02/16/2017 Sally Beals and Jack Workman

02/23/2017 Jim Briggs and Judy Budi

03/02/2017 Mark Febus and our newest member

02/02/2017

 

The greeters at the next meeting will be Sally Beals and Jack Workman

 

 

Dr. Sheila Rajaratnam is shown here with member Dr. Dick Hoback

 

Brian Bergmann, seen here, is our club president's neighbor

 

Ann Blackburn has lots of friends and her accountant, Steve Updegraff, seen here, is one.

 

 

Our two speakers of the day are seen below: Nyoshua Anderson (left) and Lacey Perkins (right)

 

Graham Ross, seen in the picture below, is scheduled to be inducted to the club next week.

 

From Ann Blackburn...who sent a reminder of our next social event:

 

What a great turn out we had for our last Mixer, held at Lock 27. Thank you to all who attended and made it a great mixer.

 

Our next mixer, at Carrabbas, will be Wednesday, the 15th at 5:30. Again, this is open to our significant others and any prospective member.

 

Arnie Biondo announced that our club will be sponsoring a Stiver's outbound Rotary exchange student to Brazil, which means we will offer emotional support, and that she will be coming to our Rotary meeting next week to tell us why she is anxious to have this experience. 

 

Ann Blackburn said Jack Durnbaugh has finished the steps to having his yellow new member ribbon removed and promptly went over and removed it. 

 

Past President Brad Thorp was then called up to explain the need for some of the newer members to step up and take on some of the committee work done by the club. A flow chart was provided for members to see what jobs need to be filled. Brad is seen in picture below.

 

Brad said there is the need for someone to become vice president of the club, which puts them in line to become president-elect the next year and then president after that. Most jobs are apprenticeship type jobs that will help out some of the people now doing the jobs. 

Arnie Biondo said that Kim Senft-Paras has already recruited Rebecca Quinones and Mark Febus to be co-directors for New Generations. Brad said Club Affairs Director Carol Kennard could use an apprentice to help with all the things she does, and that someone is needed to work with Chuck King, the Community Service Director. He said Ron Hollenbeck will handle the Rotary Foundation but could use another person to help out. People are also needed for working with Project Read and with Adopt-a-Family and with Social Activities, he said. 

 

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Member Boyd Preston introduced our speakers. He said Nyoshua Anderson went to two colleges in Kentucky, majoring in communications at the University of Kentucky. In 2009 she moved to Cincinnati and worked for Lowe's and then turned to charity work. Lacey Perkins has been at St. Ritas four years, working with interpretation and building awareness of programs they offer. She was a sign language interpreter and St. Rita needed one, he said. 

 Lacey said she earned a Bachelor's degree in Interpretation at the University of Cincinnati. She explained the history of St. Rita, founded by the Cincinnati Archdiocese 101 years ago, which saw a need for speech and hearing education, as people with such impediments were often shunned back then. They bought about 300 acres where GE is now, she said. They asked Father Henry J. Waldhaus to study sign language. It is a unique language with its own grammar, she said. She said a trench was dug to get people to donate money, and they're still looking for the trench. Actually they got financial help from the Knights of De l'Epee and the Saints Mary and Joseph Society, and today they also get funds from a festival and their annual haunted house, as well as gifts from individuals.

They built a resident school for the deaf, which opened in 1915. The school taught trades and the boys farmed and did mechanics and the girls learned sewing and other home economics type skills. The staff stayed on the grounds.

The original boys dorm building is still there, though the girls dorm, which was across the street, became a bank and later burned down. Lacey said she gives tours of the site. It is still a functioning school for the deaf, she said. They have a LOFT program (Language Opportunity for Tots) for kids from birth to three years, a Montessori pre-school, elementary, high school, and vocational program.

She said they try to give students a voice with sign language. They also serve children with autism and those whose brain doesn't connect right with their vocal chords, as in apaxia, also known as dyspraxic. They can hear you but they can't talk, she said. "We never turn down kids based on financial circumstances, she said. "A lot are on scholarship, and 90 percent are below the poverty line.

She showed everyone how the deaf clap, by raising their hands and waving in the air. 
 Nyoshusa said only 30 percent of the parents sign to their kids. They teach kids signing at age three, so they can communicate with them and ask such things as, "What do you want to eat?" They teach English and ASL and have hard of hearing and multiple handicapped kids as residents. Some have hearing aids and implants.

They have equipment that reduces the background noise when a child comes into the rooms, which have a sound field that turns to the station of your room. They hear only the teacher's voice, not the other sounds, she said. Children learn to sign their names and tell you things before kindergarten.

They teach kindergarten through tenth grade using technology and ipads, with large projection in the room. ipads are used as a visual, she said.

While an average hearing child learns about 4,000 words up to age four, a deaf child learns 40, she said. If they say fire hydrant, they give visual clues, so the child can see what you mean. The school also offers Career Plus, a program that defers their diploma until age 22. They get help with on-line resume writing, and learn what it looks like on-line. The program also involves job shadowing. They have relations with certain companies, like CVS, where they learn a trade and work and interact with the community. 

Lacey said ASL is only 40 years old, so it is still in its infancy.

While there is a gene that can be passed on that can cause deafness, only 10 percent of the babies born to a deaf parent turn out to be deaf, she said. The executive director of St. Rita has eight kids who are all hearing, she said. Deafness can also have other causes, she said, from difficulties in pregnancies to illness, etc.