The day begins at a school for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Lynda Sennott, lend sign language interpreter of Horace Mann School is signing "interpreter."
By Yunjia Hou | student journalist | April 10, 2019
Preschool babies are having parent-infant programs, kindergarten children are drawing pictures and middle school students are having their American Sign Language class.
All of these things are happening at 9 a.m. at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Like thousands of students studying in Boston, they work hard, have fun and pursue their dreams every morning.
Founded in 1869, Horace Mann School is the oldest public day school for the deaf and hard of hearing in the United States.
We have students from preschool to high school, said Lynda Sennott, a lend sign language interpreter who has worked here for 26 years.
According to Sennott, students can stay at the school until they are 22 years and they have totally around 90 students. Some of them participate in the testing of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and go to colleges after graduation while others choose to go to work with their certificates.
The MCAS testing includes English, math and science and Horace Mann School has the same requirements for graduation with other hearing schools.
The only difference is teachers can sign for students for the science test because the test is testing their science knowledge instead of their English knowledge.
The faculty work hard on helping students build confidence. They teach deaf history, tell students about famous deaf people. Also, there are a lot of deaf people work at the school.
Students can see people like them are teachers, teacher assistants and directors in programs. They can be good role models for students, according to Sennott.
"Just trying to get the students feel like they are deaf but not disabled."
"Like a deaf person might say, 'I'm not disabled. I know sign language and English. But you only know English. You are disabled,'"she said.
It is also important to let the parents understand their children will be fine, she said.
For parents who are hearing while have a deaf baby, if they have never experienced anybody deaf and they would feel like their baby is disabled.
A good way to reduce parents' worries is to let them engage in the parent-infant programs, where parents can not only learn American Sign Language to communicate with their children but also find deaf people can live normal lives by approaching deaf teachers at the school, she said.
"Parents can see there is a deaf person who can drive, owns the house, is married and has children," she added.
Also, the school offers free leveled American Sign Language course three times a week. Parents can take the course to improve their sign language in order to better communicate with their deaf children. And anyone in the community is welcomed to the course, according to Sennott.
Sennott said like all the children, students at Horace Mann School have big dreams about their future and she never liked to tell students they cannot do something because they are deaf.
Although there are a few jobs deaf people cannot do like air traffic controller, police officer and soldiers in certain positions, generally "deaf people can do anything except hear." she quoted the slogan proposed by a deaf president of Gallaudet University, a federally chartered private university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing.
The faculty help students when they are young to think about what they want to do. And when they are 14, they start to get transition services to help them prepare for graduation, like career exploration, which can help them learn about different professions.
"Deaf people can do anything except hear"
For most students at Horace Mann School, their first language is American Sign Language.
Unlike hearing children, who have everyone around them speak some English and are exposed to an English world, deaf children have few chances to access people who can do sign language before they go to school, so it is not easy for them to study sign language.
To solve this problem, teachers at Horace Mann School do home visit every week for preschool students.
A deaf teacher and a hearing teacher do home visits together to teach both the parents and the children American Sign Language, said Elsa, an American Sign Language teacher.When the children get older, they can go to school, she said.
Preschool teachers are teaching kindergarten children ASL.
During students' school hours, they learn American Sign Language in the morning, and English in the afternoon.
"We want to keep the two languages separate," said Ann, an American Sign Language teacher. "Everything I'm talking to them in English are things they have already known in sign language and I will support with pictures, so they can pick up their second language."
"We have small groups with maximum six kids and parents, so teachers can give individual support," she said.
One thing hearing people may feel curious about a deaf school is if teachers want to get students' attention what will they do. They can't directly say, "Everybody looks at me" for the students can't hear.
Teachers can bang the table, wave to the students or tap their shoulders, Sennott said.
Another interesting thing Sennott mentioned was students and teachers at this school can know each other quite well, for they spend about 15 years together, from preschool to high school.
She likes to use their long-time friendship to make a little joke with students who come back working at the school after they graduate from university, like Josephine, who currently works as a teacher assistant. Sennott knew her when she was in kindergarten.
"When Josephine came for her interview, I noticed her name," said Sennott. "So I ran upstairs for the old year book, grab her picture and came down. After the interview I said to her, ‘Look at you in kindergarten! Look at you!'"
"We have a student whose mothers was in middle school when I started and now the kid come here. It is very fun," she said.
