Deaf Culinary Bowl team goes to Las Vegas.

(Scroll down for full story about the competition.)

[ image description: Students jumping in mid-air with colorfully painted gigantic rocks stacked on top of each other in the background. The landscape looks like the desert.]

[ image description: Photo below is a headshot of Clark Brooke. Clark is wearing a black shirt and an orange tie (school colors). He is looking at the camera smiling. The background is a professional-looking gray marble screen.]

Greetings from the land

of ORANGE and BLACK !

 

February was indeed a quick month. Even though it was short, the month was packed with exciting activities taking place at California School for the Deaf. Heritage celebrations at CSD continue to be a big thing as we strive to recognize every walk of life that our students ‘walk ’ with their families. 

Even though we celebrate Black History Month every February, we make an effort to celebrate every observance throughout the school year, both in and out of the classroom. There were two specific events that took place in February. We are proud to let you know that we had the National Deaf Black Advocates Board with us for a day-long visit. Members of the NBDA Board had the opportunity to meet with our students and the Ebony Club for an hour-long streaming discussion. The Ebony Club is to be appreciated for all of their planning for this visit. As a result, NBDA collaborated with CSD’s leadership on ways to become lifelong partners down the road. NBDA will host their 2019 conference in Oakland this summer. Prior to the conference, CSD will be providing the Youth Empowerment Summit (Y.E.S.!) with access to the school’s facilities.

   

CSD was fortunate to have Rol ando Sigüenza  with us as an artist-in-residence, for more than a month, to do a mural with our students. I would like to acknowledge Parodi Charitable Trust for their financial support in making it possible for Rolando to be with us. At the very beginning of Rolando’s residence, he took the time to meet with our students, families and staff to find out what makes CSD such a special place. This led to Rolando visualizing the image for the mural on the Elementary building. Besides his mural work, Rolando provided a lot of art activities to our students during their art classes, and participated in several school events and activities. We look forward to enjoying the mural for years to come.

   

The Latinx Family Event was a smashing success! One hundred twenty people attended this event. CSD would like to acknowledge representatives from our Elementary, CORE, and Early Childhood Education departments, in addition to several dedicated individuals for making this event possible. It is very important that CSD continues to stay close and true to the Latinx community as they make up close to 50% of our student population. 

   

CSD had special visitors with us from the Special Education Division (SED) of the California Department of Education. They were Kristin Wright, Director and Heather Carlson, Associate Director. SED is equivalent to our State Special Schools Division, as both divisions are under the auspices of the System Support Branch in Sacramento. SED is the division that responds to Individual Education Plan compliance issues and develops initiatives that ultimately benefit students within special education. It is very important that we continue to describe the difference between Deaf Education and Special Education. This visit was a part of our effort to develop a positive collaborative relationship with SED.

For years, we have given researchers from across the world access to our programs. CSD continues to find great value in having researchers at CSD because it gives them with the opportunity to gather data and other information that can be used in articles that support research-based bilingual programming. This month, we have been fortunate to have Renata Heinzelmann from Brazil with us while she conducts her research on how we apply Deaf literature in and out of the classroom.

   

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to co-present with Dr.   Nancy Hlibok-Amann of California School for the Deaf, Riverside. We were invited to present at the Association of California School Administrators conference in Anaheim.  Breaking the Cycle of the 3 ^rd   Grade Reading Level: Language and Literacy Achievement was the title of our presentation, as we addressed the roots of the struggles that Deaf students face every day in the classroom. Topics ranging from the services that our schools provides; the misconception of bilingualism; sharing of school-based data; and the importance of early language access were among the main points of our presentation.

   

California School for the Deaf publishes 10 editions of the CalNews throughout the year. We send out monthly editions of the newsletter, except for December/January and July/August when we only send a single edition for the two months. By sharing this monthly  CalNews with you, it is evident that there are so many things going on at CSD! Our students, families, staff, and community members are to be recognized for their commitment towards the school’s mission of serving our students to the best of their ability. Together, we continue to create more opportunities for everyone at CSD!

With Eagle Pride,

Clark Brooke, Ed.S.

Superintendent

California School for the Deaf, Fremont

39350 Gallaudet Drive

Fremont, CA 94538

510-344-6010 Videophone

510-823-6071 Spanish Callers

At the beginning of basketball season, the girls team was reluctant to trust me because it was my first time coaching girls basketball. I had plenty of experience coaching boys, but I had never coached a girls team before. I told the girls that if they would trust me, make the right plays, and follow the system, they would do well this season. Once the girls started to see their game improve, they made a new slogan for their texts: “In David we trust”. Because they trusted each other as players, trusted me as a coach, and trusted the system, we won many games. We also won many championships!

I am from Kentucky. My favorite quote from my time in Kentucky was “United we stand; divided we fall.” That is what I would tell the girls. We went on to win many tournaments. We won the CSD Classic championship. Our second major tournament, the Clerc Classic where all the Deaf school compete against each other, we did not win; we got fourth place. Next, we won the Bay Counties League championship with 12 wins and 0 losses. Then we won the North Coast section championship. It was the first time in school history that California School for the Deaf had won that championship. What an honor. From there, we advanced to the State Playoffs. We lost in the first round. We blew a 12-point lead in the final 2 minutes of the game and lost by 2. If we had won that game, we would have advanced to the playoff round. It was a great year and a great experience!

I was fortunate to have such a great group of talented girls to coach this season. Often at our games, the other schools would say how impressed they were with our CSD girls’ team. It made me feel proud! Those girls have been playing together for so many years. They played together through elementary and middle school. And this year, many of them are high school seniors. I really enjoyed coaching them this season! I wish I could have started coaching them sooner, so that I could have had more time to get to know them, and we could have won more games together as a team. I was impressed with their skill, their respect, and their trusting me to lead them. The girls told me that they enjoyed having me as their coach – that they learned many new skills from me. Our goal was to win all of the championships. We did, except for Clerc Classic. It is important for us to remember that we made history. We established a new school record with the most wins in a season, winning 26   games this year (two more than last year), and winning the North Coast Section championship.

[ image description: Five girls in front and six girls in the back with Coach David Hamilton. Each player, along with the coach, is wearing their first place ribbon around their neck, while holding their medal between their teeth. The front row is showing off their North Coast Section championship plaque and pennant.]

[ image description: Four photos of the Ebony Club, including three group photos and a photo of a presentation. Three photos have a SMART board in the background; one group photo is by a mosaic bench.]

“The event showed how amazing things can happen when a unified group comes together! For us, it was our Deaf Latinx students.”

—Vanessa Sandez (First Grade Teacher)

“I was thrilled to see the number of people who came to the event. Rolando’s artwork has made a huge impact on our students here. Latinx art is valued and recognized on our school campus. I hope that the families left with an open mind to seeing other Latinx families’ perspectives on better relationships with their Deaf child.”

—Lorraine Flores (High School ASL Teacher)

Latinx families came to California School for the Deaf to celebrate Latin culture and tradition, and to enjoy a meaningful social time with other Latinx families. The event was deeply meaningful for the 120 Deaf students and their families who attended.

Ian Guzman interprets from Lengua de Señas Mexicana into American Sign Language for CSD's artist-in-residence Rolando Sigüenza .

After CSD students from the Raza de Sordx club welcomed the families, Ensamble Colibri treated everyone to a dance performance.

School superintendent Clark Brooke shared that approximately 50% of the student body at California School for the Deaf is Latinx, and that this event provided a space for the families to get together to strengthen their community bonds.

While the children attended a folklorico workshop led by Ensamle Colibri and Raza de Sordx students, their parents had a workshop of their own. Parents watched some powerful testimonia ls:

Following the workshop, parents went to the Klopping Theater to watch their kids perform Danza de la Botella. From there, the families headed to the Elementary Activity Center for a Mexican feast, complete with dinner and dessert.

Special thanks goes to an amazing group of volunteers. They made all of the eye-catching decorations for the event. The colorful paper flowers were all handmade!

Here’s what parents and students had to say about the Latinx Family Event:

This is my second year attending the event. It was so inspiring to hear personal stories and to be able to socialize with familiar faces, as well as new ones. I liked how the stories highlighted the struggles and showed how important it is to have communication with their deaf child/children. Being a parent myself of three deaf children, meeting deaf adults helped me to envision what the future may look like for my child. My advice to parents would be to believe in yourself, but most importantly believe in your child. Trust in your ability to learn a new language. Love conquers all; create positive memories with your deaf/hard of hearing child. It was a good event and I look forward to attending next year!

— Vicky Olea (Hearing Mother of three Deaf students at CSD)

I really enjoyed attending the event. I liked meeting the other parents, as well as seeing the show with the dancing. I particularly liked the artist from Mexico – the painter, Rolando Sigüenza . It was fun. I am glad I went!

— Guadalupe Renteria (Hearing Mother of a Deaf High School Student)

We loved the event, seeing the folklore of México and the typical dances. We loved the fact that our children are learning our traditions, as well. We found it interesting listening to some of the families’ stories. Moreover, we found the information relevant: that we should learn in order to be able to communicate with our children; never push them away; and love them no matter what. It is important to be supportive in order for them to have a better future.

— Karla Diaz (Hearing Mother of Deaf students at CSD)

“I moved from México to America when I was 5 years old. I felt marginalized growing up in the California school system. I felt like everyone was looking down at me, and it made me not want to identify myself as Mexican. Everything changed when I had children of my own who attended California School for the Deaf! The school hosts events celebrating diversity – including Latinx, African-American, Asian, LGBTQ. Attending these events has made me proud of my Mexican heritage. Diversity makes us better! Events such as the Latinx Family Event offer a good way to build relationships with families at the school. I am thankful to the whole committee for hosting the Latinx Family Event.”

— Elvis Zornoza (Father of three CSD students and a CSD alum)

“At first, I was nervous when I was preparing my PowerPoint to introduce Ensamble Folclórico Colibrí for the Latinx Family Event; but when I arrived and saw all the families at the event, I became confident. I was so happy to see all of the Latinx families being able to communicate and connect with each other. We had about 100 people there! My favorite part of the event was teaching the kids dancing. Each kid learned differently and communicated through different languages, but all of the kids learned the dance. We had interpreters for Spanish, English, American Sign Language, and Lengua de Señas Mexicana. I really enjoyed watching all the kids perform their dance in the Klopping Theater!”

— Liliana Ortiz (CSD High School Student & Raza de Sordx Member)

[ image description: Photo 1) Large group photo; Photo 2) Audience cheering; Photo 3) Rolando giving a presentation by his mural with an interpreter; Photo 4) Line of male and female dancers, wearing colorful skirts, posing with Rolando; Photo 5) Superintendent Clark Brooke signing on stage with an interpreter; Photo 6) Three presenters posing in front of a smart board that is decorated with colorful paper flowers; Photo 7) Children dancing on stage wearing colorful skirts. It's an action shot; Photo 8) Long line of CSD students on stage in their Latin-style dance outfits. They are all holding hands; Photo 9) Two rows of volunteers posing in front of a beautifully decorated wall that is framed in big, colorful paper flowers.]

Rolando Sigüenza was born to a hearing family from Oaxaca. He was the youngest of four brothers. When his parents found out he was deaf, they moved to Mexico City so that he could attend an oral school. Rolando learned to lip-read because the school did not permit the students to sign.

When Rolando’s parents realized their son had a gift for painting, they transferred him to an art school where he learned from four famous art teachers including Rufino Tamayo and Juan Alcazar. On vacations, Rolando would return to his family’s hometown to visit his grandmother. The beauty of Oaxaca inspired him as an artist.

When Rolando was 19, he started meeting other Deaf people and learned Mexican Sign Langauge (lengua de señas mexicana" or LSM). When his parents did not approve of his learning to sign, he explained that his three older brothers had all learned English as a second language in order to give themselves a better opportunity at life and with their careers; Rolando wanted those same opportunities through learning LSM. It was around this same time that Rolando revealed to his parents that he was gay. His parents finally embraced and supported Rolando for who he is.

Rolando soon gained recognition and fame throughout Mexico and internationally for his paintings. His work has been shown in over 150 exhibits around the world. The City of Ventura, California selected Rolando as their 2016 Global Artist of Distinction to paint a large-scale mural on the side of a building, as a gift to Ventura’s Westside for their Artwalk. Rolando thought the mural would take a month to complete, but he was able to finish it in just one week. He spent the other three weeks as a tourist but he had not yet met any of the Deaf community in the United States.

All that changed last year when Council de Manos invited Rolando as their guest presenter. Elvis Zornoza and Adele Ann Eberwein were so moved by his presentation that they helped to arrange for Rolando to be an artist-in-residence at the California School for the Deaf. 

[ image description: Photo 1) Rolando talking with a student while other students busily working on a mural in the background; Photo 2) Rolando posing in front of his mural. The picture on the mural is a man holding an umbrella who is looking up. The sky is filled with signing hands. It is inside of a circular frame of faces from diverse cultural backgrounds.]

See Rolando with his beautiful new mural on the wall of the Elementary building at the California School for the Deaf (below).

[ image description: Big photo of the stage at CSUN with the Harambee sign. Plus, several group photos of the Ebony Club students attending the conference at CSUN. One of the photos shows a sign for California State University, Northridge - Black House at 18348 Halsted Street.]

[ image description: (Click for video) A female student with glasses stands in the Elementary hallway. Several decorated bulletin boards are behind her.]

The CSD community was thrilled to welcome two esteemed visitors from CDE’s Special Education Division (SED). We had Kristin Wright, Director and Heather Carlson, Associate Director with us for 5 hours on February 6. The visit began with a welcome by our student leaders in the morning, upon the arrival of the visitors.

   

Kristin Wright was interested in learning more about our Early Childhood Education and Career Center programming, in addition to other areas at the school. We designed a meaningful day that would give her and Heather Carlson the opportunity to see CSD in action. We began the day with a visit to our Early Childhood Education department where language comes into play as early as possible. They observed two classes and were given some insight on how we design our bilingual program by using materials (e.g. word wall with signs) and classroom lessons.

   

During lunch, we sat down with our student leaders to learn more about their interests and their goals for after they graduate from CSD. Kristin asked them some general questions about why they thought CSD was the place to be. Eventually, stories were shared with Kristin and Heather that touched them. Some of the students shared their personal experiences struggling to navigate through a public school setting while trying to get an education before finally becoming a student at CSD. After that, the Supervisor of Residence Programs (SRP) joined the discussion to explain our residential program.

   

The SRPs took the visitors through several cottages and apartments where our students stay in during the week. A lot of thought provoking questions came from the visitors themselves on how we structure our residential programs. We even provided them with further insights on how important it is to have a meaningful residential program on campus. A point was made that our residential program is valuable, especially when preparing our students for the future, as there is an independent living program on campus. This is a gem that many do not realize is available to our students.

   

On our way to the High School building, a quick stop over was made at our Learning Support Center where our students are given access to after-school support by a credentialed teacher. Our high school principals greeted our visitors and gave them an overview of our high school program. After observing some of the classrooms we had the opportunity for a question and answer session and a great discussion to reflect on the day.

[ image description: Photo 1) Group photo of our visitors with the CORE staff. Also in the photo are Julie Rems-Smario, Nancy Hlibok Amann, Clark Brooke, Len Gonzales, and Lisa Nunez; Photo 2) Clark Brooke and JAC Cook lead the tour through a doorway of an Elementary classroom. They chat with one of the young students; Photo 3) High school students building bicycle frames in a CTE classroom. Their teacher is in the foreground; Photo   4) Touring the hallway in the Career/Technical Education building with a mask display; Photo   5) One student signing while another student and JAC Cook look on with interest in what's being said; Photo   6) Amy Eshelman interviews with a student in the Career Center conference room; Photo   7) (click for video) Opening photo of the students working on the bicycle frames.]

Click on video for slideshow with more photos.

California School for the Deaf, Fremont culinary arts class won 2 ^nd place at this year's Deaf Culinary Bowl in Las Vegas , with their new teacher James O’Brien who stepped into his new role just a couple of weeks before the competition. All seven Deaf schools demonstrated higher quality work compared to last year, and Texas School for the Deaf went wild since they won the Deaf Culinary Bowl for the first time.

Our Technical Advisory Committee member Jay Marshall and his friend Kato treated the young chefs and staff from all of the participating schools to a nice scavenger hunt activity and dinner at Gen Korean BBQ restaurant. Since Kato was so impressed with the young chefs, she offered all of the Deaf chefs a job at one of her San Francisco restaurants – which includes health insurance benefits, along with free housing rental for three months and training. Yes, they will get paid ($15 an hour to start) for the training, too. That said, we will definitely want to recruit Kato to become a part of our Technical Advisory Committee, too. Last year’s Deaf Culinary Bowl landed six of our chefs internships with Google this summer. We continue to get meaningful career opportunities for our students as a result of this event.

Not surprisingly, most of us went into a constant food coma while we were in Las Vegas: buffet on Wednesday evening, Pizza Expo on Thursday, Korean BBQ on Friday, and banquet on Saturday. I want to thank both Parodi Charitable Trust and Sorenson Communications for their financial support in making this experience possible for our five young chefs. In addition, I want to thank CSD's Career/Technical Education teachers, our High School team, Daniel Girard, Jane Fair, Lisa Nunez, and our school administrators for their heartfelt support, as well. We were also fortunate to have the following retirees from our school to coordinate this Deaf Culinary Bowl. They are Debbie Call, Steve Orman, Jeanne Ewald, David Call and Charles Holmes. CSD rocks!

[ image description: Photo 1) Outdoor group photo with each team wearing a different color jacket; Photo 2) Two plates with gourmet dishes; Photo 3) Executive Floor Judges pose with Daisy Sanchez-Salazar in front of an electronic sign with our school's athletic Eagle logo. There is a Las Vegas theme on the walls with hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades.]

Senior Jenna Kutsov received two awards at the 2019 Western Regionals: 4-year player and All-Star Player awards. You shine brightly, Jenna. We are very proud of you! 

[ image description: Jenna wears two medallions. She is holding a gold trophy cup in one hand and a Certificate of Participation in the other hand. She is smiling.]

Congratulations to the Varsity Boys Wrestling team for winning the Scholastic Champions in our section with a 3.16  GPA. This is our fourth pennant in this school year already!

All of the other winter teams also did very well so please give everyone a pat on the back for being committed and managing their time.

Varsity Girls Basketball – 3.41

Varsity Girls Wrestling – 3.32

Varsity Cheerleading – 3.27

Varsity Boys Wrestling – 3.16

JV Boys Basketball – 3.03

JV Girls Basketball – 2.97

Varsity Boys Basketball – 2.95

[ image description: Team of six student-athletes stand together. One of the athletes holds up their pennant.]

The Association of Families Teachers and Counselors sponsors the California School for the Deaf Elementary Annual Spelling Bee. Participating students are given 100  words to practice. The students did an awesome job fingerspelling the words and signing the definitions. The 2019 event closed with five finalists:



[ image description: Five finalists stand in a line on stage in front of the spelling bee sign. Each finalist is wearing a sign with their name on it.]

California School for the Deaf has a visiting scholar from Brazil, Renata Heinzelmann. Renata is doing her doctoral research on D eaf literature in the curriculum of Deaf schools . After visiting four Deaf schools in Brazil, Renata got in touch with Student Outcomes Specialist Michele Berke, and arranged to do a comparative study of a Deaf school in the United States.

Renata was struck by a few of the differences she noticed between Brazilian Deaf schools and our school in the United States. In Brazil, the students write on paper because the schools do not have computers; whereas at CSD the students use computers for their lessons, and there is technology throughout the school. In Brazil, everyone takes their time to sign slowly and interact with one another; whereas in the United States, everyone signs very fast and they are always in a hurry. In Brazil, most of the teachers are hearing; whereas at CSD, most of the teachers and administrators are Deaf.

Brazil has many Deaf schools since the children live at home and need a school that is within commuting distance. Most of the Deaf schools are government schools and a few of the schools are private. Sadly, government support for the Deaf schools in Brazil is declining. The schools have less and less, and the teachers are not motivated to teach. They lack a spirit to thrive.

Renata’s goal is to elevate the level of Deaf education for the children of Brazil. She plans to utilize the aspects of California School for the Deaf that have inspired her as a blueprint for elevating the Deaf schools of Brazil. What parts of California School for the Deaf does Renata hope to replicate in Brazil? De’VIA art that incorporates American Sign Language and the Deaf experience; daily story-signing in the library; murals on the walls depicting Deaf culture and American Sign Language; Deaf teachers and administrators; and hearing faculty who sign at all times so that there is communication access.

About Renata Heinzelmann

Renata was born Deaf to a hearing family. Her mom signed with her and encouraged her to become successful. Renata attended a private Deaf school nearby her home. She later transferred to a university that provided her with interpreters for her classes. It was there that she met her Deaf husband. Renata is currently studying at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in the Department of Education. She is part of a group of eight Deaf Studies students who are in the process of getting their Master’s and doctoral degrees. The university where Renata is attending has both Deaf and hearing professors. Renata wants us all to know that she LOVES the California School for the Deaf!

[ image description: Photo 1) Renata stands on stage giving a presentation. The slideshow behind her reads 'Letras Libras'; Photo 2) Renata with her husband and two children on a hill overlooking a lake, with mountains in the background.]

Poster presenters from California:

Dr.   Natasha Kordus

Supervisor

Assessment and Intervention

California Deaf Education Resource Center South



Julie Rems-Smario

Education Programs Assistant

California Department of Education

See the winning poster below!

Click on flyers below for printable version

Summer Kids Camps 2019

Meta Metal , Editor

Clark Brooke , School Superintendent