Three of our students, Leah O., Jocelyn S. and Dominic T., have been very busy these past few months preparing for a national reading competition for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students called Battle of the Books. These students have made it through the preliminary and play-off rounds of competition and are now headed to Nationals which will take place at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. March 28 - April 1. To prepare for the competition, students have read seven different novels, developed study materials, and have participated in daily study sessions. These students will be joined by four of their peers, Noor H., Joshua M., Gabriel O., and Aleena S., who already won the National Title for their reading level in December. We admire these hard working students and wish them the best of luck in their upcoming competition! Go Knights!
FUN FACT: It is common for Deaf people to be completely comfortable talking about personal topics like health, salary, and how much their mortgage is, even with people they don’t know well. In Deaf culture, information sharing is valued, because Deaf people do not pick it up incidentally as hearing people do. Therefore, it isn’t considered rude to ask questions that may seem overly personal to hearing people, Deaf culture is collectivist, with Deaf people seeing themselves as part of a close-knit and interconnected group. Sharing information is an important aspect of cultures that value this kind of interconnectedness.
~ Janet Dicker, DHH Teacher and Site Liaison