Saturday, August 13, 2011

New Leadership at Okie School

The Oklahoma School for the Deaf has its first woman as superintendent since it was founded more than 100 years ago. KaAnn Varner is only the second deaf superintendent. Varner was diagnosed at the age of six with a hereditary condition. Because doctors told her parents not to let her use sign language, she would forget how to speak, so Varner didn't learn to sign until later in life. She earned a degree in teaching from the University of Montevallo in Alabama. An employee of the school for more than a decade, Varner was hired by the Oklahoma School for the Deaf to teach, but later became an assistant principal and principal. Her husband is the athletic director at the school. She has a teenage son who is hearing.