MSD Protesters Credits Gallaudet Protest
December 5, 2006
D.C. walkout cited in School for Deaf demonstration
Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-LedgerCharlene Moulds, a deaf teacher at the Mississippi School for the Deaf, signs to her students during an English class Monday.
FAST FACT
The Mississippi School for the Deaf is a residential school on Eastover off I-55 in Jackson. It enrolls 118 students.It shares some facilities with the Mississippi School for the Blind, which enrolls 70 students.
Frustrated.
That’s how several students at the Mississippi School for the Deaf say they feel about four of their 26 high school teachers not being proficient in sign language.
So they took a cue from Gallaudet University in Washington. That’s where deaf and hearing-impaired students in October successfully protested the hiring of a president who is deaf but didn’t grow up using American Sign Language.
The students’ actions led Victorica Monroe, 17, a 10th-grader from Arcola, to get about 19 of her classmates to walk out of classes one day last week.
On Friday, state Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds said two administrators, Superintendent Delores Mack-Smith and Principal Pamela Hervey, were no longer employed there.
Listed telephone numbers for Mack-Smith and Hervey could not be found Monday.
Bounds would not say specifically why the women were no longer working at the school, citing personnel issues.
Last week he said there were “leadership issues … with adults at the school. This should have never risen to the point where students felt they needed to walk out of class.”
Through interpreter Olivia Rowan, Monroe said Monday the situation at Gallaudet inspired her.
“I know in my heart that I wanted to make this school different,” she said. “There is a lot of frustration.”
The Jackson facility is the only state-funded school in Mississippi for students who are deaf or hearing impaired.
Monroe said she and other students are interpreting in classes when teachers can’t.
“The students are depending on me, stopping my work so I can explain to them what the teacher is not signing,” she said.
Senior Geoffrey Boyd, 19, of Richland, said, also through Rowan, that students “have feelings of being left out” when the teacher can’t sign well.
Signing “allows the students to understand the teacher so they can communicate easier,” he said.
Like Monroe, he’s been used as an interpreter in one class. “I was unable to catch up with my work. My grades were not good because the teacher was not allowing me to work,” he said.
Bounds said the school has not been able to find enough teachers. “I would be delighted to have appropriately certified people in every position. That’s exactly what we want,” he said.
In general, the state has a significant teacher shortage, Bounds said.
But Charlene Moulds, in her ninth year of teaching English at the 118-student school, said the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences turns out teachers who know sign language.
“The last several years they have not been recruited,” said Moulds, speaking through Rowan. She commutes each day to school from Meridian, about 90 miles away.
Sandra Edwards, elementary principal who is now also serving as high school principal, said she wants a strong link with USM and hopes that will help in finding qualified teachers.
She had one elementary opening in August and all three candidates were signed. The person she hired was a USM graduate.
Edwards said a lot of other deaf schools have communication policies in place that require teachers to be able to sign before they even interview.
Many use a process called Sign Communication Proficiency Interview to screen candidates. Mississippi doesn’t have a policy that requires it.
“At this point, (getting a policy is a) very high priority,” Edwards said.
Edwards has been using a committee to rate job candidates’ signing abilities.
Shirley Williams, who has been working there 31 years, said she didn’t know sign language when she started.
After taking several classes, the English teacher said she’s still learning new signs.
“If you can find people who are qualified and fluent in sign, I would prefer to hire them first, yes. If you can’t find them, you just can’t do without teachers,” she said. “You can teach without signing. You can write, you can explain. If you’re a good teacher you can get your point over.”
But Janet Soard of Clinton, whose daughter Sarah, 19, is a student, thinks students lose out.
“The kids get shortchanged if the teachers can’t communicate with them. … If a deaf child cannot understand that teacher and they have to use an interpreter – especially if the interpreter is another student in the classroom – something might get misinterpreted,” Soard said.
“I don’t think it’s fair for a deaf kid not to be taught by somebody who can directly relate to them. It’s like being in a foreign country and you’re the only one who can’t speak that language,” she said.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/NEWS/612050382
Hat tip to Brian for the article
Commentary: The ripple effect is just beginning. The deaf students are starting to realize that they can demand for better education that they are entitled to.
 Do you know where the adminstrator got her new teachers from? From her own church, can you imagine??? They didn’t have any formal training working with deaf students, nor did they have any sign language experiences. No wonder why these adminstrators were fired promptly.Â
elizabeth
December 5, 2006
D.C. walkout cited in School for Deaf demonstration
Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-LedgerCharlene Moulds, a deaf teacher at the Mississippi School for the Deaf, signs to her students during an English class Monday.
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Frustrated.
That’s how several students at the Mississippi School for the Deaf say they feel about four of their 26 high school teachers not being proficient in sign language.
So they took a cue from Gallaudet University in Washington. That’s where deaf and hearing-impaired students in October successfully protested the hiring of a president who is deaf but didn’t grow up using American Sign Language.
The students’ actions led Victorica Monroe, 17, a 10th-grader from Arcola, to get about 19 of her classmates to walk out of classes one day last week.
On Friday, state Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds said two administrators, Superintendent Delores Mack-Smith and Principal Pamela Hervey, were no longer employed there.
Listed telephone numbers for Mack-Smith and Hervey could not be found Monday.
Bounds would not say specifically why the women were no longer working at the school, citing personnel issues.
Last week he said there were “leadership issues … with adults at the school. This should have never risen to the point where students felt they needed to walk out of class.”
Through interpreter Olivia Rowan, Monroe said Monday the situation at Gallaudet inspired her.
“I know in my heart that I wanted to make this school different,” she said. “There is a lot of frustration.”
The Jackson facility is the only state-funded school in Mississippi for students who are deaf or hearing impaired.
Monroe said she and other students are interpreting in classes when teachers can’t.
“The students are depending on me, stopping my work so I can explain to them what the teacher is not signing,” she said.
Senior Geoffrey Boyd, 19, of Richland, said, also through Rowan, that students “have feelings of being left out” when the teacher can’t sign well.
Signing “allows the students to understand the teacher so they can communicate easier,” he said.
Like Monroe, he’s been used as an interpreter in one class. “I was unable to catch up with my work. My grades were not good because the teacher was not allowing me to work,” he said.
Bounds said the school has not been able to find enough teachers. “I would be delighted to have appropriately certified people in every position. That’s exactly what we want,” he said.
In general, the state has a significant teacher shortage, Bounds said.
But Charlene Moulds, in her ninth year of teaching English at the 118-student school, said the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences turns out teachers who know sign language.
“The last several years they have not been recruited,” said Moulds, speaking through Rowan. She commutes each day to school from Meridian, about 90 miles away.
Sandra Edwards, elementary principal who is now also serving as high school principal, said she wants a strong link with USM and hopes that will help in finding qualified teachers.
She had one elementary opening in August and all three candidates were signed. The person she hired was a USM graduate.
Edwards said a lot of other deaf schools have communication policies in place that require teachers to be able to sign before they even interview.
Many use a process called Sign Communication Proficiency Interview to screen candidates. Mississippi doesn’t have a policy that requires it.
“At this point, (getting a policy is a) very high priority,” Edwards said.
Edwards has been using a committee to rate job candidates’ signing abilities.
Shirley Williams, who has been working there 31 years, said she didn’t know sign language when she started.
After taking several classes, the English teacher said she’s still learning new signs.
“If you can find people who are qualified and fluent in sign, I would prefer to hire them first, yes. If you can’t find them, you just can’t do without teachers,” she said. “You can teach without signing. You can write, you can explain. If you’re a good teacher you can get your point over.”
But Janet Soard of Clinton, whose daughter Sarah, 19, is a student, thinks students lose out.
“The kids get shortchanged if the teachers can’t communicate with them. … If a deaf child cannot understand that teacher and they have to use an interpreter – especially if the interpreter is another student in the classroom – something might get misinterpreted,” Soard said.
“I don’t think it’s fair for a deaf kid not to be taught by somebody who can directly relate to them. It’s like being in a foreign country and you’re the only one who can’t speak that language,” she said.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/NEWS/612050382
Hat tip to Brian for the article
Commentary: The ripple effect is just beginning. The deaf students are starting to realize that they can demand for better education that they are entitled to.
 Do you know where the adminstrator got her new teachers from? From her own church, can you imagine??? They didn’t have any formal training working with deaf students, nor did they have any sign language experiences. No wonder why these adminstrators were fired promptly.Â
elizabeth
December 5th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
It sure is so good to know that MDE has taken care of the MSD ensuring the school provides good quality education. Today, I read an article in the Clarion Ledger newspaper and I thought was a joke when Dr. Bounds stated, “the school has not been able to find enough teachers. I would be delighted to have appropriately certified people in every position. That’s exactly what we want.” I said, yeah, that is right!. Why wouldn’t he ever bother to find out if it is possible to recruit Deaf candidates with college degree who can teach classes?
Thousands of deaf adults in our nation have college degrees. Also, MSD has never bothered to put out job announcements to all qualified candidates in the nation such as Gallaudet University, National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, N.Y., California State University of Northridge, National Association of the Deaf, Hiredeaf.com, and many more. This neglect has been going on for years and years.
Maybe this is off point a little bit, but I must share this with you. University of Southern Mississippi has a Deaf Education program and they are now working on a 4 years interpreting program. That is so great. But let me tell you something what I know. Keep in mind, I grew up in Mississippi and in my lifetime I could remember there was never a full time Deaf person teaching sign language or any other Deaf-related courses at any universities and/or Community Colleges. They have not really given effort to recruit or look for Deaf persons with college degrees majoring in Deaf education, ASL, and ASL Linguistic for the kind of jobs. That‘s been like this for years and years and still is. I say we’ve had enough of oppression and paternalism. Audism is heavily in the state of Mississippi. I am not trying to make it sounds negative but it is factual what I know.
December 5th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Ray, maybe that is something you could work on with the deaf community there. I am familiar what it is like to live in the Deep South. Some areas are not progressive at all.
December 5th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
In response to the comment from “ Unspoken Protestâ€
on December 4, 2006, stating that A TEACHER CAN TEACH WITHOUT SIGNING:
I disagree with the comment made about being able to point to a board
and teach deaf students. Students deserve to have information clearly
EXPLAINED to them. Some deaf students are behind in their reading and
language skills, therefore, it is IMPORTANT that the teacher be able to
draw a CLEAR PICTURE using American Sign Language. Communication is
the key to success. We are under the NCLB now and students are
expected to achieve at the same levels as their hearing peers. The
only way to successfully teach deaf students is to COMMUNICATE with
them and the ONLY way to communicate with deaf students is to speak
their language, which is American Sign Language.
A good teacher would not attempt to teach students without first
knowing and understanding their language because a good teacher cares
and would put the students needs and best interests FIRST. It is a
teachers duty to pave the road for students so that they can travel
smoothly.
Using sign language and TRULY being able to communicate is two
different things. Just because you can move your hands does not mean
you are TEACHING and CLEARLY COMMUNICATING.
Imagine: Hearing people know that the word BLUE has many different
meanings. Deaf individuals may only know the COLOR blue. It is
important to realize that blue is also an emotion. If a teacher
cannot sign all the meanings of BLUE, then the students are going
through life thinking everything with the word blue means the COLOR.
This is not true. This is why it is EXTREMELY important for teachers
of the deaf to be PROFICIENT signers!
Just wanted to get that point across. Feel confident the school is in good hands now!
December 5th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
I’m glad that u, students were not give up to fight with president of MIssippi school for the deaf. I look Missippii and Gallaudet look almost same happen. My school, Jean Massieu School of the Deaf in South Jordan, Utah are under Utah School for the Deaf and Blind. I am still frustrated for few years, I tried to plan to protest but wait until my friend research find have some thing USDB think that we are dumb. So I”m glad that u have succesful.
December 5th, 2006 at 9:03 pm
I am so proud of Mississippi School for the Deaf students who are not give up to fight with president of Mississippi School for the Deaf.
December 6th, 2006 at 10:41 am
It is totally absurd to think you can be a good teacher of the deaf and not be able to sign. Talk about abuse. Why hasn’t the department of education looked into this before. This is not new. Thank goodness they have someone now who understands and is trying to do something about it. Shirley Williams is so totally clueless to teaching deaf students. To think she has been there for 31 years and thinks she has done a good job!!!!! How off the point can you be?! For many years deaf people have been looked down on. Hearies have tried to tell them their language isn’t right, that Signed Exact English (SEE) is better. Hog wash! American Sign Language (ASL) is a beautiful language and so much easier to understand than any other form of communication created by hearies. ASL was created by deaf people for deaf people. I am so blessed to be exposed to the language! Let’s set an example for all and start hiring good communicators to teach deaf students. Language is the basis for all learning. How would you feel if your child was being taught by someone that didn’t know their language. How would you like to be taught by the “show and tell” method? Remember that many of these teachers can’t even “tell” correctly, using incorrect signs. Enough is enough!!!!!!!
December 6th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Selby, where did you see that comment? How outrageous! I totally agree with you. Some students don’t have a good grasp of English so they need sign language to understand the concept being taught. How ridiculous to think written English is sufficient. If so, we don’t need to go to the classrooms at all!
Yes, these students were very courageous. It had to be a very scary experience for them, but they did it. I’m proud of them, too
December 6th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
Wow!!!! Advocate…you took the words right out of my mouth (hands??)! Selby must be talking about the comment made by the teacher, Shirley Williams, and her method of teaching. The department of education has never listened to reason when it comes to MSD. They have never had anyone there who understood deaf ed. or the deaf. Dr. Daphne Buckley is the first person that has actually given a crap and listened to staff and students. She was in the process of doing something about the situation, but it got too bad before anything was done, and the students HAD to be heard. They were being mistreated and pressured by hearing teachers–mostly African American–telling them that they needed to have all African American teachers and that signing was not so important. When those teachers realized that the students were not listening to them, the teachers began to threaten and act horrible to them. Since the protest, some of those teachers have taken it upon themselves to “punish” the students for the protest, giving them tons of homework (very unreasonable amounts). The principal is taking care of the situation, but that is the atmosphere that has been at MSD for YEARS!!! MANY HEARIES WHO THINK THEY KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR DEAF AND TRY TO PUSH THEIR WAY ON PEOPLE. The competent people are not recognized for their ideas or input–only the teachers who love to be seen by the world as wonderful people because “they work with the deaf and sign so beautifully, whether it is understood or not. You know the kind I’m talking about. The beautiful thing about this is that the kids can see right through all that and know who the competent teachers are and the ones with ASL skills.
December 6th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
I was so angry when I read that comment by Shirley Williams. I know Ms. Williams and I know what kind of teacher she is. She is part of the problem at MSD an not a part of the solution. She has been threatening to retire for years and truly should. Her ASL are rudimentary at best. THough she is a pleasant person and not part of the group has been threatening and punishing studnets, she clearly does not understand the educational needs of deaf students. I am so disappointed in her statement to the paper.
December 6th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
This is where I got the comment from. It was in the newspaper ( the article above states it clearly):
Shirley Williams, who has been working there 31 years, said she didn’t know sign language when she started.
After taking several classes, the English teacher said she’s still learning new signs.
“If you can find people who are qualified and fluent in sign, I would prefer to hire them first, yes. If you can’t find them, you just can’t do without teachers,†she said. “You can teach without signing. You can write, you can explain. If you’re a good teacher you can get your point over.â€
Anyway, that comment really bothered me, so that is why I wrote the blog.
December 7th, 2006 at 12:13 am
I was so shocked to hear about what was going on at Mississippi school for the deaf. I was a former student at MSD who graduated in the year of 2001. I am so proud of MSD students who stand up for their right especially with Victoria Monroe, you should be very proud of yourself. It had been going on for years and years. I am very disappointment to hear about Dr. Mack and Harvey but they should know better than that. Man, I can’t imagine they do such thing like that. I can’t imagine a deaf student in classroom with unqualifed teacher without knowing any sign language at all. This is really frustrated for deaf student to go through all this.
I never knew Shirly Williams myself and she never was my teacher before so I can’t make any comment about her. I heard that she teached MSD more than 30 years and was a good teacher.
To be blunt, when I was student at MSD, there was a lot of racism (especially some African American teacher) and I hate every minute of it. I couldn’t stand of listen to them. sometime i wish they will stop talking about them because that they did nothing wrong. I don’t have any problem of diversity coming to our deaf school. It will be so nice to have diversity students coming to our deaf school.
This is so unfair for teacher to give deaf student a tons of homework due to protest. They have to understand deaf’s student’s right. They can’t punish them for that. If teacher was mad at deaf student because of protest, Sorry,. that I have to say this. I support MSD student 100 percent and I am really glad that this happen. It need to be stop. I believe that all teacher should be fluent in American
Sign Language and get their education degree before they interviewed them. Teacher, if u are not qualifed for deaf education, MY BEST ADVICE IS, GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND GET YOUR EDUCATION DEGREE!!!!!
Way to go, MSD Student. Ya’ll have my support. I love you, ya’ll KEEP YOUR SPIRIT UP.
December 7th, 2006 at 11:53 am
Selby and LP, can you contact the reporter and fill him in what’s really going on? The reporter needs to hear your side, too and, from my conversation with him, he is very motivated to hear from the staff, students, and parents. The reports of students being punished are disturbing. Are they doing anything to stop the punishments. Fill in the reporter and the parents about these reprisals. The students only wanted to get good education and shouldn’t be punished at all.
December 8th, 2006 at 12:43 am
I have contacted bert case and have not heard back from him yet. I would love to tell all I know! There are better days ahead, though. Sandra Edwards should have been the HS principal starting 3 or 4 years ago, but she is there now and if Hank Bounds will get her good help, the school can change for the better!!! It can be what it needs to be. There have been a lot of nasty things said about MSD, but there are truly some good people there. Some good teachers and some good support staff. i wonder why we are not yet hearing anything about MSD’s horrible social worker being fired. That is a whole other subject!
December 12th, 2006 at 11:40 am
Elizabeth–
I posted a response last Friday, but it has not appeared here. Is there a problem?
Curious