however, a group of students from
the Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services Deaf and
Hard-of-Hearing Program is out to prove just how smart they are.
Today through Sunday, they will be the first students to represent
SWBOCES at the Gallaudet University Academic Bowl, the only national quiz
tournament exclusively for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
Are they apprehensive? You bet. But they're eating it up.
"I'm nervous, but I'm excited at the same time," Jacqueline Mamorsky, a junior, said by signing. "We experience growing up in school, and sometimes our self-esteem is lower because we know more than we can say. And this competition is more, like, equal. The communication's easy, all the kids are like us, it's more fun, it's exciting. I'm so motivated!"
"I want to win this," said Albert Pucci, a senior.
Gallaudet University established the Academic Bowl in 1997 with the goal of promoting academic excellence and competition among deaf students.
There are five regional competitions, with a total of 16 teams facing off in each region.
The SWBOCES students are headed to the Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf on Long Island. From each local contest, the top two teams will move on to the national championship April 25-28 at Gallaudet, in Washington, D.C.
The questions students will face at the competition are anything but easy.
During a recent mock run at Blind Brook, SWBOCES teachers Melinda
Pittis and Lynne Martirano drilled the students on an array of questions
touching upon math, current events, history, and deaf culture, just to name
a few.
The current events are as current as the morning newspaper's headlines.
"These are the kinds of questions you're going to see, guys," Pittis told the group, both verbally and in sign language.
"Take risks today, do you know what I mean? Take risks with your answers," she said. "If you never practice now, you won't raise your hand during real competition."
The SWBOCES team knows it will face some steep competition.
The tournament is extremely difficult to get into, with all the available spots filling up in a matter of seconds during the online registration.
Plus, most of the deaf schools participate every year and set aside
class periods to practice. At Blind Brook, on the other hand, the team
practices during the students’ lunch period.
The competition rules are also quite stringent. Judges don't accept written answers that are misspelled or improperly capitalized, for instance.
"When you force kids to do it and you make that the expectation, they will do it - and they are doing it," Pittis said. "This is the best of the best. The best and the brightest deaf and hard-of-hearing students compete in this competition."
With only a few weeks to go, the students were trying not to let their nerves get the best of them.
Amanda Lease, a junior, said she's looking at this year's competition as a good warm-up, to get a better feel of how it all works. Then next year, the group will be better prepared.
When it's all said and done, the SWBOCES group is especially looking forward to just having some fun and meeting new people with whom they already share so much in common.
"It's easy to fit with deaf (people). It's the same culture," Lease said by signing. "It's different in hearing school, because we're different than the other kids."
Growing up deaf is difficult enough. But when you're one of the only deaf students in school, things can be even more challenging.
Not being able to express yourself as well as you would like can be
stressful, and other students too often mistake that as a reflection of your
intelligence. At Blind Brook High School, however, a group of students from
the Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services Deaf and
Hard-of-Hearing Program is out to prove just how smart they are.
Today through Sunday, they will be the first students to represent
SWBOCES at the Gallaudet University Academic Bowl, the only national quiz
tournament exclusively for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
Are they apprehensive? You bet. But they're eating it up.
"I'm nervous, but I'm excited at the same time," Jacqueline Mamorsky, a junior, said by signing. "We experience growing up in school, and sometimes our self-esteem is lower because we know more than we can say. And this competition is more, like, equal. The communication's easy, all the kids are like us, it's more fun, it's exciting. I'm so motivated!"
"I want to win this," said Albert Pucci, a senior.
Gallaudet University established the Academic Bowl in 1997 with the goal of promoting academic excellence and competition among deaf students.
There are five regional competitions, with a total of 16 teams facing off in each region.
The SWBOCES students are headed to the Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf on Long Island. From each local contest, the top two teams will move on to the national championship April 25-28 at Gallaudet, in Washington, D.C.
The questions students will face at the competition are anything but easy.
During a recent mock run at Blind Brook, SWBOCES teachers Melinda
Pittis and Lynne Martirano drilled the students on an array of questions
touching upon math, current events, history, and deaf culture, just to name
a few.
The current events are as current as the morning newspaper's headlines.
"These are the kinds of questions you're going to see, guys," Pittis told the group, both verbally and in sign language.
"Take risks today, do you know what I mean? Take risks with your answers," she said. "If you never practice now, you won't raise your hand during real competition."
The SWBOCES team knows it will face some steep competition.
The tournament is extremely difficult to get into, with all the available spots filling up in a matter of seconds during the online registration.
Plus, most of the deaf schools participate every year and set aside
class periods to practice. At Blind Brook, on the other hand, the team
practices during the students’ lunch period.
The competition rules are also quite stringent. Judges don't accept written answers that are misspelled or improperly capitalized, for instance.
"When you force kids to do it and you make that the expectation, they will do it - and they are doing it," Pittis said. "This is the best of the best. The best and the brightest deaf and hard-of-hearing students compete in this competition."
With only a few weeks to go, the students were trying not to let their nerves get the best of them.
Amanda Lease, a junior, said she's looking at this year's competition as a good warm-up, to get a better feel of how it all works. Then next year, the group will be better prepared.
When it's all said and done, the SWBOCES group is especially looking forward to just having some fun and meeting new people with whom they already share so much in common.
"It's easy to fit with deaf (people). It's the same culture," Lease said by signing. "It's different in hearing school, because we're different than the other kids."