lone star winter/spring 2009-2010

Letter from the EditorThank you for your patience with this Lone Star. It sure has been a busy year for TSD and that delayed our publication. I wish we could feature more content but our space is limited.

As always thanks to all the supporters, writers and photographers that keep submitting material for this magazine. I truly hope that you enjoy the articles and the visual display of this Lone Star.

Thinking about the future we are contemplating ways to make the content more accessible and immediate for all our readers. Along that line, we are hoping to soon have a Lone Star on-line where you will be able to access the current events and keep well informed of all the happenings at TSD.

Send your letters and comments. We are always happy to get your feedback.

Thank you,

Fernando Muñoz

t: (512)-462-5327 | e: [email protected] South Congress Avenue. Austin, Texas 78704.

Table of ContentsCover Story10-13.......................................Graduating.Class.2010

Features4.......................................... National.Heritage.Awards5.................................. Fourth.Annual.Diamond.Event6-7...............................................Jr.NAD.22nd.Biennial.

National.Conference8...........................................................Sweet.Creations

The.Third.Annual.Holiday.Window.Event.at.the.Scarborough.Building

9......................................................HOY.X.Tournament.14................................. The.Future.of.the.Technology

Richard.Ladner.met.TSD.students.through.video.conference

15..................... Revived.and.New.Resource.from.the.Educational.Resource.Center.on.Deafness

16-17................................................Other.Happenings18-19..........................................Home.of.the.Rangers20......................................................... TSD.Foundation

Front CoverThe.Graduating.Class.of.2010.release.the.balloons.at.the.“Brick.Ceremony”.featuring.the.color.of.the.class,.purple.and.white..

www.tsd.state.tx.us

V O L U M E 1 3 1 , N o . 1 - 2Wi n t e r / S p r i n g 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0

( I S S N 0 8 9 3 - 2 9 6 4 )

Lone StarEditor/Art Director:

Fernando MuñozContributors:

Claire Bugen, Keena Miller, Chris Hamilton.Special thanks to:

Cynthia Foss, Diana Poeppelmeyer, Chris Hamilton. Photography:

Richard Norton, Fernando Muñoz, TSD staff and students.

Subscription InfoA one year subscription to Lone Star, the quarterly journal of the Texas School for the Deaf, costs $10. Send check and mailing address information to:

Lone Star EditorTexas School for the Deaf1102 South Congress Ave

Austin, TX 78704

Leroy Colombo Swim Center

AdministrationClaire Bugen

Superintendent

Avonne Brooker-RutowskiDirector of Instruction

Gloria Seidlin-BernsteinDirector of Student Support Services

Gary BegoDirector of Business and Operations

Russell WestDirector of Residential Services

Governing BoardWalt Camenisch, President

Connie Sefcik-Kennedy, Vice President

Sha Cowan, Secretary

Jean Andrews

Beatrice Burke

Eric Hogue

Susan Ridley

Angie Wolf

J O U R N a L O f t h E t E x a S S c h O O L f O R t h E D E a f

2 Lone Star • Winter-Spring 2009-2010

Messagefrom the Superintendent

Dear TSD Community,

Please forgive our publication delay here. While this issue focuses on last year’s events, we are well into the new fall semester. Spring on our campus is so busy it’s impossible to capture all the events; field days, end of school celebrations, proms, finals, sports banquets and of course, gradu-ation. Our students and staff were nothing short of super-heroes as they tackled these events.

In this issue I always pause to recognize our TSD Valedictorian and Salutatorian. They are re-spectively Miss Claira Oberrender and Miss Kalie Kubes. On the evening of June 4, 2010 the entire 800+ audience gathered in R.L. Davis Auditorium to get a taste of true brilliance. Claira’s theme was built around the famous Disney quote, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” She in-spired each of us to “Dream Big”---and not to be intimidated by challenges and obstacles. After all, Claira kept telling us, “this whole thing started with a dream and a mouse” giving reference to everything Disney in this world. And speaking of Disney, she was magical. Claira is currently attending Gallaudet University.

Kalie Kubes was no less inspirational as she described her emotional journey as a hearing child with cancer to the beautiful young deaf woman she is today. She told us what it means to have a place like TSD to learn, grow and belong as she struggled with a variety of obstacles only to become a shining star on our campus. A talented artist, she culminated her speech with a tribute portrait that she had painted of another young child who lost her battle with cancer. Kalie will be attending the University of Texas in Austin this year.

And finally only someone with the charm, intelligence and grace of Dr. Alan Hurwitz, newly ap-pointed 10th President of Gallaudet University, could have followed the speeches of these young women and done an equally inspirational job.

In closing, as you read of the success of our Annual Diamond Event which features our Culinary Arts Program and our TSD Foundation, please take a moment to appreciate all the work our Foundation does to support the efforts of our students.

Scholarships to the first annual Deaf, Youth, Future Conference is a shining example of how the Foundation changes lives.

Sincerely,

Claire Bugen

Journal of the Texas School for the Deaf 3

By Keena Miller

On March 31st., the Austin Chapter of Ser-vice to Mankind (SERTOMA) recognized

middle school students at the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) as a part of the organization’s National Heritage Freedom & Democracy Pro-gram. Chartered by SERTOMA International, the Austin Sertoma Club sponsors the annual competition for Texas School for the Deaf mid-dle school students, and kicks things off each February during United States Freedom Week.

Following a tour of the Texas State Capitol with

the Sertoma club, students were given creative latitude to demonstrate what “My American Heritage Means To Me”. Their presentations in-cluded written essays and guided tours through virtual museums they developed electronically.

Austin Sertomans have provided support and sponsorships to individuals and groups in the Austin community since 1963, and has worked with TSD for more than 30 years, providing scholarships and assistance to deaf and hard of hearing students in Texas. To learn more, visit:

www.austinsertoma.org

Pictured are Austin Sertoma members Chuck Banks (L) and Steve Hull (R) with National Heritage finalists from the Texas School for the Deaf (L-R) Runners up: Niko Lutes-Stein and Deltona Markel; First Place Winners: Nigel Burkhalter and Tamel Smith; Second Place Winners: Nicholas Holton and Ian Hennig.

National Heritage AwardsAustin Sertoma presented the awards to TSD Middle Schoolers


On May 6th, under the guid-ance of Hilton’s Diamond

Chef Mark Dayanandan, students from the Texas School for the Deaf ’s (TSD) Culinary Arts career training program were the featured talent in an evening of exquisite dining and delight.

Guests indulged in gourmet, wine-paired courses, thrilled to silent and live auctions, and enjoyed special entertainment featuring TSD stu-dents.

Sponsors this year included Joe Koen & Son Jewelers. This was a special treat for TSD as we re-es-tablished a connection to the Koen family. Joe Koen established his jewelry business in Austin in 1883 and also served on the Board of Di-rectors of TSD where his daughter Betty attended school for a time. One of our high school dorms honors Mr. Koen’s dedication and

service by bearing his name. Brad Koen, Joe’s great grandson, contin-ued this service to TSD by becom-ing a major sponsor.

Other sponsors included Image Microsystems, PCSI, Inc., H-E-B, Kramer Financial, Texas Associa-tion for the Deaf, Elephant Pro-ductions, Evolved Ideas, Chandra Design and Texas Monthly. And because of the dedication and pas-sion the Hilton has shown to TSD over the years, Chef Mark and the Hilton staff were chosen as TSD’s 2010 Partner of the Year later in the spring.

The annual Diamond Event is TSD Foundation’s largest fundraising endeavor. This year brought more than 200 esteemed supporters of TSD and its Outreach programs. Funds raised will be used for deaf and hard of hearing students all across Texas.

HILTON DIAMOND CHEF SHOWS STUDENTS THE ROPES AND THE

FUNDRAISING GALA SHOWCASES STUDENT TALENTS

PROCEEDS SUPPORT SCHOOL-TO-WORK PROGRAMS FOR DEAF AND

HARD OF HEARING STUDENTS IN TEXAS

F O U R T H A N N U A LT H E

D I A M O N DE V E N T

T e x a s s c h o o l f o r T h e D e a f f o u n D aT i o nTSD Foundation silent auction.

TSD Culinary Arts students.

More than 200 suppoters enjoyed the evening.

Brad Koen congratulates Lee Braun, the winner of the 1-carat diamond sponsored by Joe Koen & Son Jewelers.


Information from the Student Life Newsletter.

With 30 schools across the nation represented and over 140

attendees, the Jr. NAD 22nd Biennal National Conference was a big event at TSD. During the conference we emphasized the motto, Deaf. Youth. Future.

In order to bring the students into the future, they need to be guided, to have their leadership potential watered, and their confidence boosted. This is what the conference was all about. Our agenda included workshops, special projects, a Scavenger Hunt down South Congress Avenue, Main Event Entertainment, Mr. & Miss Jr. NAD Pageant, and a special banquet on the 17th floor of the Hyatt Regency Austin.

A group of students demonstrated global citizenship by participating in the Austin Empty Bowl project focused on fighting hunger. Other highlights from the Conference were the George W. Veditz Video project that documented the experience on video, and the Frederick

C. Shreiber Roundtable & Action Plan that allowed students to collaborate, discuss, and ensure effectiveness of the general meeting.

Thirteen Jr. NAD members from TSD attended the conference. Our TSD - Jr. NAD President, Claira Oberrender noted “Students often feel they do not have a voice on current issues. By being part of Junior NAD, we are given opportunities that build our confidence and encourage us to stand up and be heard on any important and controversial matters.” We are proud to say that again TSD demonstrated great organizational capacity and thanks to the help of all the volunteers, teachers, staff and students we had a great conference and left a great impression on all our guests.

Deaf. Youth. Future.Jr. NAD 22nd Biennial National

Conference a huge Success!“Junior NAD focuses

on advocacy, awareness, commitment,

friendship, idea-sharing, leadership

skills, cooperation, and positive attitude.”

- Allie Rice, Coordinator of Youth Programs


“Sweet Creations”By Fernando Muñoz

In downtown Austin, just a few blocks away from the Capitol, the windows of the historic

Scarborough Building were turned into a Win-ter Candy Land from Thanksgiving through the end of the Holiday Season.

TSD students created different art pieces from 3-D works, to digital prints and videos that were featured in the window displays. The “Sweet Creations” theme represented a classic child’s holiday playland, with a touch of Deaf culture to remind you that the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) is a unique home to students where they LEARN, GROW and BELONG.

Our decorated tree called attention to the vi-sual beauty of ASL. TSD photography students posed to demonstrate a number of ASL signs that were indicative of the holiday season and inspired by Andy Warhol’s work.

TSD elementary students used Popsicle sticks and adornments to create ornaments in the whimsical shapes of hands.

“Signs of the Season” was created by Alexandria Blancett and featured her classmates demonstrat-ing the “signs” of the holiday season. “Reach for the Stars” (Photo 7) was created by Marivel Holguin.

Laura Lower created “Hands on Holidays” (Pho-to 5) and Keisha Hernandez “Holiday Surprises” (Photo 2). Kalie Kubes created “Marissa in the Box of Memories”

Laura Garza created “Reindeer on the Sky” (Photo 3) and “Happy Holiday Tree” by Matthew Parsley (Photo 6); Desiree Contreras presented “TSD Elves take five” (Photo 4).

Also part of the exhibition was the “Toyland Sleigh” created by the Mill and Cabinetmaking class and “Holiday Masks” created by 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders.

Tsunami Studio presented two video composi-tions “Holiday Vignettes” and “Tsunami Shorts”.

Teachers Mary Wallace-Green, Bobbie Guerra, Dan Guerra and Mindy Moore guided the stu-dents.

“Welcome to Candy Land” The Third Annual Holiday Window Event at the Scarborough Building

1 2

3

7

4 5

6


baseballTournament

Softball

Texas

For the deaf

School

HOY X TournamentBy Fernando Muñoz

During April 23 and 24 our school had the privilege of hosting the tenth Hoy tour-

nament for the first time in Austin, Texas.

Texas School for the Deaf welcomed other schools from across the nation to compete in the sports that meant the most to and honored “Dummy” Hoy, the first inductee to the Amer-ican Athletic Association of the Deaf.* Our guests in this landmark event included: Cali-fornia School for the Deaf - Fremont, Califor-nia School for the Deaf - Riverside, Indiana School for the Deaf, Maryland School for the Deaf and the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (Washington DC).

TSD worked hard to prepare for this event and we were happy to visit with old friends, make new ones and above all, promote good sports-manship and camaraderie while participating in “America’s favorite pastime”.

In the softball results Maryland took first place with TSD placing second; Indiana was third and Riverside came forth. In baseball, Fre-mont placed first by defeating MSSD.

Most valuable players were Michelle Mansfield-Hom from MSD, and Zac Kohler from CSD-F. All-Tourney Softball category the players were: Trista Taylor, MSD; Claire Tucker, MSD;

Liv Polzin, MSD; Ashlee Lambert, TSD; Kei-sha Hernandez, TSD; Mysty Ayala, TSD; Kate Fetzer, ISD; Montana Murphy,CSD-R; Chel-sea Lee, MSSD; Samantha Hyland, CSD-F. All-Tourney Baseball: Carlos Lopez, CSD-F; Christian Reyes, CSD-F; Cody Mitchell, CSD-F; David Mullowney, MSSD; Richard Navarro,MSSD; Ryan Baldiviez, MSSD; Tyler Crace, ISD; Ryan Bingham, ISD; Luis Estrel-la, CSD-R; Todd Bonheyo, MSD.

About the Hoy Tournament

The Hoy Tournament is named after William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy, who was a profes-sional baseball player with a remarkable career and life. He started playing professionally in 1886 in Wisconsin, and played in different teams in Washington, Boston and Cincinnati until 1903.

After retiring from professional baseball, Hoy retained his enthusiasm for the sport. He joined a local amateur team, coached Deaf-community teams, and kept his contacts with old friends and players.

Hoy was unanimously voted the first player to be enshrined in the American Athletic Associa-tion of the Deaf ’s Hall of Fame (1951). He died in 1961, a few months short of his 100th birthday.

The tenth Hoy Tournament was held for the first time in Texas


By Claire Bugen

On June 4th TSD finished the school year celebrating with the graduating class of 2010 as sixty Texas School for the Deaf

students reviewed their achievements and looked to their future. Kalie Kubes, the Salutatorian, set the bar high for an evening of superb speeches with her opening inspirational message of over-coming obstacles, discovering your talents, and giving back to the world. Those who know her, understood that her words were merely a reflection of the beliefs and attitudes she embodies.

The same could be said for the words that followed from the Vale-dictorian, Claira Oberrender. She dreams big and she encouraged all to aim high in their own visions for the future. Her rousing speech was based on the Walt Disney quote “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Exhorting the students and the audience to pursue their dreams and work hard to make them come true, she pointed out that the huge success that a man with little mouse and a mighty vision had created in the magic of Disney.

Only a commencement speaker of the caliber of Dr. T. Alan Hur-witz, could have followed these two eloquent young ladies and ratcheted the inspiration up another notch. Dr. Hurwitz, Presi-dent of Gallaudet University, used his life-time of experience to lay out for the seniors a picture of possibilities that await for those willing to seize and take advantage of every opportunity. The stu-dents were well aware of Dr. Hurwitz’s considerable achievements and felt honored that he had cleared his very busy schedule to pass his wisdom on to them. Juan Munoz said, “this is truly inspiring to have Dr. Hurwitz be a part of our graduation.” Valedictorian,

Graduation Class of 2010Inspired by Dr. Alan Hurwitz the 2010 Graduating Class Celebrated Achievements

Kalie Kubes, Salutatorian.

Claira Oberrender, Valedictorian.


Graduation Class of 2010Claira Oberrender, agreed “this is a big thing!” and Morgan Campbell, 2010 Benedictorian said, “this is really cool for those of us who will be going to Gallaudet in Washington D.C. this year.”

The heady speeches were topped off by the TSD Sign Choir doing a beautiful rendition of “Sea-sons of Love” from the musical Rent. Finally, Superientendent Bugen, closed the evening giv-ing credit where credit is due by praising the Graduating Class of 2010 for their commitment to TSD, great level of participation and involve-ment, academic achievements and for truly em-bodying our school motto: Learn, Grow, Belong.

Dr. Hurwitz is the tenth president of Gallaudet University in Washington D.C.

Before joining Gallaudet in January 2010, Dr. Hurwitz spent a successful career at the National

Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) where he held positions that included president, vice president and dean. Prior to his 40-year tenure at NTID, Dr. Hurwitz worked as an associate electronics en-gineer and senior numerical control programmer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation.

Throughout his career, Dr. Hurwitz held executive and board positions with a number of organiza-tions, including the Rochester School for the Deaf in New York, and the National Captioning Insti-tute. He formerly presided over and remains active in the National Association of the Deaf, and he is a past president of the World Organization of Jew-ish Deaf. Dr. Hurwitz is also a widely published author and lecturer. Dr. Hurwitz holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Washington University at St. Louis, a masters of science in electrical engi-neering from St. Louis University, and a doctorate of education, curriculum and teaching, from the University of Rochester.

Superintendent Claire Bugen with Matthew Parsley and Juan Muñoz.

(Top from left to right)TSD School Song performed by the Class of 2022.

Graduates Daniel Cantu and Morgan Campbell.

Graduating Class walks to the Auditorium.

Commencement Speaker, Dr. Alan Hurwitz.

TSD Choir performing “Seasons of Love”.

For more pictures visit:http://www.tsd.state.tx.us/news/tsd_endyear_2010.html


Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2010

Adrian Barajas

LaRod Smith

Laura Lower

Macaulay GillilanMarcus Gentry

Phillip Cox

Orren Aden Mysty Ayala

Myeisha Justice

Tia Rice

Trannon Cheek

Victor Ruiz

Jordan Gilland

Juan MuñozKalie Kubes

María del Carmen Cervantes

María de la Luz Cervantes

Ernesto Cornejo

Matthew Jackson Michelle Ngwu

Rick Bertling

Riccardo Rodriguez

Forrest Godfrey

Gabriella Beyer

Francisco Rodriguez

Krishondra Bradford

Andrea Green

Cedric Cooksey

Debria Greenwood

Chris Ramirez


Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2010

Claira Oberrender

Ivan Felipe

Lauren Hawkins

Noe de la Pena

Nickolas Vasquez Scot White

Victor Pompa

Xavier Wells

Leonard Hernandez

Jairo DeLeon

Jose Tamayo Emmanuel Treviño Emmanuel Urquiza

Keith Phelps

Karen Hernandez Kenneth Jay Hill

Matthew Parsley

Morgan Campbell

Ryan Radons

Ryan Harbison

Roberto García

Raul Henriquez

Kirsten CoahranLance Bullington

Ana Flores

Daniel Cantu

Darrion Gabriel

Charlene Burleson Desiree Contreras

Edwin Nirider


A conversation about the future of the technology University of Washington Professor and Microsoft Software Engineer, Richard Ladner, met TSD students through ClassInFocus video conference

Clockwise: The ClassInFocus screen showing the powerpoint slides, Chris Sano, a roster of people, captions (not being used), the TSD (dark so that they could see a projected display), and Richard looking on.

From left to right: Richard Ladner observing, Interpreter Chris Lyles voicing, Chris Sano explaining his background and career in computing. ClassInFocus is running on a laptop.

Overhead display of a TSD student asking a question.

By David Coco

On January 30th, students from Texas School for the Deaf met with Richard

Ladner, University of Washington Professor in Computer Science, and Chris Sano, Software Engineer at Microsoft. Both of these men were in Seattle, Washington and our students joined them via ClassInFocus, an online platform that uses webcams, microphones, and PowerPoint to facilitate remote interpreting and remote cap-tioning in classroom environments.

Given that technology was the vehicle for the meeting, it was appropriate that the two men spoke to the students about careers in comput-ing fields, the UW’s Summer Academy for Ad-vancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Comput-ing. Richard began by talking about the ways in which computing has changed the world and the way we access information. Computing as a field is expected to contribute more than half of the growth in science and engineering occupa-tions in the next 10 years! A job in this field requires teamwork to build and design with oth-ers, problem solving skills, and a strong math background. It is often highly paid and a great way to make an impact and influence change.

Richard also talked about what is on the fore-front of technology: web applications, cell phones, computer games, and embedded ap-

plications. He then discussed the future of the technology as it relates to Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals and focused on sign lan-guage recognition, automatic captioning, and mobile videophones.

Next, Chris Sano talked about his personal ex-perience as a Deaf engineer. He described his background and undergraduate degree at RIT in Information Technology and his current work for Microsoft on their open source sharing software. He largely works in teams in a very open environment and collaborates with others through a full time interpreter. In addition to his regular job, Chris has founded DeafCode with two other Deaf software engineers. Deaf-Code has produced (among other things) Cap-tionFish, an online source for finding captioned movie showings and watching captioned trailers.

The TSD students were very interested in the presentation and many asked questions through a “hot seat” laptop equipped with a webcam. They asked things like how CaptionFish cap-tions their trailers, what classes they should take before college, what is Chris’s favorite video game, and how to apply to the Summer Acad-emy. The final question shows that the speakers got the students’ attention and their interest in becoming involved in computing and engineer-ing fields.


By Diana Poeppelmeyer

Every year ERCOD tries to ex-pand the audience that can access

outreach services. Though all of our face-to-face programs such as Family Weekend Retreat, Summer Programs, Discovery Retreat, and Communica-tion Skills Workshop continue to grow, we also want to increase services to stu-dents, families and professionals who may not be able to attend these events. The easiest way to extend our reach is through technology and this year we capitalized on the Internet to bring back one popular program and to add a new resource.

FamilySignsThe original FamilySigns program of in-home sign language instruction for families statewide had been dormant for a number of years as we had lost the funding for the videophones and teach-ers that made this project a success. We have been able to revive the program us-ing free Internet based video calling soft-ware (Skype and ooVoo) and volunteer instructors from advanced ASL classes in deaf education and interpreter train-ing programs. Using the registered par-ents’ schedules as the starting point, our FamilySigns Coordinator, Lisa Bosson,

matched parents with volunteer instruc-tors. The instructors would then make a video call to the parent each week to provide a 30 minute sign class via the Internet. With this new FamilySigns model, we were able to serve 47 parents from 38 cities throughout Texas. To find out more about the program, see www.familysigns.org

ERCOD Resource WebsiteAnnually, the ERCOD staff receives and answers approximately 2000 calls and emails requesting information and resources. Much of the information is available on the Internet but across a wide variety of websites representing dif-ferent agencies or different topics. For those frequently asked questions, our staff had created files of bookmarked websites that we routinely referred to because we knew they contained the most often requested information. Some of these answers had been easy to find and others had taken us time and perseverance to ferret out. We decided that we should make the content of our

files available to consumers statewide by creating a resource website that would serve both as a portal to other websites and as a repository of information most pertinent to the education of deaf and hard of hearing children in Texas. Our goal was to make it easier for students, families, and professionals to find first Texas specific information and resources and second to find general information and resources available nationwide. The site also has pages available in Spanish. Come visit www.texasdhhresources.org and let us know what you think. The website is a work in progress and we are constantly adding new information. Are there resources missing that you would like to suggest or see? Do you have suggestions for improving the site? We are always open to ideas for improv-ing any of the resources that come to you through the Educational Resource Center on Deafness.

To see a list of all the resources available from ERCOD, please visit www.tsd.state.tx.us/outreach/index.html

Spotlight on Revived and New Resource from the Educational Resource Center on Deafness

Useful Linkswww.familysigns.orgwww.texasdhhresourceswww.tsd.state.tx.us/outreach/index.html


Other WinterSpring

Ranch-O-RamaWith infromation from The Deaf Tex-as, Vol. 95, Issue 2, Spring 2010.

On May 8th, 2010, for the first time since 1968, the Texas Deaf community participated in a state-wide western themed, Ranch-O-Rama (ROR). For many years, the ROR was the most popular social gathering in the Texas Deaf com-munity and was held biannually near the “Y” in Oak Hill. Families came from across the state dressed up in western attire and partici-pated in old-fashioned games like horseshoe throwing, pig chasing, potato sack races, and greasy pole climbing. The wonderful fellow-ship and Texas Association of the Deaf spirit were the highlights of the event.

For 42 years the tradition had been dormant but Paul Rutowski , cur-

rent President of Texas Association of the Deaf, worked with a team to bring ROR back to life at the Pio-neer Farms in north Austin. The event was a huge success with more than 500 people attending and ev-erybody had a great time enjoying the food, exhibits, tours and other nineteenth-century recreations.

Children loved the old-fashioned activities – some of the same ones from 1968 - potato sack races, a petting zoo, hayrides and wagon pioneers. The day was especially poignant for those who remem-bered the Ranch-O-Rama from their childhood days. Many old memories combined with making new memories at an event that will hopefully continue on.

The WEST is not Dead in Texas!

Back: Dana Stoddard, Amanda Wolf, Amelia Hamilton, Emma Crawford, Ilan Ben-Moshe, Kylene Etkie, Dawn Kidd and Dr. Gerald Buckley. Front: Faith Weatherford, Sarah Counts and Daniella Reyna.

Texas School for the Deaf participated at the math com-petition held annually at RIT/NTID in Rochester,

NY. This competition was for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students across the country and the contest was hot given that 59 students from 16 schools were involved.

Our students went well prepared by their coaches, Dawn Kidd and Dana Stoddard, and continued their reign by winning big. Ilan Ben-Moshe, took 1st Place in the Indi-vidual Competition and then contributed to a team effort with Daniella Reyna, Amelia Hamilton, and Emma Craw-ford to take first place in the Team Competition. In the Countdown Round, Ilan came in 2nd and Daniella took 5th place.

Other team members who represented TSD well were Faith Weatherford, Sarah Counts, Amanda Wolf, and Kylene Et-

Former TAD presidents gather for this rare group photo with current TAD President Paul Rutowski (holding TAD logo) at Ranch-O-Rama. Each person is either a former teacher or TSD graduate. L- R: Steve Baldwin, Kent Kennedy, Dot Johnson, Paul Rutowski, Kathy Walters, Carl Brininstool and Larry Evans (Photo courtesy of TAD).

MATHCOUNTS Rocks!

kie. Being a part of the MATHCOUNTS event meant that these students were top performers in math and TSD is proud of all of our students who put their time and energy into honing their skills to compete at the national level.


WinterSpringInternational Festival

Special Needs Fun LearningBy Fernando Munoz

2009-2010 was a busy year for Special Needs students and we had a year filled with learning activities and fun. At the end of the year, we celebrated with two culminating activities.

• Super Students

On May 27 we held the Super Students award ceremony. This event celebrates all of our students from elementary to those students who are 22 and in the transition program.

In an audience packed Deaf Smith Cen-ter, we awarded our students for their spirit, effort and hard work.

• Senior Trip

The SND senior trip took place on June 1st at the Main Event. The students had a great time bowling, playing laser tag and participating in other fun activities to cap off a great year.

The Elementary stu-dents participated in the International Fes-tival, featuring India. It was a great experi-ence with lots of ac-tivities that included food, arts and crafts, games and educa-tional pieces focused in the Indian culture.

Shane Dever, Robbie Foster, Kacie Ketchum, Shannon Hoyt, Jewel Rocha, Cage Hall, Grace Soechting, Anahly Tristan and Xavier Morris having fun at the arts and crafts table.

Back: Shannon Hoyt, Robbie Foster, Xavier Morris, Anahly Tristan, Ashlene Etkie. Front: Kennedy Toynes, Jordan Leach, Jewel Rocha, Chloë Kuhns, Shane Dever, Grace Soechting.

Bowling at Main Event, Xavier Wells and Cedric Cooksey (left); Nickolas Vasquez and Jordan Gilland (right).

SND at Main Event

Lydia Esqueda awards Nickolas Vasquez, Andrea Green is seeing in the back.

Noe DelaPena, Xavier Wells and Michael Bonner. SND students partipating in the Transition to Life Ceremony.

Josh Paul.

Armando Molina.


H O M E O F T H E

2009-2010 Sports Banquet

Fall5/6 Flag FootballRanger Pride Dylan SicoliMost Improved Zachary Richardson7/8 Tackle FootballRanger Pride Ilan Ben-MosheMost Improved Justin AkersVolleyballRanger Pride (5Th/6Th) Mia UpchurchMost Dedicated (5Th/6Th) Alexus MorenoRanger Pride (7Th/8Th) Kylene EtkieRanger Pride (7Th/8Th) Emma CrawfordMost Dedicated (7Th/8Th) Amelia HamiltonWinterBoys BasketballRanger Pride (5Th/6Th) Tanner KetchumMost Improved (5Th/6Th) David HernandezRanger Pride (7Th/8Th) Jesus GonzalezMost Dedicated (7Th/8Th) Iosif ShaymanGirls BasketballRanger Pride (5Th/6Th) Gunita SchmidjorgMost Improved (5Th/6Th) Mia UpchurchRanger Pride (7Th/8Th) Kylene EtkieMost Dedicated (7Th/8Th) Hope Price

Ms WrestlingRanger Pride Dalton TaylorMost Dedicated Gabe HintonSpringTrack & FieldRanger Pride (5Th/6Th) Yasmin WatkinsRanger Pride (5Th/6Th) Michail SullivanRanger Pride (7Th/8Th) Patrick HendersonMost Improved (7Th/8Th) Erin CraigTennisRanger Pride (5Th/6Th) Cody UpchurchMost Dedicated Anna OberrenderMost Improved Ketsi Hoover-SimonRanger Pride (7Th/8Th) Tamel SmithMost Dedicated Ulysses HamptonMost Improved Nigel BurkhalterSoftballRanger Pride Faith WeatherfordMost Dedicated Daniella ReynaMajor AwardsFemale Athlete Of The Year: Erin LambertMale Athlete Of The Year: Ulysses HamptonFemale Scholar-Athlete Of The Year: Kylene Etkie Emma CrawfordMale Scholar-Athlete Of The Year: Ilan Ben-Moshe

By Chris Hamilton

The Athletic Department hosted the annual sports banquets on May 11th for the Middle School athletes and May 13th for the High School athletes. Once again we gathered together and mingled in the TSD cafeteria prior to the ceremony. All of our Ranger athletes were recognized and praised for their dedication to TSD Athletics. The many accomplishments of each individual were beyond our expectations.

Hosting a sports banquet takes a lot of work to prepare but renders great rewards when you watch the athletes bursting with pride as they accept their awards. Each athlete knows that it takes dedication, motivation and commitment to their sport to be recognized.

Congratulations to all the TSD Rangers who exemplified hard work and excellent sportsmanship. You ALL represented TSD well and made us proud.

Congratulations to the following young students of TSD for outstanding athletic achievements for the 2009-2010 school year.

Middle School AwardsAdrian Barajas, Gabriella Beyer, Marcus Gentry and Chris Hamilton


By Chris Hamilton

The TSD wrestling team enjoyed a great season this year finishing at 15-2. We won CO-National Champions!! And our own Adrian

Barajas won Wrestler of the Year 2010!

We couldn’t be more proud of our hard working and motivated ath-letes this year. The 2009-2010 season was led by a great group of seniors who posted a 66-25 combined individual record. The team flew to Maryland School for the Deaf for the National Deaf Wrestling Duals and finished with an amazing 2nd Place!! We placed 5th place last year at this very same tournament. In January, the team won 1st Place out of 25 Austin schools at the McCallum Dual Tournament.

TSD Wrestling team a successful year

High School AwardsFallFootballOffensive Player of the Year Jay HillDefensive Player of the Year Adrian BarajasMost Dedicated Player Orren AdenJV FootballOffense Player of the Year Guadalupe CastellonDefense Player of the Year Erick SoteloVolleyballMost Valuable Player Gabriella BeyerMost Outstanding Player Ashlee LambertRanger Award Myeisha JusticeJV VolleyballMost Dedicated Player Amy JohnsonCoach’s Award Sylvia GondowiczCheerleaderMost Spirited Cheerleader Krishondra BradfordMost Spirited Cheerleader (MEDAL): Amy Johnson, Sylvia Gondowicz, Marisa KingWinterBoys BasketballMost Valuable Player Marcus GentryMost Valuable Player Jairo De LeonMost Improved Player Akeem GuidryJV Boys BasketballMost Outstanding Player Kyle WinterMost Outstanding Player Dalton EtkieGirls BasketballMost Valuable Player Gabriella BeyerMost Improved Player Marivel HolguinSwimming (MEDALS)Margaret Kopp Darby Layton Stephanie Cain Jose Manrique Christian Escamilla Edwin NiriderWrestlingMost Valuable Wrestler Adrian Barajas

Most Valuable Wrestler Ivan FelipeCoach’s Award Orren AdenMost Dedicated Player Juan MunozSpringBoys TrackMost Valuable Trackster Jay HillMost Outstanding Trackster Marcus GentryMost Outstanding Trackster Kyle WinterMost Improved Trackster Austin HillGirls TrackMost Valuable Trackster Jasilyn WilliamsMost Outstanding Trackster Myeisha JusticeMost Dedicated Trackster Marivel HolguinSoftballMost Valuable Player Ashlee LambertMost Outstanding Player Mysty AyalaCoach’s Award Marti LailTennisMost Valuable Player (boy) Forrest GodfreyCoach’s Award (boy) Edwin NiriderSpecial AwardsManager of the Year (female): Jessenia GonzalezManager of the Year (male): John McClymondSportsmanship Award (female): Marivel HolguinSportsmanship Award (male): Richard BertlingRanger Pride Award (female): Mireyda BustosRanger Pride Award (male): Juan MunozBFS Award (female): Marivel HolguinBFS Award (male): Guadalupe CastellonRookie of the Year (female): Marika BeyerRookie of the Year (male): Dalton EtkieAthlete of the Year (female): Gabriella BeyerScholar-Athlete of the Year (female): Mysty AyalaAthlete of the Year (male): Marcus Gentry Adrian BarajasScholar-Athlete of the Year (male): Orren Aden

TSD Wrestling team in alphabetical order: Orren Aden, Adrian Barajas, Austin Bishop, Tyler Bishop, Joshua Eziashi, Ivan Felipe, Derrick Gamble, Ryan Harbison, Ronald Hurne, Cameron Luke, Alton Markel, Biron Moreno, Juan Munoz, Joe Quintilla, Emmanuel Trevino, Omar Valdovinos.


lone star winter/spring 2009-2010

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