The DHH Connection
Texas Style
News You Can Use!
Imagination Texas: This year was a huge success! Thank you to all the participants and presenters. JoAnn Benfield was one of the presenters, she worked with the students to create an ASL interpreted music video and we couldn't be more excited about the way it turned out! To watch the music video that the students participated in, click here.
Optimist Contest: Tammy Wilson, a junior from Weatherford High School and a student of the Brazos River Regional Day School Program for the Deaf, was named the winner of the Optimist Communication Competition for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and was awarded a $2,500 scholarship. Students with documented hearing loss spoke in an oratorical competition describing their thoughts on the theme, "What the World Gains from Optimism." The Weatherford Optimist club sponsored Brazos River RDSPD students in the Club Competition on March 8, 2017 at Weatherford High School. Three finalists advanced to the District Level Competition hosted at Texas Tech University on Saturday, May 6, 2017. Madison Birchell (from Mineral Wells) who attends Hall Middle School and Jodi Oesterle who attends Crockett Elementary, both schools in WISD, also competed in Lubbock as finalists. The Brazos River RDSPD and Weatherford ISD are very proud of the accomplishments and hard work of all the students who competed in this event.
Battle of the Books On April 22-25, five students from the Birdville Regional Day School Program for the Deaf qualified to compete in the Battle of the Books Competition at Gallaudet University. Amy Nguyen, Destiny Chavana, Nate Coats, Eduardo Bustillos, and Max Ridgway from Smithfield Middle School competed against 26 other middle school teams from across the United States. To qualify, the students read a list of assigned texts, discussed the readings, developed comprehension questions on their own, and competed against other middle school teams by answering a series of timed questions prepared by the competition coordinators. Congratulations to the Smithfield Middle School team for placing among the TOP FOUR teams in the nation and winning the Green Team Best Sportsmanship Award, to Amy Nguyen who was named Green Team MVP, and to their teachers, Teresa Fuller and Christine Gaston, for motivating and empowering the team. Great job, Reading Raiders!
Legislative Update
For information regarding the legislative update, click here.
STAAR Testing: You made it! Congratulations to everyone on another successful year surviving the STAAR!
RDSPD Shirts - to order the fun shirt, click here.
Optimist Winners
Battle of the Books
RDSPD Shirts
Words of Wisdom
No Joke
Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.
~ Will Rodgers
Sadly, in our society, much laughter is created at the expense of others, whether it is online, on television, on social networks, through emails or texts. Cyberspace reality has made it possible to tease, bully, and belittle others instantaneously and even anonymously. Start a dialog with your students about appropriate cyber-communications and which pitfalls to avoid. Encourage them to seek help for themselves or for someone else if something inappropriate is going on. And then start paying close attention to your own communications whether cyber or face-to-face. Make sure you aren't creating a laugh at someone else's expense and that the only person you are laughing at is yourself.
With something to think about . . .
TECH TIP OF THE MONTH
Are you looking for ways to keep students engaged? Flippity is a Google Sheets add-on that will easily turn your spreadsheet into flashcards or other fun games!
Instructions
1. Open your Google Sheet
2. Click Add-ons
3. Click Get Add-ons
4. Search for Flippity and click the +Free button to install
Once it is installed, you can click Add-ons and select Flippity. It will prompt you to select a template. Click on one to create a fun game, quiz or flashcards.
Mark Your Calendar
Click on the link for more information on upcoming events.
June
Family Weekend Retreat June 9-11, 2017
DEAL Conference Registration - New Supervisors June 20, 2017
DEAL Conference Registration - June 21-22, 2017
DEAL Hotel Room Block - Hilton Garden Inn Ft. Worth Medical Center
July
ESC Region 11 DHH Services
Anne Darr, ESC Region 11 DHH Services
Miriam Ackerman, DHH Services Technician
Email: txdhh@esc11.net
Website: www.texasdeafed.org
Location: 1451 South Cherry Lane, White Settlement, TX, United States
Phone: (817) 740-7547
Facebook: facebook.com/txdhh
Twitter: @txdhh