The Texas School For The Deaf’s Football Team Wins State Championship For 1st Time

The NBC Today Show takes a look at how the Texas School for the Deaf became state football champions last night.

What to do if face masks are being worn in your child’s school

The National Deaf Children's Society offers advice in this video to British parents on the difficulties for deaf children attending schools where face coverings are used in classrooms or in communal areas.

Gratitude from students at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind

Children from the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind are expressing their gratitude for those who have donated to help support their education. The gifts cover hearing aids and specialized equipment, white canes, accessibility technology, magnification devices, educational opportunities, and more.

Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind Receives $28.5 Million

The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind is getting a new $28 million campus in Decatur. The project will span 160-acres to accomodate independent living educational programs for K-12 students and adults. The new location will be a satellite campus for the orginal location in Talladega, founded in 1858. The institution's Cyber Security curriculum created through a partnership with The University of Alabama in Huntsville, The National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Gallaudet University will be expanded. There are plans to create a Resource Center for Deaf Education as a satellite of the federally-funded National Deaf Education Center in Washington, DC. Read more here.

Former Deaf School Teacher Arrested

A former teacher at the Michigan School for the Deaf is facing three felonies related to the sexual abuse of children. ABC-12 reports the school failed to inform law enforcement or parents of issues related to the suspect on campus. The school isn't talking. Read the full story here.

A Maryland University will offer a Deaf studies minor

Maryland’s Salisbury University is adding a deaf studies minor to be housed in its School of Social Work and Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies Department. Ellen Schaefer-Salins, assistant professor of social work, is a mental health therapist in the deaf community and will oversee the program and says:

Students will learn the culture and history of the deaf community, and they will learn a new and useful language that can help them in finding employment in the future. The population of deaf people is increasing on Delmarva due to culturally deaf people retiring to communities around Bethany, Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City. There is a need for improved and accessible services for people who are deaf and hard of hearing in social work, mental health, medical services and more.

Read more about it here.

New President at Deaf School

The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind has a new president. This was Tracie Snows first day in her new role. She was an administrator of instructional services at the school. She takes over for Julia Mintzer who was the interim president. Snow says:

I am extremely honored and humbled to be selected as the next president of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. I truly believe in the mission of our school. We are a school of academic excellence that strives to provide all students with an opportunity to access educational services in a caring, safe and unique learning environment that prepares them to be lifelong learners.

Read more here or watch an ASL video of the announcment here. In the video below, Snow gives a message to parents of the school about COVID-19.

The pandemic's impact on kids in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community

A deaf mother says, "My children would come home (from school) and they're like, 'I don't know exactly what that teacher was saying.' And they were very upset with it." Especially if it's a teacher who isn't the most fluent in American Sign Language, they struggled even more." She is one of several people CBS News spoke to about how the education of their children is going. Read the story here.

Shooting outside Deaf School

Three were people were shot in front of the Rhode Island School for the Deaf yesterday afternoon. One of them has died while another was shot in the leg and the third was shot in the abdomen. Police say none of the victims were students. Five people were in an SUV when the shots rang out. A man who was not hit drove the others to the hospital. Here is a video report from WPRI-TV or read the story here.

Deaf School leadership doesn't have the support of alumni and parents

Alumni and parents of students at the Maryland School for the Deaf say that the superintendent and Board of Trustees have repeatedly failed to address the pervasive culture of racism and elitism at the school and are demanding a systematic change in leadership, reports Patch. Catherine Griswold said in public testimony: 

As a parent, what I saw repeatedly was elitism…generationally deaf students are given special treatments with sports, awards classes, grades, teachers etc. Deaf students, who are second-generation deaf, are next in line of priority. Newly deaf come beneath them and hard of hearing are treated very differently and almost like sub-class citizens.

Read the article here.

Teaching while Deaf in the age of COVID

A university professor takes readers into his world of lectures and masks--it is especially difficult for a deaf man. Kevin Garrison writes in Inside Higher Ed

In class, I cannot get close enough to read people's lips behind the face shields because of social distancing rules, so my students are increasingly silent.

Garrison teaches English at Texas' Angelo State University and you can read his story here.

St. Louis University gets large grant to fund Deaf education

The Dept. of Education is giving Fontbonne University a $1.25 million grant to fund deaf education and speech-language pathology scholars. The money will support a six-semester program to help prepare speech-language pathologists and teachers. Read more from KSDK-TV here.

Deaf students at Arizona school: virtual with obstacles

Sequoia Deaf School in Mesa, Arizona has more than 50 students in grades K through 12 and is offering them distant learning starting next month. KTAR radio news takes a look at some of the issues they face here.

UBC to offer ASL for credit

The University of British Columbia will offer the university's first accredited American Sign Language course for credit. It will be taught by Nigel Howard, an adjunct professor in linguistics at UBC. Read more at Global News.

Virtual Learning Brings Extra Challenges For Blind or Deaf Students

Video cueing and sign language interpretation are being offered for online classes for deaf students, according to all local school districts surveyed by NBC4 in the Washington, DC-area. “For the more than 3,000 blind or deaf students who will be attending public schools (in the DC-area) virtually this fall, distance learning creates an added complication for those students, their families and their teachers.“ Read more about what NBC4 found in their investigation here.

Deaf & Blind school adopting to state health measures

The Montana School for the Deaf and Blind is adapting to masks and social distancing during the fall term. KRTV has two video reports below or read the story here.

Deaf students in Wichita

KSN-TV takes a look at how remote learning will impact the more than 50 deaf and hard of hearing students in Wichita public schools. Watch the video report below or read the story here.

Arizona state schools start the fall with online learning

Students at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind are learning to navigate through online classes. "We're all longing for that day when we can see the faces and hear those voices and see those smiles," the principal at the ASDB Tucson campus told KJZZ. Read the full story here.

Fall plans for the Arkansas School for the Deaf

The superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Deaf says her school is ready to open on Monday (Aug 24). Students are moving back on campus this weekend. You can see her ASL video below and a video report from KARK-TV or read the story here.

TSD preparing for fall classes

The Texas School for the Deaf is getting ready to start classes online. Watch the video report below from FOX-7 or read the story here.