This past month has been very exciting for our DHH Program! Seven students and two chaperones traveled to Washington D.C. to compete in Gallaudet University’s Battle of the Books, a national competition for middle school DHH students. Gallaudet’s Battle of the Books was established in 2012 with the goal of promoting literacy among deaf and hard of hearing middle school students. The competition has three divisions (Buff, Blue and Green), according to literacy levels, and includes multiple choice and short answer questions from the books as well as a presentation-style question and answer portion. Sixteen teams from across the country advanced to the national competition, from the 94 teams that competed in the preliminary and playoff rounds held in November and December 2018. (Robert Weinstock; Gallaudet University 2019).
Venado sent two teams to the national competition. Leah O., Joecelyn S., and Dominic T. made up the Blue Division Team while Noor H., Joshua M., Gabriel O. and Aleena S. made up the Green Division Team. Our Green team clinched their division championship back in December through videophone competition. However, the Blue Division team had to continue their battle 2,600 miles away at Gallaudet University. After seven grueling matches against some very tough competition, Venado’s Blue team prevailed and clinched the Blue Division Championship! We are beyond proud of this very hard-working group of students! They gave up over 80 lunch periods, even more Tutorial sessions and countless hours of personal time to read, develop study materials and discuss as a group. Their hard work and dedication to the competition definitely paid off! Go Knights!!
~Janet Dicker, DHH Teacher