The former Wyoming School for the Deaf, which is attached to the Pineview Elementary School in Casper, is scheduled to be demolished next year if the Legislature approves funds to build a new Pineview School requested by the Natrona County School District. (Casper Historic Preservation Commission for The Casper Citizen)

Agency, Alumni Frustrated by Plans to Tear Down Wyoming School for the Deaf

By Kerry Drake — July 24, 2013 

The future of a building that housed the Wyoming School for the Deaf in Casper for more than 40 years is once again uncertain.

The former school, which is attached to Pineview Elementary School, staved off demolition in 2007, when supporters of keeping the historic structure standing gathered more than 7,000 signatures on a petition they submitted to the State Department of Education. The agency still planned to tear down the School for the Deaf, but lack of funds prevented the proposed demolition.

Now, state education officials would again like to see the building torn down, according to Dennis Bay, director of Business Services for the Natrona County School District. Bay said the Department of Education wants the building off of its inventory, primarily because of its maintenance costs.

Although the school closed in 2005, it still serves as a library and resource center for deaf and hearing-impaired students and staff specialists. Services for visually impaired children and adults are also provided at the building, which hosts educational workshops and  reunions of former  Wyoming School for the Deaf students.

If aspects like the wood and hollow floor are so important and worth recreating, why not look at ways to incorporate the original rotunda into the new design?

The Casper Historic Preservation Commission and alumni of the school are both fighting the proposed demolition, which would take place in 2014 under plans to build a replacement for Pineview Elementary. Bay said funding for the construction still has to be approved by the Legislature, which is scheduled to consider the issue at next year’s session. Until money is available for the project — which includes the school’s demolition — it will remain standing.

State education officials have proposed dedicating between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet of space in a new Pineview School to house a new library as well as offices for Outreach Services for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing research and media specialists. Some aspects of the original school’s design would be recreated in the new space.

“The commission as a whole is disheartened by the impending loss of the Wyoming School for the Deaf building. … [which] is noteworthy for a variety of reasons, including the important role it played in educating Wyoming’s deaf students as well as its unique, purpose-built architecture,” noted Connie Bryan, chairwoman of the Casper Historic Preservation Commission, in a letter to the local school district.

While Bryan said that memorializing some of those special qualities in the new structure is an interesting idea, “If aspects like the wood and hollow floor are so important and worth recreating, why not look at ways to incorporate the original rotunda into the new design?”

In 2007, when the fate of the building was being decided by the state, Kathleen Holmes, one of the WSD’s first students, said, “It’s indeed sad that all the memories and the historical site of the Wyoming School for the Deaf will be wiped out when it’s torn down.”

Once again, alumni of the school are stepping forward to protest the proposal to tear down the former school as part of the new Pineview construction. Meghan Watt attended the school from 1991-98, after her parents moved to Casper solely so she could be enrolled at the WSD.

Watt said the school and staff helped change her life for the better after she lost her hearing as a result of meningitis when she was 2 years old. “I struggled to learn to speak and communicate again, also while making sense of what I was hearing with hearing aids,” she recalled. “The deaf school gave me a better concept of language. When I started learning to sign, that helped me understand language and to speak again.”

Watt said her “whole world opened up” as she learned how to communicate with family and friends. She called her time at the school “the best seven years of my childhood.”

“It would be an absolute shame if the WSD building was torn down,” she said, adding that the library and resource center “is a great resource for anyone needing information or help regarding deafness, education of the deaf and sign language.”

Bryan and another supporter of keeping the WDE building, Barbara Dobos of Casper, said they are concerned that most people in the community are not aware of the state’s plans to tear down the structure if the Legislature appropriates the money to do so.

Bryan said earlier this year, Wally Diller of the State School Facilities Commission said the state would repair any damage to the school that may occur when the state tears down Pineview, and that the School for the Deaf would remain in place.

“We worry that it was not made clear to [the stakeholders] that the building was to be demolished,” Bryan said. “We were shocked when we received notification in early April that it was to come down — we had been assured repeatedly that the connection to Pineview was going to be capped off and the WSD left standing.”

Construction of the WSD as an addition to Pineview took place in 1964. Previously, deaf students in Wyoming had been sent to out-of-state residential programs. The WSD’s purpose was to ensure all children with hearing disabilities, including infants, had access to free and appropriate public education in an atmosphere that emphasized special education and related services and was designed to meet the distinct needs for communicating language. Because the Wyoming Department of Education ran the WSD, it functioned separately from the Natrona County School District and had its own teachers, audiologists, speech pathologists and interpreters.

Families in Casper initially fostered the deaf students in their homes.  In 1990, a “cottage” — or live-in — program was started using a three-bedroom building on 8th Street near the school. But by then, new federal laws mandated that all disabled children in private or public institutions were to receive their education in regular educational environments nearest their family homes.  As a result, more handicapped students were being “mainstreamed” into regular classrooms, and enrollment at the WDE significantly dropped.

Funding issues caused regular debates in the Legislature about whether the WSD should remain open between 1991 and June 2005, when the facility was permanently closed. The state’s deaf and hearing impaired students are now mainstreamed into their local classrooms in all 48 school districts.

Bryan said it is not constructive when people find out at the eleventh hour about plans to tear down historic schools and other buildings. “Why not try to gauge what the community thinks about the building now, while the plans are still being created and there is still some flexibility, and there is still the opportunity to properly inform and engage the community?” she asked.

The Wyoming School for the Deaf has not been formally evaluated, Bryan noted, but she believes it is likely that the building is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, both for its role in education of hearing-impaired students and its unique architecture.

The structure’s Expressionist Modern design features an irregular, star-shaped floor plan topped by a low, hovering roof of zigzagging gables. The single-story school building is constructed of steel I-beams, with a central rotunda (now used as the library) surrounded by classrooms and offices. The library is flooded with daylight by eight ceiling skylights. Each classroom has a large bank of original windows, some extending almost to the height of the room, which provide ample natural daylight.

The WSD was designed by Krusmark and Krusmark, a father-and-son team that designed many other buildings in Natrona County, including Midwest Elementary School, Dean Morgan Junior High, Kelly Walsh High School and the blossom-like Wyoming National Bank building located in downtown Casper.

Bryan said the younger of the Krusmarks had two deaf children of his own, Elizabeth and Lee Krusmark, so he was especially sensitive to the needs of the population for whom he was designing.

 

Source: The Casper citizen

Historic preservation commission wants to save deaf school

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The Wyoming School for the Deaf

Photo by Makayla Moore

The building that formerly housed the Wyoming School for the Deaf is in danger of being demolished to make room for a rebuild of Pineview Elementary. The Casper Historic Preservation Commission believes that there is a possibility the building could qualify to be on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historic preservation commission wants to save deaf school - By Makayla Moore - CasperJournal.com

July 22, 2013 1:45 pm • By Makayla Moore

 

The Casper Historic Preservation Commission has begun an effort to save the former Wyoming School for the Deaf building from demolition

The building that housed the Wyoming School for the Deaf is in danger of being demolished with the planned rebuilding of Pineview Elementary School. It was built in 1961 on Huber Street as an addition to Pineview. The Wyoming School for the Deaf was operated by the State Department of Education from 1963 until it was closed for lack of enrollment in June 2005.

The former Wyoming School for the Deaf building meets Pineview in a V-shape, with each wing housing a separate school and meeting in the middle at the Rotunda.

The Rotunda is a large circular building which currently houses outreach services for the deaf and hard of hearing, including a library and resource center.

The building has many unique aspects as it was built for the needs of hearing-impaired children. The architects who designed the building, Krusmark and Krusmark, were a father and son team. The younger of the Krusmarks had a son that was hearing-impaired, so he was aware of the special needs of the population he was designing for. For example, the floor in the Rotunda is hollow, to allow the hard of hearing to feel the vibrations of others walking.

The Historic Preservation Commission indicated the State of Wyoming still owns and maintains the building, but the property is managed by the Natrona County School District. It was deeded to the State Department of Education from NCSD for “the express purpose of enabling grantee to erect and maintain on this property a school for deaf children, and in the event this property and any improvements thereon should cease at any time to be used for this purpose, then the property and all improvements thereon shall revert to the grantor and the interest of the grantee shall cease and be terminated.”

However, Audrey Cotherman, a current school board trustee, said she is not certain the state owns the building but she is quite sure they have not been maintaining it. Cotherman who has asked the district to look into it, said in her opinion the state cannot ask the district to provide space for them.

“We’ve had enough dictation from the state as for what to build and how to build it. When they begin to talk about tearing down historic buildings, we have to speak up,” she said.

According to Barbara Dobos of the Casper Historic Preservation Commission, in 2007, the public became aware of plans to tear down the School for the Deaf and in a very short period of time 7,000 signatures were collected on a petition to prevent the demolition of the building, which was enough to delay demolition.

With a planned construction project at Pineview, once again the Casper Historic Preservation Commission is hoping to save the building.

“There’s a conversation that it would be nice to have before it’s knocked down and it comes to light what a great building it was after it’s knocked down,” Dobos said. “There are so many great aspects to the building that make it special.”

A change in the focus of educating hearing-impaired students led to their integration into mainstream classrooms, which led to drastically declining attendance at specialty schools such as this one.

“We would really like to see the school repurposed and used in the community as a health clinic or a Montessori school. It really lends itself to that,” Dobos said.

The preservation commission believes that due to the building’s role in education of hearing-impaired students in Wyoming and its unique architecture, the building is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. “A lot of people don’t see mid-century architecture as historic, but the requirement for a building is 50 years old and this one is,” said Hillery Lindmier of the Casper Historic Preservation Commission.

“To the school district’s credit, it’s a weird situation. It’s not their responsibility to take care of it; it’s just a little murky which doesn’t make the issue any easier,” Lindmier said.

The school district has said that if funding is received for construction, they’ll proceed with their design, which calls for demolition of both buildings and rebuilding a new Pineview.

“Right now the Department of Education can neither support nor continue to maintain that building,” said Dennis Bay, Executive Director of Business Services for NCSD.

Currently, NCSD is hoping to receive funding for the project as part of the 2014 state budget.

The Pineview building has some mechanical systems in need of overhaul as well as significant parking problems. There’s no circular drive to drop off and pick up students, as the building sits nearly on the street.

“The school district has done a wonderful job engaging the community and is willing to listen to people. It’s important to acknowledge that there are other buildings that are an important part of a community’s history. People may say ‘We don’t care,’ but giving the people the option will help. If they wait until the bulldozers come, there will be another angry outcry of people saying ‘We didn’t know this was happening,’” Lindmier said. “Even just saving the rotunda would be great.”

“I want them to save it all. If they can’t afford it, they can sell it,” Dobos said.

 

 

 

I feel very strongly about this school building being saved.  This was my school for 7 years, the best 7 years of my life possibly.  The school has changed my life for the better.  It would be great to see the building saved as a historic building, and for the Library Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to continue their services in this building.  Teachers, parents, students, speech pathologists, etc. from all over the state use this library for materials and resource, with the librarian mailing out materials/resources frequently.  It's an absolutely fantastic source of materials and resources for anyone that are deaf/hoh or associated with the deaf/hoh.  It's also a very unique building, and it would certainly be a shame if it was demolished.

Got the CI tweaked!

Had my MAPping appointment today, and it went well!  Audie did the same test with my CI that she did when I was still in the OR, testing the nerve response.  She said each response looked beautiful and was very happy with it.  Then we got to making new MAPs.  P1 is the old program (60 IDR, HiRes-P), P2 is the new one (70 IDR, HiRes-P), and P3 is 70 IDR, HiRes-S.  This way I can experiment between HiRes P and S and see which one I like, and see how I tolerate the IDR 70.  So far I'm tolerating it, and have switched between P2 and P3 just for experiment's sake.  Tomorrow night's ASL Silent Dinner at On The Border should be a good place for me to experiment with the different programs, as well as the bowling alley this coming Saturday for deaf social and so on.  I didn't need more volume; been using the same volume level since October basically.  So now we can focus on trying different things, see which programming works best, that sort of thing.  She brought up all of the frequency levels a bit, and the very last one was brought up quite a bit as I was able to tolerate better today. 

My very good friend, who's been my interpreter for me in school from K-12, came as well.  She wanted to ask the audie a few questions, and I didn't mind her tagging along.  She was curious about the different programming strategies and that sort of thing too.

I can definitely say this.. P2 with HiRes-P, is loud.  P3 with HiRes-S is quieter, and audie brought up the volume levels for P3 too.  Thinking maybe she could have brought up the volume some more for P3, but that's ok.  That's what the volume dial is for.  Just have to remember to turn it down before switching back to P2!  Now let's make sure I'm not getting P1 and P3 mixed up on the Neptune... I always forget which slot is P1 and which is P3. P2 is obvious, as it's in the middle. But the other 2, I get them mixed up. Will have to look in the Neptune instructions book to make sure I have it right.


Also, last Friday was WYHI Day.  I went, and had a great time!  Usually WYHI is for deaf/hoh students in grades K-12, even preschoolers.  But plenty of adults still like to come too.  I really enjoyed myself, chatting with different people.  There was one person who came up to me and another interpreter (we were chatting, and she was asking if I knew who that person was and I said no), and I got t looking at him... Well, his face certainly is familiar, but his hair wasn't!  He was one of the coaches for the Wyoming team for the Deaf Academic Bowl in 2003 and 2004, and he was completely bald then.  I almost didn't recognize him with his hair.  But it was great chatting with him for a bit!  And my former school for the deaf teacher has told me to get to planning a reunion for our group from the deaf school days.  I've already been texting with one friend, asking if she'd help me plan it and recruit everyone.  I'm pretty excited with the reunion idea, and sure hope I hear back from everyone I've sent messages to.  So far I've only heard from one classmate.  Hopefully the others will chime in soon enough.  The friend that's helping, she'll contact her sister and brother, and another classmate, since they're all in Colorado, and will text yet another since I'm not sure how often he gets on facebook. It would be fun if we all could get together.

WSD Archive Website

All right! I managed to find a version of CuteSite Builder to use to make the Wyoming School for the Deaf Archives website. I started the website oh 2 or so years ago, and for a while I did actually focus on it and work on it. But since then, I've seriously have gotten sidetracked, it's not even funny! But now, I'm getting back on track. Afterall, I did pay for the web domain and for the hosting (which I'll have to renew this coming November I believe...). Anyway, now that I have the site builder, well it'll be smoother and easier on me. Doing a website in full fledged HTML is time consuming, and well, my HTML knowledge isn't as good as it used to be. And there's also the fact that webpage design seems to be changing constantly, with XHTML, flash, java scripting, CSS and all that jazz. Say what? Um... pft how about I just use a site builder? Yeah. And with 1 GB USB jump drives, I could possibly save the entire site on 1 (the current site is saved on a 256mb jump drive with no more room for additional files).

So the current website will definitely be renovated. I'll even play around with the Coppermine gallery and change the layout for it. I may even create a youtube account specifically for this website, as I do have a bunch of footage of random events in relation to the Wyoming School for the Deaf. I'll attempt getting in contact with those who have attended the School for the Deaf and see if they have anything they want to contribute (info, articles, photos, etc.) and go from there. As for news articles, I have plenty! I'll double-check with the current Star Tribune editor and make sure it's ok I use their articles. I'm sure it'll be no problem, as long as I credit the Tribune, which is easy. Any articles that are already on the Star Tribune website, I just link to those. Anything older, I publish onto the website with a link to trib.com since the Tribune is the source.

Now if I can just remember the plan I originally had for this website. Well... I'm not even sure where the original jump drive is. Oh that's not good, I better find it! All of the photos are on it. Hopefully it's been in my desk drawer all this time, but only time will tell.

WSD archive

The Wyoming School for the Deaf archive website has a new link! http://www.wyomingdeaf.com although it is still under MAJOR construction. Got a lot of work to do, but it'll be worth it.

let's save WSD!

There is still a good chance the Wyoming School for the Deaf building can be SAVED! The local school district are wanting to tear down good buildings for no good reason at all, except maybe to waste money. The WSD building is still in excellent shape, and is frequently used on a daily basis. There are plenty of office spaces and there is also the library and resource center for the deaf which is VERY well used not only locally, but throughout the entire state of Wyoming. The school district wants to tear down and rebuild Pineview Elementary, which is understandable as Pineview has been condemned. But there is absolutely no need for them to take down the Deaf School building too (which is conjoined to Pineview). If they tear down the WSD building, it'll probably be replaced with a parking lot. We can't let that happen! So let's take action against the School District and fight them to keep the building up.


You can send letters to
Casper Star Tribune
Letters Editor
170 Star Lane
Casper, WY 82609

or email your letters to the editor at: daniel.sandoval@trib.com

If you want to know more information about the situation, read the article that I wrote for the Casper Star Tribune: Deaf alumni saddened by school's fate


In June of 2007 during the WSD's 50th anniversary and reunion, it was the alumni's wish to have a small archives museum to be created in this building, as there would be historical meaning. If the archives museum is placed in another building (should the library/resource center be moved), there wouldn't be the historical connection. Let's achieve the alumni's dream!

Deaf alumni saddened by school's fate

Deaf alumni saddened by school's fate

By MEGHAN WATT
Star-Tribune staff writer
Note: Meghan Watt attended the Wyoming School for the Deaf from 1991 to 1998. She graduated from Kelly Walsh High School in 2004 and is a community news clerk for the Star-Tribune.

The Wyoming School for the Deaf building in Casper will be torn down as part of the Natrona County School District's plans to build a new elementary school to replace Pineview Elementary.

Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joe Simpson announced the news Thursday in Cheyenne. He told a small group of deaf community members "both buildings have lived out their life expectancy" and that a new school is necessary, as Pineview is beyond repairs. The Natrona County School District owns the land on which the School for the Deaf was built, and the district wants to use that space for the new school.

Some deaf alumni are upset or shocked over the plans, as the deaf school was important in their education and lives.

Kathleen Holmes, one of the first students of the deaf school, told the Star-Tribune in an e-mail message, "It's indeed sad that all the memories and the historical site of the Wyoming School for the Deaf will be wiped out when it's torn down! We held our 50th Anniversary Reunion at WSD last summer."

Catherine Burns of Casper, who also was a student, said, "I think Casper should not tear down the building because it represents us (the deaf students/community) and our memories. Every time I go to WSD, it brings me back to the old time to keep memories alive. Once it is down torn, people will think it never existed."

Josie Wedlock, a former student who now lives in Fort Collins, mentioned that she was shocked when she heard of the news. "I really don't want them to take down the school. I'm just hurt about this. This school meant a lot to me."

While the deaf school building will be torn down, the Services for the Visually Impaired and the Outreach for the Deaf Library will still be available at another location, Simpson said. An archive or a small museum will be added on to the library and resource center for those who want to share their memories.

The design of the original portion of the Wyoming School for the Deaf building is unique. Mark Bennett, a former school for the deaf student and a member of the Deaf Association of Wyoming expressed that he would like to see the new location for the library to have the same "roundness" that the deaf school has.

He also would like to see a meeting room of some sort within the new location, but that will depend on how much space is provided for the library and archive.

Before the School for the Deaf was built, deaf students were educated in temporary classrooms at Casper College and East Junior High. In 1959, a house across the street from Pineview Elementary was purchased and used as a school for the deaf. By 1961, the state legislature appropriated $250,000 so that a more permanent school for the deaf building could be built.

The deaf school was built adjacent to Pineview Elementary so deaf students could be integrated with hearing students whenever possible. It was on January 3, 1963, when the staff and students moved into the new building. The School for the Deaf was closed the summer of 2000, as only one student was enrolled and other deaf and hard of hearing students were mainstreamed into public schools with services.

The original building continued to be used as a library and resource center for the deaf since the closing.

Once the new elementary school has been built, a memorial bench, plaque or other type of recognition will be created and placed on the location where the deaf school building stood. Janine Cole, an outreach consultant for the Wyoming Department of Education's services for the deaf and hard of hearing, thinks it is important that a memorial is placed on the property to honor the School for the Deaf.

Simpson is encouraging the School for the Deaf alumni and the deaf community to get creative and share ideas of what the memorial should be as their ideas will be taken into consideration. The state will try to organize a committee for the alumni to discuss memorial ideas.

An archives Web site for the deaf school is in the works. Until then, Cole will see that a Web site is added to the State Department of Education's website. This site will be updated as information becomes available, and will include a way for people to express opinions about the demolition plans.

Casper Star-Tribune

article

Have most of the article written up, and the editor is happy with it so far too (took me a couple of hours before I could actually start writing though, as I was stuck). Am awaiting more responses via email about the deaf school being torn down. One says it's sad they're tearing down the building, and another was angry and wants to protest. I myself am not happy, not exactly ANGRY but not haooy either. But I can understand the school district wanting their land back. Hopefully I'll have more responses by tomorrow so I can use some of them in the article, just so the community knows how the deaf community or alumni feel about this situation. That school was extremely important to a lot of us, we all have memories in that building, the school was a big part in making us out to be who we are today.

I've also gotten the guestbook up on my WSD website so visitors can leave comments about the school being torn down. But the rest of the website is not up, and probably won't be for who knows how long. The website is http://wyodeaf.5gbfree.com for anyone that may be interested.

Tearing it down...

Well... my friend Jo and I drove down to Cheyenne to attend a state
department of education meeting about Pineview Elementary and the
Wyoming School for the Deaf buildings being torn down. This is not the
state's doing, but rather, Natrona County School District's. It is the
school district that wants to demolish the buildings, and build a new
elementary school to replace the old Pineview. The State of Wyoming owns
the school for the deaf building, but the district owns the land on
which the building is. And since Pineview is so old, they want to
replace it with a new and upgraded building. So now, where is the
library and resource center going to move to? No one knows yet. All I
can say is, I'm not happy the deaf school is going to be demolished. But
what can we do, really?

It is thanks to that deaf school that I am where I am. If it hadn't been
for that school and for the staff that worked there, I wouldn't be who I
am today. The deaf school has been the best thing that's ever happened
to me. It was where I started talking again with my voice, and learning
sign language and all. They improved my speech, taught me how to
socialize with others, how to care for my hearing aids the properly way
and of how to be a self advocate. It was also the teachers at the deaf
school who really made sure I understood English, and of how to use
proper language and grammer skills. Most deaf people's English skills
are not as well developed, but of course it varies from person to
person. I was the only one in that group of same-grade deaf students who
was able to do school work at the normal grade level, instead of being
behind. I even did advanced math in 6th grade, and got started on 6th
grade English while I was still finishing the 5th grade year. The
teachers have really worked hard with me. Yes, they worked just as hard
with the other students. Perhaps I just did better because I had heard
language the first couple of years of my life before going deaf, and
that worked to my advantage. I don't know.

I will definitely be sad when the building is torn down for good. But it
is nice to know the school district is willing to place a memorial of
some sort, like a bench or a plaque, as evidence that a school for the
deaf did exist in that location.

I better get going on that website, huh. Yeah. I very slowly started to
work on a website for the Wyoming School for the Deaf in June. An
archives website, with a news archive of news articles of the school, a
photo gallery, a comments area for people to share comments or memories,
etc. Just only this month I figured out how to work the gallery, but I
can't even access it right now as there are new owners for the website
host (5gbfree.com) and there's a lot of issues. Hopefully those issues
will be resolved soon or I'll have to find another host. But I do
definitely need to get going with the site. There are tons of old
articles I need to type up (the more recent ones, I'll just use the Star
Tribune site links, I have gotten permission from the editor to use the
articles for the site, and we agreed the more recent ones I'll just link
to, while the more older ones I'll post myself).

Wow, 11:03. I should get some sleep, afterall it is WYHI day tomorrow.
Wow, hard to believe WYHI has bee going on for 25 years.. Wow.
--Meghan

articles

Oh look at all of these articles! Wow. Late 1980s, very early 1990's... Sure I already had a lot of deaf school newspaper articles from '91 and '92 thanks to my grandmother. She saved a bunch of the articles and even letters to the editor and political cartoons and such, and put them into a scrapbook for me. All the stuff from when they tried to close the Wyoming School for the Deaf in the early 90's. Well, in this binder, there's a whole bunch more. Jo let me borrow it like last year or so, so I could make copies of what I didn't have in my scrapbook. I was going to hand-type every article and letter I had in my scrapbook for the website (hey, it's history!), and now, here's tons more to add to the website. I'm definitely going to be quite busy with this project. But it's something I'm serious about, something I want to do.

It's a shame that the state has tried to get rid of "evidence" of what happened at the deaf school. There used to be a bunch more stuff that were saved at the deaf school. But the state either gave away a bunch of stuff, or just tossed them out. Apparently the deaf school isn't that important to the state. Sure, the school building may no longer serve as a school for the deaf, but come on. All this stuff that were tossed out, they were important stuff! Documents, pictures and videos of whatever happened at the deaf school. It's like as if the state is trying to erase the deaf school's history, but that will never happen. Once I get all the copies/scans I want from this binder, I'll return it to Jo and she'll put it away in a safe place. There's 50th years worth of history at the School for the Deaf, so I'm going to try to get as much as I possibly can onto the website. Makes me glad there is a free website host server that provides 5 GBs worth of webspace. Most other hosts don't provide much, considering how much stuff I have here.

website frustrations

Well, what do you know! I found a new webspace host back in June for the Wyoming School for the Deaf website. I used to have a website called "Deaf Wyoming" which also included information and stuff for WSD. Well, that old website was basically deleted due to lack of update for months, so I decided I wanted to make a whole new one. And hopefully this new one will be better than the old one as well.

Anyway, since June, I have been struggling with the Coppermine photo gallery for the website. I've followed the instructions and everything, but every time I tried to upload a photo, it just did not work. Well, last night, it worked! I was shocked a thumbnail was actually created and everything. The downside to this is, I have to upload every single photo all over again. I had managed to get all of my photos uploaded to the webspace, since on Coppermine there is an option to "batch add files". When I try to batch add files, well of course, thumbnails cannot be made. Why, I don't know. So I have to upload each individual photo, and that is going to take some time.

But, at least I finally have the gallery going. I'm still working on it, uploading photos. And as for the actual website, well, I'm still working out a layout for that. I still have the Deaf Wyoming website saved on a disk, so I'm using those files and completely redoing everything. Hopefully there will be more information, history and news articles this time. This year marked the 50th anniversary since the Wyoming School for the Deaf was started, so of course, there is a lot of history and news. A lot of the history, I just only recently learned in June when I attended the reunion.


And in other news... I did download the cochlear implant surgical procedure from the OR-Live.com podcast on iTunes (it's available for download for FREE) a while back. After the last visit with Jo, I told her I would try to put the hour long video onto a CD for the library. So yesterday, I was able to burn the entire thing onto a single disc. Stopped by the deaf school library and gave the disc to Jo. She tested it out on her computer, to see if it would work (you'd need to have the latest version of Quicktime for this file to work, since it's m4v format). She had to upgrade her Quicktime, but she got it working. She started watching it, but it was just too quiet and she couldn't really hear anything. But she's happy to have a copy for the library. It's for educational purposes, so why shouldn't there be a copy for the library?

my first article for the Star Tribune

Deaf alumni share memories at weekend reunion
Editor's note: Star-Tribune community news desk clerk Meghan Watt attended Wyoming School for the Deaf from 1991 to 1998, and says if it weren't for this school, she wouldn't be who she is today. She attended the school's reunion this weekend in Casper and wrote this report.

It has been 50 years since the Wyoming School for the Deaf started, and former students and staff decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary by having a reunion. The reunion started on Friday in the gym at the Wyoming School for the Deaf building, with everyone socializing for the majority of the day. More than 50 participants arrived, and stories and memories were shared of the days spent at the school.

The reunion continued on Saturday with even more socializing. There was also a “Guess Who” photo contest, where everyone would look at old photographs and guess who was who. Money was given as prizes to those who guessed the most correctly. In the evening, a banquet was held in the School for the Deaf gym, in which speeches were made and a deaf mime Billy Carwile did skits in between presenters. Some of the presenters included Kathleen Holmes, the coordinator for the reunion, Thelma Holmes, a mother of two deaf kids and Mary Mayes, a retired teacher of the deaf. Everyone who attended were anxious to see former principal of many years, Norm Anderson. He was unable to make it, but did write a speech, and a former student was able to make the speech for Mr. Anderson. At the end, old films of the days at the School were shown.

Sunday was such a warm and beautiful day that a picnic was held outside at Huber Park. AEveryone enjoyed burgers and hot-dogs for lunch. Group photos were taken, and addresses and numbers were exchanged with promises of staying in contact with one another. In a way, everyone who attended the School for the Deaf throughout the 50 years is part of the “family." It didn't matter how old one was or when someone graduated, he or she is part of the family anyway.

The last reunion was held 25 years ago. This year, the reunion committee decided that a reunion should be held every five years. With the participants' opinions and votes, the next Wyoming School for the Deaf reunion will be held in July of 2012 in Cody. The committee will stay in contact with one another via emails and video phone as they plan for the next reunion.

Before the school started, former students said, many parents wanted to keep their deaf children close to home instead of sending them to an out-of-state school for the deaf. These parents banded together and decided they would do what they could so that their deaf children received the education they needed. A program for the deaf started in the fall of 1957 with two pilot classes, one in Sheridan, and one in Casper. The next year, the Sheridan class joined the Casper class, with another class added on at the new East Junior High School. By the third year, a group of Casper businessmen purchased a house across from Pineview Elementary and rented it to the state. Classes were held in this house for three years. In 1961, the legislature appropriated $250,000 so that a new school building could be built adjacent to Pineview school so that the deaf students could be integrated with hearing students whenever possible. On January 3, 1963, the staff and students moved into the new Wyoming School for the Deaf building and deaf education continued.

The Wyoming School for the Deaf was an oral school at first, school historians said. Deaf students were taught how to speak and to lip-read. Sign language wasn't accepted in those days, and many thought the students would be better off learning how to speak. Since these students were constantly being taught how to speak, one teacher, Rod Laird, did everything he could to keep students motivated.

Since speech training was so constant, tiring and boring, Mr. Laird made his classes fun and interactive by taking students on field trips and doing various experiments and activities. This kept the students motivated and taught them that learning can be fun.

By the late 1980s, total communication was adopted by the school, in which students would continue speech training and also learn and use sign language at the same time. Signing Exact English (SEE) was the sign language that was used. SEE is strictly based on the English language, and ASL is not.

The Wyoming School for the Deaf remained open until 2000. By 2000, there were very few deaf students left at the school, and the State of Wyoming felt like the School for the Deaf was no longer necessary. Currently, part of the School for the Deaf building is used as a library and resource center. Many of the former students and staff expressed disappointment over the building not being used as a school for deaf children. Most feel like deaf children would do better if they could attend the local School for the Deaf.

This reunion was a pretty special weekend for the participants. A great time was had by all, and they all left with wonderful memories. Most hadn't seen one another for many years and were really glad to come and see everyone.

Mary Mayes enjoyed teaching these former students, and she mentioned that being at the reunion made her teaching career worthwhile after seeing how well many of the students had turned out.

deaf school's 50th reunion

Well today was interesting. Got up close to 10:30, got ready, and mom and I left for the deaf school. We registered, and immediately my mom was feeling lost. So she went to the deaf school library to visit with Jo while I stayed at the gym to visit with.... people I didn't know of. I only knew very few that showed up, most of them I had never met in my entire life. But it was just fun and interesting. Fun to watch everyone interact with one another and such. After a while I went to the library and bugged Mom and Jo. Mom left to get her cell phone, and ended up going to lunch with Rob. Turns out they weren't serving lunch at the reunion (and looking at the schedule, you would think they were!). So then mom came and took me home, then went to the flower shop to help with the flowers for Craig Thomas' funeral. I had some lunch, let the LinCare guy in to take away the oxygen machines and whatnot.

Then went back to deaf school to the library, to find Jo and a woman, looking up phone numbers and what not. Turns out Jo was talking to someone at the Casper Star Tribune about doing an article about the reunion.... Well, with it being Thomas' funeral tomorrow, and since it was such an incredibly short notice as well, they weren't sure if they would be able to send a reporter out to interview and such... So I actually jumped in and told Jo that I could possibly do it. So I pulled out my Sidekick, and sent Sallyann an email. Sally forwarded my email on to Barbara (this was who Jo talked to on the phone), and Barbara replied, saying it would be great if I could do the article. So she gave me a list of what the article should include, and that they want to publish it into Monday's papers.

By this time, I was excited about having been given the opportunity to do a report. Makes more sense to let a deaf reporter do the report about the deaf school reunion.... That way, the reporter can get the quotes directly without interpreters getting in the way, and have a better understanding of why this or that was said... There was 1 thing Barbara wanted me to mention for the article, and at first I couldn't make sense of it. So I shared it with Jo, and she was able to explain it to me. Are deaf school reunions different and more special than hearing school reunions? I had no clue, but after talking to Jo, it makes sense now. Yes, they are different, and the deaf school reunions are also more special too, in a way. I'll have to see how I can word it in the article so that it makes sense for the readers.

So now I had my own pad of paper (Jo gave me one to use) and started taking some notes. I haven't done any interviewing today, but I have tomorrow and Sunday to interview random people about their experiences at the deaf school, why they went to WSD and how that experience has helped with their lives, or something like that. I'll even interview former teachers as well, since some of them did come. And more people are expected to arrive tomorrow (some couldn't make it today cause of it being last day of school and all).

I'm really excited! Got to talk to people I never met before (ok, signed with), saw some that I hadn't seen in a LONG while (like oh.. E.B.).... yeah, it was great! I loved it today, I really did.

I'm anxious for tomorrow now. Megan C. should be there, and Josie as well.... Ooo! And if Janine and Mrs. Ratcliff are there, GREAT! I'll be able to share my reporting news with them. I know they'll be really happy. I mean, Janine and Jo both worked so hard to teach me English.... Out of all of my classmates (those that were in the same grade as I was)... I was the only deaf student to be at normal or advance level, the others were behind (even those that was 1 grade ahead). I mean, I remember starting on 6th grade english the last month or 2 of fifth grade, and it was Jo that tutored me. They both really did everything they could to make sure I learned and understood. So I know Janine will be really pleased to hear that I'm doing my very first newspaper report. I've been with the Star Tribune for 6 years, and finally I have that opportunity to do a report!

So on Sunday, I'll probably leave the reunion a bit early (everything should end by 4ish) and head out to the Star Tribune to write the story, so that they can run it in Monday's paper. And hopefully Barbara will be there too, just so I can bug her if I had questions about whatever. This is my FIRST article for the newspaper, EVER. It's a pretty big deal to me. And I want it to be as perfect as possible.

hoping he comes

With the deaf school reunion in June... I contacted a deaf friend of mine on Myspace and asked him if he knew of it. He didn't, so I emailed him the information. Hopefully he'll be able to make it. It'll be really nice to see him again. I haven't seen him since he came to town to visit his brother, and that was years ago. Might've been when I was in middle school. We used to be really good friends at the deaf school, so yeah. I really do hope he can make it. It's always nice seeing old friends again.