Stop the Summer Brain Drain!

KENTUCKY SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF—OUTREACH DEPARTMENT Summer 2008 Statewide Family Support Newsletter CONTENTS Stop the Summer Brain Drain! war for example, you may want to schedule a visit to Gettysburg. If it's geology, visit a national park. 3. Keep math in mind. Since kids lose Does your child’s brain shrink over the more math skills than anything else summer? No, of course not, but it may over the summer, try to do some special shift into reverse, according to a study by planning to find math-related activities. Dr. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology For example, if you can't decide at the University of Missouri-Columbia. whether to sign your child up for The study found that when students return "Shakespeare's Theater" or "Math to school after a long summer vacation, Magic" at the local community center, they've lost one to three months worth of go with the math. learning. Therefore August & September are mostly catch-up months for many stu4. If you child is old enough dents. help her set up a personal Kids lose Most in Math! The decline is more detrimental for math than it is for reading. “All students lose math skills.” says Cooper. It may be because community and home environments give kids more opportunities to practice reading than math. Your kids don't have to spend the summer stuck in reverse. "Parents can help their kids retain educational skills," says Cooper. He suggests the following five tips to kick off a learning-filled summer. Summer Brain Drain 1 Fun and Learning 2 Video Phone & Relay 3 Deaf Art Contest 3 New Products 4 Spanish Resources 4 Statewide Happenings ***** The Statewide Family Support Center NEWSLETTER is published monthly, September through June at the Kentucky School for the Deaf ***** An electronic version of this newsletter is available at www.ksd.kyschools.us Click on “Family Information” ***** Clip art is downloaded from Microsoft at http://office.microsoft.com/ clipart ***** The SFSC is part of the Kentucky School for the Deaf Outreach Services and the Statewide Educational Resource Center on Deafness, components of the Kentucky Department of Education. ***** To contact the SFSC LINDA CANNON 859.239.7017 ext. 6722 Toll Free: 800.540.3323 (v/tty) linda.cannon@ksd.kyschools.u s JACKIE DAY 859.239.7017 ext 6732 Toll Free: 800.540.3323 (v/tty) jacqueline.day@ksd.kyschools.us CATHY HOWLE 859.239.7017 ext 6761 Did you know that kids can lose one to three months of learning during summer break? 1. Keep lots of books around and make regular trips to the library. Most libraries schedule summer events for kids. Sign up your family! (If your child signs have your child read to you with signs - this will help you learn signs also if you need that, or act out the story. 2. Think about 5. Consider summer tuwhat your kids may be learntoring. Struggling kids ing next year when you plan can get a lot of different kinds of help the family vacation. Talk with from one on one tutoring. If your child teachers to find out what they'll be covsigns and attends school away from home, ering in class. If it's a unit on the civil budget for a week. Give her a certain amount of money with instructions that besides buying for herself, she is also responsible to buy her own pop that week or food for the family pet or something that you typically buy for the family each week. Have her make a list of things she has to buy and things she wants to buy. Go to the store with a calculator and figure the cost of each item and then decide what they will/can buy with the money they have. This will help with math and may also help them see that things at home don’t just magically appear. Someone has to make the plans, spend the money, cook the food, feed the animals. Page 2 Summer SUMING MER FUN AND LEARN- CAREER DISCOVERY Don’t let you kids waste their time this summer. Encourage them to think, dream and talk about their future. There is a world of opportunity out there but they will have to make choices. Choices come easier when they’ve had experiences! What experiences can you set up for them this summer? These are just a few ideas to help you get started… PRIMARY AGE: (ages 5-10) set up some short term volunteer experiences in a va- Ways to Give Your Kids the World http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/parents_welcome.htm l riety of areas; nursing home, hospital, animal humane society, Habitat for Humanity, minor league baseball team, little leagues, etc. GEOGRAPHY Take some lessons & participate in different sports; t-ball, softball, tennis, golf, horse back riding, bas- 1. Geography is more than you think. It’s more than ket ball, soccer, gymnastics etc... maps. Geography's about cultures and environments. It’s about people shaping places and places shaping Go to a horse barn or the Kentucky Horse Park and people. observe what the trainers and walkers do. Geography is the framework that helps you underVisit police station, fire station, hospital or urgent stand the world. care center, veterinarians office, car repair shop, etc... Call ahead and explain what you 2. Bring the world into your home. Do you own a globe, maps and a world atlas and use them to look would like for your child to observe and quesup places in the news? Turn to the web and check tions they may have. out an online atlas (nationalgeographic.com) or a 3-D Make and sell — lemonade, bracelets, craft items. globe (earth.google.com) MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL (ages 12-18) 3. Check your family’s knowledge. Test your family’s Global IQ (mywonderfulworld.org/global_iq.html). Do Research — have your child pick a topic and do some you and your children know the fundamentals of gefun research on it via internet or library and write in ography from the local to the global? Play games that their journal what they found out about the topic and teach about the world. if it’s something they would want to do. The goal is to find out more about what a person does who is in 4. Know what’s going on. Do you and the kids watch news programs, read the newspaper? Don’t forget to a particular type of job. check kid-friendly web news sites like BBC NewsVolunteer opportunities — work with your teen to round, Time for Kids and National Geographic Kids WEBSITES FOR SUMMER FUN & LEARNING! News. Talk about what’s going on, not just in your community but also in your state, your country, and Science, art, gift ideas all around the world. http://www.Creativekidsathome.com 5. Know where you are and where things come from. Literacy http://families.owc.edu/ Everything’s connected. Make it a family mission to Math know your community; why it’s http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/ where it is, how it was settled, who lives there now, and its connections to History http://pbskids.org/historydetectives/ the world through business, arts, music Olympics technology and sports. What are the Summer 2008 Page 3 What is a Video Phone (VP) and Video Relay Service (VRS) some information on the federal regulations of VRS. http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/ VRS allows persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to videorelay.html communicate through the telephone system with hearing http://www.csdvrs.com/Default.aspx persons. The VRS caller, using a television or a computer http://www.sorensonvrs.com with a video camera device and a broadband (high speed) http://www.hamiltonrelay.com/videorelay/index.htm http://www.sprintvrs.com/ Internet connection, contacts a VRS Interpreter, who is a https://www.hovrs.com/VRS_SSL/hovrs.aspx qualified sign language interpreter. They communicate with each other in sign language through a video link. CSDVRS has a special event in which deaf/hard of hearThe VRS interpreter then places a telephone call to the ing children, youths and adults can be involved. There party the VRS user wishes to call. It could be family, are some big awards!!! friends, a store, their work place, insurance company, See the next column… INTRODUCING THE FIRST ANNUAL DEAF ARTIST CONTEST! At CSDVRS, we believe it is your relay service, it’s about you and we want to put your personal deaf related artwork on display in our offices across the country. We want your artistic work that shows deaf culture and communication freedom. The contest has four specific entry age groups. K-5th grade 6th-8th grade 9th-12th grade College & Community If both parties have a Video Phone or camera connected with their computer then they can call each other directly without the use of a relay interpreter. There will be a “Best of Show” in each age group. And the winner will receive a Visa Gift Card. A “Best of Show” award winner will be selected from all of the entries received. Questions? Contact artcontest@csdvrs.com! travel agency, doctor’s office or even 911 if needed. The only cost is a broadband (high-speed) internet connection into the home or office where the VP is used. The broadband connection is the responsibility of the VP user. Sorenson will provide a VP, at no cost to Deaf us- The Winner of “Best of Show” will receive a trip for 2 to ers. sunny Clearwater, FL, home of CSDVRS. Trip includes airfare, hotel expenses for 3 days & 2 nights. According to FCC requirements VRS providers must answer 80 percent of all VRS calls within 120 seconds. Additional Guidelines VRS providers must also offer the service 24 hours a day, Submissions will be original works of art created by the artseven days a week. ist. There are several different companies who provide VRS. They include; Sorenson Communications, Hamilton Relay, Sprint, CSDVRS. Below are the websites to these plus one to the Federal Communications Commission which will give you All submissions will be retained by CSDVRS, LLC. Artists requesting their submissions be returned need to do so in writing. Page 4 Summer 2008 PRODUCTS AND TOOLS THAT WILL HELP YOU AND YOUR CHILD! SPEECH SOUNDS A Guide for Parents and Professionals Integration of Audition, Speech, Language, Literacy and Cognition http://www.cochlearamericas.com A PARENT GUIDEBOOK: ASL AND EARLY LITERACY Published by Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf, 2004 http://www.ocsd.ca/ Learning to communicate with spoken language is most effective through meaningful and enjoyable experiences that integrate listening, speech, language, reading and thinking. When listening and talking are relevant and positive, spoken communication can emerge in a natural way for children who are deaf. There is no single method that works best for teaching speech to all children who are deaf, and Speech Sounds is simply one approach. It is based on the premise that young children with a cochlear implant(s) need to be exposed to all speech sounds through listening as a building block in establishing a strong auditory foundation. This guidebook includes important information for parents interested in ensuring an optimal ASL learning environment for their Deaf infants and pre-school age children. Communications and language development are the bedrock upon which all learning depends. The book is Pictured here is a sample of an activity card describing teaching moments parents can use anytime they are with their child. SPANISH INTERNET RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES OF DEAF/HH CHILDREN Clinica John Tracy Clínica John Tracy para niños sordos brindando servicios gratuitos para niños sordos preescolares y sus familias http://www.clinicajohntracy.org/ Estudio Genético de la Sordera http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/spanish/fs3stxt.htm Genetic Research/Study R Problemas de la audición y sordera MedlinePlus Problemas de la audición y sordera Sordera La Sordida de la Auditiva I.D.E.A. dera y la PerCapacidad Summer 2008 Page 5 7th Annual Deaf Zoo Day at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens Sponsored by the Hearing Speech and Deaf Center of Greater Cincinnati and St. Vincent Family Centers DATE: TIME: Saturday, July 26th, 2008 9:00 am- 6:00 pm (Rain or Shine) THE DEAF YOUTH SPORTS FESTIVAL, INC. “All for MDO, MDO for All!” July 27-August 2, 2008 Louisville, KY our Deaf and Hard of Hearing children. JOIN US for a variety of INTERPRETED SHOWS, giraffe feedings, and CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES at the SERENGETI PAVILION. Discount Ticket Prices: Adults Child 2-12 years old Parking: $6.50 pay at the gate $8.50 $5.50 For more information, contact Cynthia A. Jones at (859) 283-1245. $6 The Deaf Youth Sports Festival was first started in 1983 under the name of Mini Deaf Olympics (thus the MDO) with only 7 youngsters and 7 volunteers. Since 2 ways to get your tickets: that time the staff has served over 2200 Deaf /Hard of Order by Mail: NOTE that Cut Off date to order tickHearing Youngsters from United States, Canada and ets by mail is Wednesday July 16th. Japan. In Person: Purchase tickets in person at CSD until Friday July 25th. This year’s event will be on July 27-August 2, 2008 to be held at the University of Louisville. The Core Questions: Please contact Sharon Yurkowski at Committee of Directors has worked very hard to make syurkowski@cinbell.blackberry.net OR sure this summer is as exciting as ever. The theme for Rachel Heinbaugh at 513-604-9080 (voice or text mesthis year is “All for MDO, MDO for All!”. The theme sage). reflects the support that all the participants, their fami_________________________________________ lies, friends, the Deaf and Hearing communities; and the business communities provide. It is also a statement orthern KY that MDO is for everyone in the community. NEW THIS YEAR: DeafZooDay T-Shirts for Sale!!! for adult sizes, $4 for children’s sizes N Hands & Voices of Kentucky, Northern KY June 28th: New state regulations for IDEA Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Where: Erlanger Baptist Church—Deaf Fellowship area Guest Speaker: Margaret Reed. Margaret is highly experienced in special education and now works for The Point as a parent advocate. She will speak to us about the new state regulations for IDEA and what they mean for MDO supports Identity, MDO supports Memories, MDO supports Potentials, MDO supports Achievements, MDO supports Confidence, and MDO supports Teamwork. Opening Ceremony with the Grand Marshall announcing “Let the Games Begin!” will be held on Sunday, July 27 in the eve- Page 6 Summer 2008 Kentucky School for the Deaf—Danville, Kentucky WALKER HALL'S STAR DAY Star Day awards program was held on Thursday, May 22, 2008. The program included the elementary school's mascot, Caring Bear, who has encouraged students this year to be a "Caring Bear" not a "Bully Bear." Five students were recognized by Debbie Martin and ‘Caring Bear’ for displaying skills that helped prevent bullying behaviors during the year. Those students were *Ashley Puckett *Jesse Rice *Priscilla Godfrey *Jade Bell and *Ryan Mayes. PRESCHOOL GRADUATES: *Morgan Collins *Eric Gilbert *Campbell Hawkins *Shalissa McGill and *Isabella Reed. CLASSROOM AWARDS FOR READING, MATH, SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, LANGUAGE ARTS, TECHNOLOGY AND ARTS/HUMANITIES. ACCELERATED READER AND STLP AWARDS to all fifth graders for their outstanding participation in this after school program. SPELLING BEE AWARDS: Third place *Jonathan Demaree. Second place *Brittany Gemmer FIRST PLACE *MaKayla Bush. PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS AWARDS *Cody Downey and *Payne Yance KESPA AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING WORK AND BEHAV*Brittany Gemmer *Cody Downey *Jeremy Davis and *Jonathan Demaree IOR IN THE DORM: STUDENT TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP PROGRAM May 7, 2008, the Kentucky School for the Deaf ’s Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) was awarded GOLD status as an Outstanding Student Technology Leadership Program. To receive the award, KSD had to demonstrate that students had completely met the Six Goals of STLP by engaging in a variety of projects and completing school and community-based technology projects. This award recognizes a high level of achievement in technology for KSD students and reflects outstanding teamwork on the part of Lisa Morse, classroom teachers, the Student Life Staff and JoAnn Hamm. The thirty-three students who are part of this team range from fifth graders through high school. Representing KSD at the awards ceremony were: *Brittany Gemmer, *David Gonzalez, *Dillon May- KERR HALL MIDDLE SCHOOL AWARDS OUTSTANDING MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT: Jacob Meece Tyler McDanGOOD CONDUCT AWARD: iel SEABORM JOHNSON 110% AWARD Michael Miller JUSTIN DELP “HEART” AWARD: Alexio Mosher DAR PATRIOTISM AWARD: Chance Gillespie BYRON DOOM MATH AWARD AND SOCIAL STUDIES : Savannah AWARD Hobbs PERFECT ATTENDANCE: *Christina Isles *Heather Johnson *Charlotte Judge *Tyler McDaniel *Alexio Mosher *Sierra Saylor HONOR ROLL FOR THE YEAR: FIFTH GRADERS were honored with a special award for completion of the their studies in the Elementary Department. OUTSTANDING STUDENT OF THE YEAR: Puckett Special music was provided by the fifth grade class in honor or retiring secretary Sherry Hodge. Sandy Smock presented Mrs. Hodge with a *Ashley Summer Page 7 KSD Star Student Lorita Hall and Teacher/Mentor Judy Burkhead receive Star Student/Teacher Mentor Scholarship Awards Kentucky Association of Professional Educators and Association of American Educators Foundation (KAPE/AAEF) have awarded Lorita Hall and Mrs. Judy Burkhead the Star Student and Teacher Mentor merit based Scholarship. Lorita, a student at KSD since 2000, recommended as outstanding high school senior by Mrs. Judy Burkhead, has earned twenty-six credits, maintained a 3.59 GPA, served as student representative to the Site Based Council, named 2nd place winner in a speech presentation on “Why School is Important” and has been honored to receive many awards including 2007 Youth Salute, All Year Honor Roll, Most Improved Geometry Student, Best All Around Math Student, Most Outstanding Career Options Student and perhaps the most special award was the Principal’s Award given to one student who represents the best student role model and student leader in the high school. Mrs. Burkhead has taught five years at Kentucky School for the Deaf. She graduated from the University of Kentucky, has attained Rank I and currently teaches career classes at KSD. She has achieved the Toyota Teacher of the Year award. As Teacher Mentor, Mrs. Burkhead wrote a paragraph stating why Lorita should be the recipient of this award. She expressed her respect for “Lorita’s tenacity in overcoming challenges that would easily have driven others to frustration and failure” while praising Lorita for striving for academic excellence, having a cheerful, but determined attitude that has brought her success both in and out of the classroom and for her natural leadership abilities which motivate others to perform to their best ability. This education award is KAPE’s way of acknowledging that stellar students don’t travel the long path of education alone. KERR HALL HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS Valedictorian Award *Todd Batsche Salutatorian Award *Lorita Hall KESPA High School Awards Ramser *Jordan Ramser Danville Lion’s Club Joseph B. *Brittany Seward *Kassie Stutler Balasa Memorial Scholarship *Christina White *Amanda *Lorita Hall Wyatt Principal’s Award *Travis Zornoza Raynes Scholarship *Victoria Thompson *Todd Batsche VÉÇzÜtàâÄtà|ÉÇá4 VÄtáá Éy ECCK Todd A. Batsche ter Rebekah A. Biggs City Kara Anne Daniel LancasJunction Lancas- BEST ALL AROUND DORM STUDENT *Joshua Olinger Hudson-Ellis Scholarship MOST FRIENDLY *Kellie Martin Honor Roll Awards *Todd Batsche *Jordan Ramser *Kellie Martin *Jeremy Latimer Jack Freeman Scholarship *Victoria Thompson *Emma Riley *Bradley Chappell *Lorita Hall *Travis Star-Student Award , sponsored Zornoza by KAPE *Lorita Hall Perfect Attendance: *Angela Finnission *Sandy KSDAA Claude King Award Frank *Tiffany Kendall *Todd Batsche *Joshua Olinger *Md Nurur Rahman Chowdhury *Jonathan *Todd Batsche *Lorita Hall *Victoria Thompson SFSC Newsletter SFSC—KSD PO Box 27 PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Danville, KY 40423 Permit # 42 STATEWIDE FAMILY SUPPORT CENTER Kentucky School for the Deaf NEWSLETTER Summer 2008 Serving Kentucky’s Families with Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing Find us on the internet at www.ksd.kyschools.us