GURC-SW Summer 2013 E-Newsletter

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Gallaudet University Regional Center Exciting seasonal news from the Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest A Seasonal E-Newsletter Teen Leadership Summit hosted by Deaf Action Center The Deaf Action Center, located in Dallas, TX, hosted it’s annual Teen Girls Leadership Summit...

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The Science Games: Annual High School Science Fair Texas School for the Deaf had it’s annual high school science fair...

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Issue 2: Summer 2013 GURC-SW Presents Scholarships to Two Seniors at Texas School for the Deaf Texas School for the Deaf held its annual end of the year awards ceremony in the auditorium on June 5, 2013..

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GURC-SW Attends the Mountain States Deaf Education Summit From June 11-13, 2013, the Mountain States Deaf Education Summit was held in Salt Lake City, Utah...

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The annual Family Weekend Retreat in Austin, TX: Hosted by Texas School for the Deaf Texas School for the Deaf hosted its annual Family Weekend Retreat at TSD and St.Edwards University...

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Family to Family event in New Mexico: Sponsored in part by GURC-SW Page 3 More....

DWU Conference Youth Leadership Training NBDA Conference

Pages 4-6 Coming Soon!

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Summertime at GURC-SW! What does Gallaudet University professionals and the communities Regional Center - Southwest do in the we work with. summer? Aren’t all schools on break?

We are fortunate to attend summer Yes, schools are on break, but we conferences and events as they apply aren’t! to our region. This ensures the opportunity to network and gain What GURC-SW does throughout the more knowledge on our events summer is attend conferences and occurring within our southwestern events held by organizations and states. schools. We also welcome prospective students to meet with us We had the pleasure of meeting and prepare for the fall semester. Not people and attending some only that, our planning for future wonderful events this summer. Read events never end. more about it throughout this newsletter.

GURC-SW commits to a year-round working environment so that we If your school, organization or meet the needs of our students, business has any events or Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

conferences you would like us to attend in the near future, whether it be to provide exhibition, a presentation on GURC-SW/ Gallaudet University or workshops/ training, feel free to contact us at: gurc.acc@gallaudet.edu Enjoy the rest of your summer!

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Teen Leadership Summit hosted by Deaf Action Center

The Science Games: Annual High School Science Fair

The Deaf Action Center, located in Dallas, TX, hosted it’s annual Teen Girls Leadership Summit on May 2, 2013.

Texas School for the Deaf had it’s annual high school science fair that was held in Seeger Gym. (Class of 2014)

Faith Weatherford Every year, the Deaf Action Center (DAC) Daniella Reyna hosts a Teen Leadership Summit. This Vitaliy Dovgalyuk time around, they hosted it for girls “Are Lizards Smarter within the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This Under Light?” summit incorporates activities that encourage girls to be knowledgable of The high school science fair was held on their rights and empower themselves.

May 17th, 2013. GURC-SW had the honor of judging, sponsoring and GURC-SW attended this event in providing an exhibition for this event. providing an exhibit that shared information on Gallaudet University and This event had a turnout of over 146 Austin Community College. The students and 55 displays of science exhibitions allowed the girls to gather projects from 4 months of preparation. information on various colleges/ The science fair was led by 5 science universities and organizations in teachers from TSD. promoting their future.

GURC-SW was one of 27 judges, that Approximately 175 girls viewed all of the displays, asked attended the Teen Girls Leadership Summit. questions and scored each project.

GURC-SW also sponsored two iPad mini’s for the 1st place winners.

After the exhibitions, the girls had lunch and the Deaf Action Center had GURC-SW’s Coordinator presenters and activities that promoted JoAnn Benfield presents and poses empowerment and confidence. The Deaf certificates with the winners, Emma Crawford and Amanda Action Center concluded the event by Wolf (Class of 2014). providing role playing activities. It was definitely a great summit!

The winners of the 2013 science fair were For more information on DAC, go to: Juniors; Amanda Wolf and Emma http://www.dactexas.org Crawford. Their project was called “The Stroop Effect.”

To view the video of the science fair, go to our website at www.gurc-sw.weebly.com under Archives.

Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

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GURC-SW Presents Scholarships to Two Seniors at Texas School for the Deaf Texas School for the Deaf held its annual end of the year awards ceremony in the auditorium on June 5, 2013.

GURC-SW had the honor of awarding Gallaudet University scholarships to two Seniors; Trevor Anderson and Maggie Kopp who are both attending Gallaudet this fall.

Trevor Anderson, the Class of 2013’s valedictorian, was honored to receive the Provost’s Honor Distinction.

Maggie Kopp, one of the Class of 2013’s top ten students, was given the honor to receive the President’s Honor Distinction.

GURC-SW’s Coordinator JoAnn Benfield presents Gallaudet University scholarships to Trevor Anderson and Maggie Kopp.

Three other students from Texas School for the Deaf will be attending Gallaudet University this fall as well.

For more information on Gallaudet scholarships, go to: http://www.gallaudet.edu/ financial_aid/scholarships.html 2

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GURC-SW Attends the The Annual Family Mountain States Deaf Weekend Retreat in Education Summit Austin, TX hosted by From June 11-13, 2013, the Mountain States Texas School for the Deaf Education Summit was held in Salt Lake Deaf City, Utah...

The Mountain States Deaf Education Summit drew in over 115 people and focused largely on the impact of literacy and language in Deaf Education.

This summit provided presentations that discussed important factors with literacy and language outcomes of deaf and hard of hearing children. This summit targeted parents and educators of deaf and hard of hearing children and brought attendees from all over the northwest states.

Texas School for the Deaf hosted its annual Family Weekend Retreat at TSD and St.Edwards University...

Lisa Crawford, of Texas School for the Deaf, Coordinated this great event for families and children across the state of Texas. The Family Weekend Retreat was held from June 14-16, 2013.

GURC-SW sponsored this event by providing two Shared Reading Project book bags for two lucky families that attended the Shared Reading Project workshop with Avonne Rutowski.

Presentations by experts from the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, Gallaudet University and the Alexander Graham Bell organization, were offered, as well as a parent panel of parents with GURC-SW also had an exhibit during the deaf and hard of hearing children with exhibition that shared resources on various experiences and challenges.

Gallaudet University, Austin Community College and the Shared Reading Project.

GURC-SW provided a presentation on what Gallaudet University and Austin This event had a large turnout of 76 Community College has to offer prospective students or professionals that families. This resulted in 310 people, including children. This event was a want to continue their studies. great way for families to connect and share experiences with having deaf For more information on the Mountain children.

States Deaf Education Summit, go to: http:// mtstatesdeafeducationsummit.eventbrite. com/

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Family to Family event in New Mexico Sponsored in part by GURC-SW GURC-SW sponsored the Family to Family event in New Mexico by sponsoring a presenter...

New Mexico School for the Deaf hosted its Family to Family weekend from June 15-16, 2013. GURC-SW was unable to attend this event, but was proud to sponsor a presenter from the Laurent Clerc Deaf Education Center in Washington, DC. This event incorporated approximately 15 families. While the parents attended workshops, the children/teens/siblings were able to engage in fun activities.

For more information on the Family to Family weekend, go to: http://www.nmsd.k12.nm.us/outreach/ classesworkshops.php

For more information on the Family Weekend Retreat at Texas School for the Deaf, go to: http://www.texasdhhresources.org

Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

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The Deaf Women United organization hosted its bi-annual conference in San Antonio, TX from June 19-23, 2013 under the coordination of the Deaf Women of Texas affiliate.

Careers, a Think Tank, Domestic Violence, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, Addiction, Sexism, Social media and many other fascinating topics.

Gallaudet University Regional Center Southwest gave support to the Deaf Women United conference by sponsoring the event in part, providing an exhibition with information on Gallaudet University and Austin Community College and providing technical assistance to promote the conference.

The center’s Coordinator, JoAnn Benfield, had the opportunity to attend and represent GURC-SW, as well as being the Entertainment Coordinator for the conference. She says, “This was an eventful conference and a positive experience.”

The conference’s purpose is to bring women of all walks in life together, from all over the United States, to share information, provide support and to reconnect.

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For more information on Deaf Women United and/or Deaf Women of Texas, go to: www.dwu.org www.deafwomenoftexas.org

This conference entailed of wonderful workshops such as: Female Leadership, Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

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GURC-SW Develops Youth Empowerment Leadership Training

leadership related project. This project proved to be more valuable and beneficial in the long run. It is now the center’s initiative for promoting the future youth leaders in the deaf and hard of hearing community.

GURC-SW developed a youth leadership training that is designed to meet the needs of building tomorrow’s youth leaders. The workshop titled “Individual Assessment, Cultural Awareness and Community Connection,” is a tool to guide student’s critical thinking. The impact has been astounding.

The first workshop was held at San Marcos High School, for their college/career day. This group consisted of 10 high school students that are deaf and hard of hearing. These students did a fantastic job being involved and truly enjoyed their experience. This was the first “test” group that allowed the center to make modifications based on feedback and observation.

GURC-SW traveled to three different programs to present the newly developed youth leadership workshop. The places traveled were: San Marcos, TX, Boulder, CO and New Orleans, LA. The workshop incorporates leadership activities, questionnaires, critical thinking, partnered work and group discussions. The workshop was developed with a purpose to empower students to share their perspectives and knowledge based on their Individual Assessment, Cultural Awareness and Community Connection.

JoAnn Benfield, the center’s Coordinator, was given the opportunity to travel to these places to present the workshop. Initially, this workshop was developed after the Deaf Women’s Leadership Seminar, as the seminar’s requirement to develop a Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

The second workshop, after modifying the activities, was held at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Marion Downs Hearing Center hosted its annual Campus Connections in which they invited GURC-SW to provide a youth leadership workshop for their students. There were 8 student attendees from all over the United States that attended this workshop. This group was unique, as they all have various backgrounds that played a big role in this workshop.

The third, but not final, site of the workshop was held at the National Black Deaf Advocates conference under the direction of Evon Black and Barbara Smith of the Youth Empowerment Summit

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(Y.E.S.). A group of 18 selected youth leaders attended this workshop and it proved to be very powerful.

Based on evaluations and observations, the students from all three groups responded positively to the “Qualities of a Leader” activity. This activity incorporates choosing a leader the students admire; that might be a famous person, a family member, a teacher or even a friend. They have to name one quality of the leaders they chose, such as: honest, proud, respectful, disciplined, integrity, etc.

Other activities that the students were engaged in that showed high responses were: “Your Uniqueness Makes You Valuable: Be Yourself!” This activity allowed the students to analyze their unique characteristics, their family, education, activities, skills and religion/culture that sets them apart from everyone else. This gave them the opportunity to realize they they are unique in their own way, and to be proud of who they are.

Overall, this workshop has proven to be a positive experience and something for the students to think about after completion.

To learn more about this workshop, contact us at gurc.acc@gallaudet.edu

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GURC-SW Attends National Black Deaf Association’s 26th Conference From July 30-August 4, 2013 the National Black Deaf Advocates hosted their 26th conference in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Sheraton Hotel Downtown NOLA.

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Gallaudet University was a platinum sponsor for this event.

Conference Chairperson Tim Albert coordinated the event, which played an integral role on how the conference played out. He had a great team that worked together and provided unified support and the conference was an amazing success.

This conference drew in over 327 attendees from all over the country and internationally. The conference included various presentations, workshops, a youth empowerment group, exhibits, entertainment and the Miss Black Deaf America pageant.

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An important role model, Claudia Gordon, the first black deaf woman to be appointed as the Public Engagement Advisor for the Disability Community in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House, shared at the conference reception that, “Being a part of the National Black Deaf Advocates organization played an integral part of my success.”

The conference concluded with a dinner banquet reception which consisted of presentations, awards, the announcement of the new board members, dinner, entertainment and dancing.

Overall, this conference was a fabulous experience. To learn more about the organization, go to:

Gallaudet University’s President Alan Hurwitz and the first lady Vicki Hurwitz, GURC-SW had the opportunity to attend along with other Gallaudet sponsors and www.nbda.org the NBDA Conference as an exhibitor and representatives also attended this event to show their support for this organization. a youth leadership workshop presenter.

The NBDA Miss Black Deaf America Pageant winners.

LeMarc Williamson and JoAnn Benfield: GU Representatives

Claudia Gordon presents during the conference banquet.

Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

Y.E.S. student shares her perspective on leadership.

Laurene Simms gets questioned by the quirky Emcee.

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COMING SOON! TR W

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ES E 6:3 0 D AY , S :3 0 P M PM - 8 ACC - Riverside Auditorium 1020 Grove Blvd Austin, Texas 78741

Hosted by:

Trivia Night @ ACC RVS

NAD Leadership

Texas Latino Council

September 18, 2013

Training Conference

For the Deaf and HoH

6:30p.m.-7:30pm

October 3-5, 2013

October 12, 2013

SPONSORED BY

{

The mission of the NSLDHH organization is to promote a professional development network for individuals involved in Student Life programs through exchanging ideas, sharing best practices, and developing resources.

}

Deb Skjeveland

Russell West

Keynote Speaker

Keynote Speaker

NSLDHH CONFERENCE INFORMATION

The First Bi-Annual Conference

Who: Student Life Professionals Where: Gallaudet University !

Registration Fee: $225.00

MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON!

www.nsldhh.com

SAVE THE DATE! November 1 - 4, 2013 If you have any questions, email bobby.acton@gallaudet.edu

TDI & ALDA

NSLDHH 1st Bi-Annual

Arizona Deaf Festival

Joint Conference

Conference

November 2, 2013

October 16-20, 2013

November 1-4, 2013

9:00a.m.-5:00p.m.

& More!!!

Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

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ATTENTION!

Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

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Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest

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Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest