TENNESSEE OBSERVER - Tennessee School for the Deaf

over 150 years of educating deaftheTENNESSEE OBSERVERand hard of hearing childrenlooking to the future with our roots firmly planted in the traditions of the pastlooking to the future with our roots firmly planted in the traditions of the pastVolume 134 Tennessee School for the Deaf, Knoxville 37920the tennessee observer(Issue No. 3)Jan-Feb-March 2011Martin Luther King Day at TSDTSD studentsenjoyed an engaginglearning experienceabout Dr. MartinLuther King, Jr.’s legacyat the school’sannual MLK, Jr. Daycelebration on January17.Eighth gradersAlex Arellanes, DemetriaBeasley,Michaela Evans, LadarriusRobinson,Emily Rollins, DestinyThompson and Rashard Witherspoonnarrated a PowerPoint presentation aboutCoretta Scott King, Dr. King’s wife from1954 until his death in 1968. They summarizedher life as follows:Michaela Evans, Destiny Thompson, Emily Rollins, Alex Arellanes, Ladarrius Robinson,Demetria Beasley, and Rashard Witherspoon are ready for their PowerPoint presentation.- Born in 1927, Coretta experiencedracial discrimination as a younggirl in Marion, Alabama, where sheand fellow black students walked fivemiles to their elementary school whilewhite students were bused to theirschool, which was close by. (At thattime, black students were not allowedto attend school with whites.) AlthoughCoretta’s parents were not educated,they were determined their childrenwould be, and made many sacrifices toensure they studied hard and weresuccessful in school. Coretta graduatedvaledictorian of her all-black highschool, Lincoln Normal School, in1945, and enrolled in Antioch Collegein Ohio to study music and education.(Coretta’s older sister, Edythe, wasAntioch’s first black student!). Becauseof the racial discrimination she hadendured growing up, Coretta joinedthe National Association for the Advancementof Colored People(NAACP).- After graduating from Antioch,Coretta went on to study concert singingat Boston’s New England Conservatoryof Music, where she earned adegree in voice and violin. In Bostonshe met Martin Luther King, Jr., whowas studying theology (religion) atBoston University. They were marriedin 1953 and moved to Montgomery,Alabama, in 1954, where Dr. Kingbecame pastor of Dexter Avenue BaptistChurch. During their marriage, thecouple had four children.- In 1955, after Rosa Parks, a blackwoman, was arrested for refusing tosurrender her bus seat to a white woman,Coretta joined her husband in leadingthe Montgomery Bus Boycott.Blacks refused to ride the city’s publictransportation buses, and walked, carpooled,taxied, or hitchhiked everywherethey went. The boycott lasted381 long days. Finally, laws werechanged in Alabama and throughoutthe United States, permitting blacks tosit wherever they wanted on buses.- As her husband continued toadvance the Civil Rights Movement,Coretta campaigned with him, seekingequal rights for people of color. OnApril 4, 1968, her lifechanged forever – Dr.King was shot and killedin Memphis, Tennessee,while supporting strikingblack sanitationworkers in that city.Despite her grief, she andthree of her children ledthousands in a silentmarch through Memphisjust four days after herhusband’s murder. Thenext day, she led tens ofthousands of mournersthrough the streets of Atlanta duringDr. King’s funeral procession.- Coretta then took over Dr. King’sCivil Rights Movement, fighting forequal treatment of all U.S. citizens,regardless of their race. She establishedthe Martin Luther King, Jr.Center for Nonviolent Social Changein the basement of her Montgomeryhome in 1969. (To further Dr. King’slegacy of justice, equality, and peace,Coretta relocated The King Center to ahuge facility in Atlanta in 1981.) Inaddition to the Civil Rights Movement,she supported many causes, suchas women’s rights, economic issuesand world peace.- The American Library Associationnamed The Coretta Scott KingAward in honor of Coretta’s continuedefforts toward peace and civil rightsconcerns. The award recognizes African-Americanauthors and illustratorswho create outstanding books for childrenand young adults. Many of thosebooks can be found in public librariesand in TSD’s campus library.- Coretta was also responsible forSee MLK Day at TSD - Page 2Spring Two Thousand and Eleven

the tennessee observerPage 3The Tennessee Observera parent meeting. Most parents of childrenwith special needs remember the instantconnection they felt when they first metanother mom or dad whose child was liketheirs. For young children the connectionis exactly the same, or as a young sib toldme, “Finally, somebody else gets my life!”Add in the fun, games, crafts and cookingat a Sibshop and you can see why the kidswant more time together.Sibshops at TSD is not the only siblingsupport offered in Tennessee for youngchildren. Among others, the VanderbiltKennedy Center for Excellence in DevelopmentalDisability has its SibSaturdays programand East Tennessee State Universityhas Siblings United. SibSaturday’s AshleyCoulter, Siblings United’s Cindy Chambersand I were at an adult sibling gathering(we each have a sibling with special needsourselves) when we began talking aboutour respective sibling support programs.As we shared stories of how the kids in oursibling support programs love to be together,the idea of a sibling camp came up. Weknew all our kids would love to attend; thequestion was could we pull it off? In short,with the enthusiastic support of all threeprograms, the answer was yes. And so, thefirst ever SibCamp in the state of Tennesseewas born!SibCamp is scheduled for July 7 – 9,2011 and will be held on the beautifulcampus of the Tennessee School for theDeaf in Knoxville. Just like Sibshops,SibCamp is designed for children ages 8 –13 who have siblings with special needs.SibCampers will stay in the cottages atTSD; SibCamp leaders will be adults involvedin the three sponsoring sibling supportprograms. There will be a nurse onduty during camp to deal with any scrapes,etc. In addition, selected teen-aged Sibshopgraduates will serve as junior leadersduring the three day stay. Sarena Duncan,a teen Sibshop attendee, has this to sayabout SibCamp: “I’ve been participating inthe Sibshop experience for eight years, andnever would I have dreamed of somethinglike this! Sibshops are only held once everyfew months, and even though it’s at leastfour hours long, the time never ceases to flyby! I can’t wait to be a junior counselor forSibCamp; this is going to be three days ofnonstop excitement.”SibCamp will be similar to traditionalcamps; there will be lots of cookouts,campfires, crafts and water games. Whatwill make SibCamp unique is that therethe tennessee observerSibshop kids in front of a cottage at TSD – can you tell we’ve just played water balloonvolleyball?will also be sibling support activities plannedfor each day. SibCampers will arrive onThursday afternoon and their families canhelp them get settled in the cottages. Oncethe families leave, the SibCamp fun begins!SibCamp will close on Saturday afternoonwith a Family Celebration. SibCampers’parents and siblings will be invited to joinus as we honor and celebrate all that makesour families special. After learning aboutSibCamp from her son, a Sibshop mothertold me, “Every kid wants summer tocome, but now he’s really looking forwardto it!”Space for SibCamp is limited to 30 childrenand we expect interest to be high. Tobe eligible for SibCamp, children must beinvolved in a local sibling support programand be between the ages of 8 and 13 on JulyThe Middle School students participatedin a Hoops for the Heart celebration onFriday, February 18th. This event was a funHoops for Heart7, 2011. SibCamp application forms areavailable from the sponsoring sibling supportprograms or by emailing me attinap@tsd.k12.tn.us. Cost for the threeday camp is $50 per child and covers allfood and materials. Some scholarship helpwill be available. Transportation to andfrom Knoxville will be the responsibility ofthe families.It’s our hope that this first SibCamp willnot be the last and that each year we are ableto serve more children. After all, we’reworking with the people who have thepotential to have the longest lasting relationshipwith their siblings. When werespect siblings’ needs and feelings, it ultimatelyimproves the family experience foreveryone. And if SibCamp is lots of fun, allthe better – break out the s’mores!way to bring attention to the fight againstheart disease and the importance of exerSee Hoops fo Heart - Page 4Spring Two Thousand and Eleven

the tennessee observerPage 4The Tennessee ObserverHoops for Heartfrom Page 3cise and good diet in our lives. Thestudents have been busy collecting pledgesthat go directly to the American HeartAssociation. This money goes to fundresearch to help fight heart disease andprovide information to educate peopleabout how to prevent heart disease. TheMiddle School students have raised almost$700 to date, and have a couple of weeksleft to bring that total even higher! Ourleading money raiser at this time is KaitlynBohrer (last year's winner as well). Way togo Kaitlyn!The celebration event was held in Akingym with a lot of exercise, excitement, andcompetition. A lot of good sportsmanshipwas shown by many students, and the staffhad a hard time choosing just one. As amatter of fact, we had 11 nominees, withmany 8th graders on that list. They weregood role models for the 6th and 7thgraders. The four finalists were MichaelaEvans, Destiny Thompson, Hunter Johnson,and Rashard Witherspoon. Our sportsmanshipaward for 2011 went to Rashard!Here are the results of the events:Hotshot:6th grade:1st Jared Grayson (9 pts)2nd Misael Sanchez (7 pts)3rd Corneluis Johnson (6 pts)7th/8th girls:1st Michaela Evans (18 pts)2nd Demetria Beasley (15 pts)3rd Tiffany Paul (13 pts)7th boys:1st Payton Oliver (18 pts)2nd Austin Gross (16 pts)3rd Christian Osborn (11 pts)8th boys:1st Tristen Webster (26 pts)2nd Samuel Hanley (17 pts)3rd Hunter Johnson (16 pts)Gotcha:6th grade:Patton Carothers & ClarenceCunningham7th/8th girls:Michaela Evans & Demetria Beasley7th boys:Austin Gross & Joseph Carterthe tennessee observer8th boys:Nakia Johnson &Samuel HanleyChampion: Demetria Beasley3 on 3 Tournament:1st place:Knicks - Austin Gross, Joseph Carter,& Anna Steele2nd place:Sixers - Hunter Johnson, RashardWitherspoon & Destiny Thompson“The mission of St. Jude Children’sResearch Hospital is to advance cures, andmeans of prevention, for pediatric catastrophicdiseases through research and treatment.Consistent with the vision of ourfounder, Danny Thomas, no child is deniedtreatment based on race, religion or afamily’s ability to pay.The Team Up for St. Jude program isa student-led, student-run philanthropicprogram in which high school studentsraise both funds and awareness for St. JudeChildren’s Research Hospital. The programengages students in a combined effortto fight childhood cancer and show theirschool spirit at the same time.Team Up unites students, faculty, sponsorsand the surrounding community insupport of the goal to help the kids of St.Jude and children battling catastrophicillnesses around the world. There is alwaysa sense of excitement at school the week ofTeam Up for St. JudeThe St.Jude Rally team: Daniel Dorris, C.J. Miley (winner of the flipcamera), Heath Tripplett,Dustin Miller, Cassie Disheroon, and Kenisha Langs.Standing in the back is St. Jude representative and guest speaker, Clint Sikes.a big event, and the Team Up for St. Judeprogram allows students to build upon thatexcitement in a powerful way: that they canhelp St. Jude patients grow up and go tohigh school, too.”St. Judeby Heath TripplettOn Feb. 4, we started our St. Judeproject by having a school-wide assembly.It was an awesome experience. We workedhard getting ready for the “Kick-off”. I amvery proud of myself, and the other seniorstudents that were brave enough to get infront of the whole school to give the presentation.On Feb. 21, we started spirit week. AllTSD students were involved. It was a lot offun supporting St. Jude. COIN WARSwere better than last year because MiddleSchool and Elementary School studentswere in a heated competition with eachSpring Two Thousand and Eleven

the tennessee observerPage 5other. Not only did they fill up one jar, buttwo! WOW!On Feb. 28, we got ready for ourcelebration. All TSD students were excitedand yelled because they were ready to knowwho won the COIN WARS. It was the bestcompetition: third place went to HighSchool, second place was Elem. School,and first place was Middle School. MiddleSchool won a pizza party. Congratulationsto Middle School!I loved working on this project. It wasa lot of hard work. We thank you forsupporting our TEAM UP St. Jude project.AAdopt-a-Watershed ProjectThe Tennessee ObserverTeam Up for St. Jude!By Kenisia LangsWe recently had a special project calledTEAM UP for St. Jude Children Hospital.The reason why we did this project isbecause we wanted to give our love andsupport to sick children. We wanted tomotivate and encourage each other to raisemoney for them. It was great to see howeach student got involved to compete incoin wars and wear different color t-shirtsthat represents childhood cancer. We wantedto make a huge impact on children’slives. I was very proud of my senior class forthe wonderful job they did to make our St.Jude project outstanding! Laura Bledsoewas proud to sponsor the seniors and St.Jude’s TEAMUP. She did a wonderful joband I hope that the senior class will continuethe St. Jude project. We all can make ahuge difference in our community by supportingSt. Jude Children’s Hospital.Between the BarrelsBy Cassie Disheroon and Dustin MillerOn Feb. 15, the Tennessee Departmentof Transportation came and taught usabout driving safety. They gave a presentationabout road rules, workers and carwrecks. TDOT uses orange cones to let usknow that they are working on the roads.The state trooper warned us to not text orcall on cell phones during driving. It cancause accidents. If we use cell phone duringdriving, we might kill one of the workersbecause we are not paying attention.Other things they talked about were: ifwe don’t use seat belts, it can cause worseaccidents to us. Seat belts should be wornthe tennessee observerAmeriCorps volunteers Molly and Karina with TSD students, front row left to right; ConnorMassey, Michelle Mancero, Destiny Simmons, Lisa Phillips and Martez Burkes; back rowleft to right; Jason Parimore, Evan Brown, Corey Jefferson and Monty Monteque.This year, two high school classes arelearning what it means to be responsiblecitizens and are giving back to the community!Students in Connie Bucholz-Beahmand Donna Stinnett’s first block classeshave adopted the trail and stream nearIsland Home Community Park. Each week,we have a volunteer from the AmeriCorpsWater Quality Team visit our classes. Welearn through hands-on activities about theimportance of keeping our waters clean.We study about pollution and how all of thelitter we throw on the ground ends up inour rivers. We have learned that this preventsthe animals from being able to findfood and live healthy lives. We also learnabout the different types of plants andanimals that live in this area and howeverything is connected in the web of life.As part of our participation in the Adopt-a-Watershed Project, we do twice a monthtrash pick-ups on our adopted trail near thea specific way: first, over the shoulder nearthe neck; second, across the chest; andthird, across the hip bones. If worn correctly,seat belts will help protect you if you arein a car wreck.river. We find all sorts of things that don’tbelong outdoors and we have to practicehow to stay safe while picking up trash. Forexample, we wear gloves when we go outon the trail and the students are learning toinform an adult for help if they find brokenglass. All of the students look forward togoing outdoors on the trail, and they do avery good job of cleaning up the environment.Sometimes, when we find things thatcan be recycled, we talk about how recyclingis better for the earth and we have toseparate objects in order to recycle the litterthat we can salvage. The high school CDCclasses have been fortunate to be involvedwith the Adopt-a-Watershed program andtrail clean-up project for several years, andwe plan to continue our involvement withthese activities for many more years tocome. We hope you will join us by helpingto keep TSD campus and your communityclean!!!The Between the Barrels program wassad because TDOT showed us video ofworkers getting hurt and even killed. Peoplewho work in construction zones on theSee Between the Barrels - Page 8Spring Two Thousand and Eleven

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the tennessee observerThe Tennessee ObserverPage 8The Tennessee School for the Deaf is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, equal access, and affirmative action.Contact the EEO/AA/ADA Coordinator, (865) 594-6022 (Voice/TDD) for further information.TENNESSEE OBSERVER2725 Island Home BoulevardKnoxville, Tennessee 37920PeriodicalPostage Paid atKnoxville, TN 37920(USPS 539-240)Between the Barrelsfrom Page 5EElementary Spelling BeeElementary Principal Lynn Andrick gives out the awards for the Spelling Bee. l-r, 1 st place– Ethan Baril, 2 nd place – C.J.Wagner-Ryan, 3 rd place – Nekeisha FordThe 5 th annual Spelling Bee competitionwas held on February 10 th , 2011 in theAkin Gymnasium. Each year the competitionis fierce, and this year was no exception.All students participated in the singleelimination event. Preschool, CDC, and 1 stgraders spelled their first and last namesand hometowns as a demonstration. Thereal competition began with an approvedlist of 1,000 words that students had beengiven to study from weeks in advance.Everyone did extremely well by standingthe tennessee observerand spelling their word as it was randomlychosen from the list. This year’s winnerwas 5 th grader Ethan Baril. Second placewas awarded to 4 th grader C.J. Wagner-Ryan; and third place went to 5 th graderNekeisha Ford. Each participant receiveda special recognition for their efforts. Thetop three contestants were awarded ribbonsand a spelling game of his or herchoice. Congratulations to everyone forworking hard to improve your spellingabilities!Michael Whittemore directs traffic at BetweenThe Barrelshighway or streets risk their lives. Driversneed to be aware and alert when driving ina work zone. When getting close to a workzone, drivers should reduce speed and bealert, even if it’s an emergency. I’m a drivermyself; I see policemen in the middle of thestreets helping drivers get out of parkinglots after church or school because therewas so much traffic. When I get close to thepolicemen in the middle of the street, Islow down and I am alert. It’s not thatdifficult. I’ve done the same in work zones.These workers have a family. So, pleaseslow down and be alert for them so thatthey can go home and see their familyagain. It’s that simple. Slow down for thembecause their life is more at risk whileworking in a construction zone than yours.Spring Two Thousand and Eleven