Whooo hoooo! One of my best friends, Donna (Smith) Farris, donated $100!
Donna attended four different Deaf schools in the southeast: Georgia SD, Florida SD, Kentucky SD, and North Carolina SD. Indeed, she is a Deaf alumnus of four Deaf schools! She is a full bilingual speaking ASL and written English since she was a baby. She has an older Deaf brother and an younger Deaf brother.
You can see the picture of a younger Donna with ponytails sitting in front of the Primary Building (PB) at GSD along with her classmates. Also seen in this picture (taken in 1976) is a Deaf teacher, Mrs. Kathleen (formerly Cantrell) Seltzer, who was the only Deaf teacher at that time in the primary department at GSD during the 1970s! Back then it was mistakenly thought that having Deaf teachers who could not speak so-called model English in the early childhood and elementary classrooms would hinder Deaf students from learning anything. It is actually the opposite! It’s not only the best to teach in ASL to all students, both Deaf and hearing (the younger, the better!) but also that Deaf adults provide excellent role models for the children too. Becoming bilingual and multilingual with a native ASL-speaking teacher who serves as a role model is a big plus!
Thank you very much, Donna! ILYLASBFF ♥️
(L. to R.) front row: William Eaves, Donna (Smith) Farris, and Chris Creed; back row: Wayne Allen, Mickey Shirey and Mrs. Kathleen (formerly Cantrell) Seltzer
10 percent from all purchased ASL Rose products (www.aslrose.com/shop) will go to the National Deaf Schools Museum, and we also welcome ANY amount of donation toward the purchasing of the Primary Building (or PB for short).
Please help make a dream come true in purchasing and turning the PB into three divisions: the future National Deaf Schools Museum, a new home for GSD Museum, and also a new home for ASL Rose: https://www.facebook.com/
