The Boston Globe’s website boston.com recently featured CPSO’s Kathy Vesey in its story, “Parents get help reading to deaf children.”  Kathy is the Northeast Region Director of Gallaudet University’s Regional Centers (GURC).

An excerpt of the story:

Caleb Chris Ballentine reads to his son, Caleb, a participant in Shared Reading Saturdays, as Stephanie Lee of Verizon (left) and Kathy Vesey of Gallaudet look on. (Photo courtesy boston.com).

HELPING KIDS TO READ: One Saturday morning a month, families gather at Northern Essex Community College in Lawrence for workshops in which parents learn to read storybooks in American Sign Language to their deaf and hearing-impaired children.

Shared Reading Saturdays, a partnership between the college and Gallaudet University, is designed to encourage literacy. The Verizon Foundation recently donated $10,000 to the program.

“Since the majority of deaf children have parents who are hearing, families are challenged to find new ways to communicate with one another,’’ said Stephanie Lee, regional director of public affairs for Verizon. “The Shared Reading program gives families the tools to engage their deaf children in reading at an early age in a fun, interactive group setting.’’

To read the full story, visit boston.com here.  To learn more about the Gallaudet University Regional Centers, visit this page.

To read the full story, visit boston.com here.  To learn more about the Gallaudet University Regional Centers, visit here.

Get ready for team registration for the 2010 Gallaudet University Academic Bowl.

View Countdown Now

Here is what to expect on 10/27/09 for team registration. The Academic Bowl home page (the page you are viewing now) will list the links that will allow teams from all over the United States to register for the Academic Bowl. This will take place on October 27, 2009 during the following times:

4 pm (Eastern); 3 pm (Central); 2 pm (Mountain); 1 pm (Pacific); 12 pm (Alaska); 10 am (Hawaii); 6 am (Guam)

Click on the link for your region and complete the online form.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Please make sure you click on the correct link for your school’s region.

The first 16 teams that register for each region will be selected. Any team that registers in the wrong region will be rejected and the team who registered correctly after any rejected team will be selected.

When you click on the link, an automated form will appear on the web page. If you do not see the form, please be patient. Due to high web traffic during registration, the form may take a few seconds to load. Thank you for your patience.

West Region Registration
For schools in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Midwest Region Registration
For schools in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin

Southeast Region Registration
For schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Northeast Region Registration
For schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont

Mid-Atlantic Region Registration
For schools in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

Additional Registration Information

After you complete the registration form and click on the Submit button, you will see a Thank You for Registering page on your computer screen. This means your registration was successfully sent to us.

What do you do next? Nothing. Please be patient and wait to hear from us if your team has been selected.

If you have any questions during the registration process, contact Sherry Duhon at:

AIM: sbduhon

Email:: sherry.duhon@gallaudet.edu

Academic Bowl 2010 Regional Host Sites Announced

Midwest:
Location/Host: Oklahoma School for the Deaf Sulphur, Oklahoma
Dates: February 4 – 8 , 2010

West:
Location/Host: Utah ( site will be announced )
Dates: February 18-21, 2010

MidAtlantic/At Large:
Location/Host: New Jersey School for the Deaf Trenton, New Jersey
Dates: March 18-20, 2010

Northeast:
Location: Old Rochester Regional High School Mattapoisett, MA
Dates: March 25 – 28, 2010
Host: READS Collaborative Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Southeast: TBA

Academic Bowl 2010 Nationals Announced

The 2010 Academic Bowl national championship will take place at Gallaudet University April 24-27, 2010.

Visit ab.gallaudet.edu for more information on the Academic Bowl.

Battle of the Scholarly Sixteen: Teams Announced to Vie for 2009 Gallaudet University Academic Bowl Championship

PRESS RELEASE (APRIL 13, 2009) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gallaudet University is set to host the 13th annual National Academic Bowl competition, to be held April 25-28, 2008, on Gallaudet’s campus in Washington, D.C. Sixteen teams of deaf and hard of hearing students from across the United States will be arriving on Gallaudet’s Kendall Green campus on Saturday, April 25th. The first Academic Bowl match will take place on Sunday, April 26th, at 8:00 a.m. EDT.

This year’s national finalists include:

Southeast Region
White Station High School (Memphis, Tennessee)
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (St. Augustine, Florida)
South Plantation High School (Plantation, Florida)

Midwest Region
Indiana School for the Deaf (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Minnesota North Star Academy (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Michigan School for the Deaf (Flint, Michigan)

West Region
California School for the Deaf (Fremont, California)
Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
University High School (Irvine, California)

Mid-Atlantic/At-Large Region
Maryland School for the Deaf (Frederick, Maryland)
W.T. Woodson High School (Fairfax, Virginia)
Monroe #1 BOCES (Rochester, New York)

Northeast Region
New York State School for the Deaf (Rome, New York)
EDCO at Newton North High School (Newtonville, Massachusetts)
Rochester School for the Deaf (Rochester, New York)

New this year is the introduction of one wild card team selected to attend the nationals by winning a sudden-death 20-question quiz competition. The wild card team that will be competing at nationals is the Learning Center School for the Deaf of Framingham, Massachusetts.

Over the course of two days, each team will compete to reach the national final match, which takes place on Monday, April 27th, at 8:15 p.m. EDT. The awards ceremony will take place immediately following the championship match.

This year’s national competition will be webcast live by Gallaudet University’s media services department, beginning with the third-place match on Monday, April 27th, at 7:15 p.m. EDT. Be sure to check out all of the action on the web; bookmark the official live webcast page at ablive.gallaudet.edu.

For more information about the championship, visit the official Academic Bowl website at ab.gallaudet.edu.

About the Gallaudet University Academic Bowl

Gallaudet University established the Academic Bowl for Deaf and Hard of Hearing High School Students in 1997, with the goal of promoting academic competition among school teams. Quiz tournaments, in which teams of high school students compete against each other in local, regional, and national events, have gained wide popularity among high schools and colleges throughout the country.

At each regional Academic Bowl, teams compete against each other in answering questions on a wide variety of subjects. The first and second place winners from each of the five regions compete in the National Academic Bowl at Gallaudet University in late April.

Beginning with the 2007-2008 competition year, the Academic Bowl program is administered through the Gallaudet University College of Professional Studies and Outreach (CPSO). To learn more about CPSO, please visit us online at cpso.gallaudet.edu.

About Gallaudet University

Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English. Gallaudet prepares its graduates for career opportunities in a highly competitive, technological, and rapidly changing world. Visit Gallaudet online at gallaudet.edu.

A message from College of Professional Studies and Outreach (CPSO) interim dean Joseph J. Innes:

With a broad array of academic and enrichment programs that include challenging courses for graduate or professional studies credit, leadership development, and youth programs, the College of Professional Studies and Outreach (CPSO) at Gallaudet University has something for everyone.

Located in the heart of our nation’s capital city, the University is just a few city blocks from the U.S. Capitol and some of the world’s finest museums. Gallaudet is a special place with over a century of experience providing education and enrichment programs to deaf people and individuals interested in working in deaf-owned or deaf-centric corporations, agencies, and organizations.

As you pursue your personal and/or professional goals, you will also be able to immerse yourself in the tremendous range of cultural diversity and diversity of thought that permeates our environment. In CPSO, we design and offer programs that are intended to have an impact and can be life-changing, programs that are challenging and engaging, and which are offered in a variety of formats including face-to-face, online, experiential, and hybrid. Join us in Summer 2009.

We look forward to meeting you and welcoming you to our community. Once you’ve been here, we are confident you will agree that Gallaudet is a special place with talented and caring faculty and staff who are ready to serve you.

Visit Summer at Gallaudet now!

Coming in April 2009, Gallaudet University and Flagler College of St. Augustine, Florida, are sponsoring Project Management for Beginners, a 3-credit course presented in hybrid format of face-to-face and online. The initial face-to-face classroom work will occur on April 27-29, 2009, at Flagler College.

To learn more about this offering, click here.

A Day at Gallaudet, a full day of theater-related events to be held March 7, is designed for deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing children of kindergarten through high school age. The day will include workshops lead by Quest artists and affiliates, a lunch with members of the Gallaudet community, a campus tour, and a performance. The event is sponsored in part by CPSO.

To learn more about this event, visit the Gallaudet University story here.

The 13th annual Gallaudet University Academic Bowl, which is coordinated by CPSO, announces its first regional competition in February 2009. Deaf and hard of hearing students from across the

Official Academic Bowl logo

United States will be vying for a chance to compete at the nationals in April 2009.

The first regional competition takes place starting February 12, 2009, at California School for the Deaf in Fremont.

For more information about the Academic Bowl, click here.

The week of September 30-October 3 brought together CPSO’s Regional & National Outreach (RNO) team for their annual fall meeting here at Gallaudet University.

The team consists of RNO director Janne Harrelson and 6 GURC directors, Judy Coryell (Hawai’i and Pacific region), Pam Snedigar (West region), Kim Krebs (Midwest region), Kathy Vesey (Northeast region),   Lisa Jacobs (Mid-Atlantic region), and Steve Larew (Southeast region).  Jean Bergey, project director for History Through Deaf Eyes is also a member of the RNO team.

The GURC directors had a very full agenda throughout the week, and met with numerous people on campus.  Topics included offering and marketing extension courses, recruitment efforts, updated Clerc Center training initiatives, GURC program review, outreach work with Quest: Arts for Everyone, Gallaudet’s pending articulation agreements with community colleges, and documentation and reporting, among many others.  The week coincided with the Board of Trustees meetings to give the out-of-town directors an opportunity to attend the open Board sessions, and interact with board  members during the dedication and opening ceremony of the James Lee Sorenson Language and Communication Center.

The RNO team also had the opportunity to attend a luncheon hosted by CPSO in collaboration with the First Year Experience (FYE) office to honor Academic Bowl participants who are currently Gallaudet freshmen.  The regional directors enjoyed seeing the students again and talking with them about how they are doing at Gallaudet.  To learn more about this event, click here.

Another highlight of the week was for the GURC directors to ‘watch’ together the online registration for the regional Academic Bowls coming up this year.  It was exciting to see how quickly registration filled up for many regions; the first region filled up in only a couple of minutes!

To view photos of the GURC annual meeting, click here.

In the coming months, CPSO will be posting “Get to Know” profiles of the various GURC directors on the CPSO blog.  Stay tuned!  To learn more about Gallaudet Regional Centers, visit the official website here.

Thanks to CPSO staffer Peck Choo-Kim for taking the photos.

The College of Professional Studies and Outreach at Gallaudet University announces its Spring 2009 catalog of online and professional studies courses.

Professional Studies courses and certificate programs are offered in a variety of formats to students from all over the world. From traditional classroom settings to online or onsite instruction, these courses cover topics designed to meet your professional training needs or to provide you with general education opportunities.

Most courses carry university credit. Some offer regular graduate or undergraduate credit, while others offer professional studies, or non-degree, credit. Many courses offer a choice of credit type. While professional studies credit do not apply to degree programs at Gallaudet University, they may be transferable to other universities and will often satisfy requirements for certification and employment. In addition, some PST courses lead to a professional certificate.

Spring 2009 classes are being offered in the following categories: American Sign Language (ASL), Computer Applications, Education, Eye Movement Integration, Genetics, Interpreter Training, Language and Culture, Leadership, Peer Mentor Training, Social Work, Test Preparation, Tutorial and Instructional Programs, and Writing.

For more information, and to register for a course, visit us online at cpso.gallaudet.edu/spring.xml.

Team registration for the 2009 Academic Bowl, which took place on October 2, recorded almost 100 schools from across the United States.

The deadline to register your school is October 17, 2008.  For more information, please go to the official Academic Bowl website.

Photo by Peck Choo-Kim

On October 1, 2008, over 20 former Academic Bowl participants from across the U.S. enjoyed an Italian lunch at Old Jim with CPSO staffers.  The participants, who now attend Gallaudet as first-year students, talked about their Academic Bowl experiences and answered trivia questions presented by Sherry Duhon, CPSO staffer and Academic Bowl coordinator.

To view photos of the day’s event, click here.

Thanks to CPSO staffer Peck Choo-Kim for taking the photos.

The latest news about registering for the 2009 Academic Bowl is now on the official Academic Bowl website. To avoid confusion, all previous posts have been removed.  We apologize for any confusion.

To learn more about registering your school for the competition on October 2 at 4:00 pm Eastern time, please click here.

This December, CPSO has a full line-up of fun-filled activities for deaf senior citizens.  Our activities include Christmas in Middleburg, Virginia, on December 6, 2008, and a tour to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, on December 18.

Middleburg, Virginia celebrates Christmas each year with festive decorations. Middleburg is a small town that retains its 18th century charm.

Celebrate the holiday season at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Colorful water fountains await you.

For more information about these exciting adventures, please visit CPSO’s Senior Citizen page here.

You can also contact Enrichment Programs coordinator Wendy Wiatrowski by email or Sorenson VP at 202-651-7028.

CPSO Dean Dr. Joseph “Jay” Innes recently announced the newest member of the CPSO team:

Lisa Jacobs

“I am very pleased to welcome the newest member of the CPSO team:  Lisa Jacobs is joining us as Manager, GURC Mid-Atlantic Region & Outreach Development.  She will be working directly with Janne Harrelson, director of Regional & National Outreach, and the other Gallaudet University Regional Center (GURC) directors and staff around the country, focusing her efforts primarily on the mid-Atlantic region.

Lisa brings with her a wealth of experience to CPSO and to the GURCs. Most recently, she was the coordinator for national training, and before that, an outreach specialist, at the Clerc Center where she worked closely with the GURCs.  She coordinated the train-the-trainer program and developed systems for recruiting a cadre of well-qualified trainers for national mission initiatives.  Lisa is also an exceptional trainer herself, conducting workshops on issues related to literacy for deaf and hard of hearing students as well as sexuality education, teaming with our own Dr. Asiah Mason.

Earlier in her career, Lisa taught ASL and Communication at Gallaudet University, served as an educational planner and taught in the Communication Department at MSSD. Lisa was co-coordinator of the Gallaudet University Graduate School’s Language and Cultural Colloquium for several summers.  She has also served as an educational consultant with Dawn Sign Press and Educational Testing Services.

Lisa has been active with the Deaflympics over the years, and also worked in India, teaching deaf children and helping provide leadership development to deaf adults.  She graduated with a MA degree in Education from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) and earned her BA degree in English from Gallaudet University.

Lisa began her duties at CPSO on September 2, 2008.  Her office will be in the Kellogg Conference Hotel, 3rd floor.  Please join me in extending a warm CPSO welcome to Lisa Jacobs.”

Each year for the past twenty-eight years, The Mainstream Center has hosted an annual fall conference to help educators and parents understand the nature of hearing loss and how they can be more successful in their work with their children. This two-day conference is designed to provide information on hearing loss and how to maximize success for students, parents and professionals in mainstream settings. Experts on hearing loss from around the country have been invited to share their knowledge and experience throughout the two days.

Kathy Vesey of Gallaudet University Regional Center’s Northeast Region will attend the conference along with other Gallaudet representatives.  To learn more about the conference, click here.

This past summer, CPSO staffers handled the logistics and planning to bring the Discovery Program to campus.  The program was a success and Inside Gallaudet has posted an interesting article about the program.  Here is an excerpt of the article:

One of Personal Discovery’s Many Friends Lends A Hand

The giant oak tree on the hill beside Washburn Arts Building provided years of solid support for many of the Personal Discovery Program’s structures. When it died last year, Discovery needed to have the tree removed and replaced with something that would give the same degree of safety to the many groups who use the facilities for team- and confidence-building exercises.

To read the entire article, go to the Inside Gallaudet article here.

Weaving Common Threads and Diversity among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adolescents conference will be held October 5-8 at the Crowne Plaza Clayton in St. Louis, MO. The deadline for regular registration is September 15. The deadline for receiving conference rates at the Crowne Plaza Hotel is Friday September 5. Registration and hotel forms may be found at www.flagler.edu/about_f/gallaudet.html

The conference will open on Sunday evening with a keynote presentation by Dr. Laurene Simms from Gallaudet University and a welcome reception. The conference will include a plenary session featuring recent high school graduates answering and discussing their time in high school. The students will share information about what was beneficial for them and their overall high school experience. There will also be 25 concurrent workshops offered in areas of education, diversity, transition and mental health/mutliple disabilities. Dr. Steve Weiner, Provost of Gallaudet University, will be the speaker at the Tuesday night banquet.

CEUs are will be available from NBCC, NASW, RID, and MICS. An individual may be able to earn 17 hours of CEUs if they attend a full schedule of workshops.

If you have questions about the conference, please contact us at 904-829-2424 VP or email SLarew@flagler.edu.

The Gallaudet University Regional Centers (GURCs), a unit of CPSO, offer extension courses, training workshops, and technical assistance to address the educational, transition, and professional development needs of deaf and hard of hearing people from birth through adulthood. Families and professionals also benefit.

To learn more about the various regional centers located across the United States, visit the CPSO GURC page here.

See our map of various regional centers across the United States.

Attached is a link to the summer newsletter for Billington Library at Johnson County Community College (JCCC), Overland Park, Kan. It includes an article entitled “Cooperation has its rewards” that reports on the Gallaudet University Regional Center’s (GURC) regular partnership with the library, donating books on deaf culture, ASL, and related content over the years. JCCC has created a special bookplate in honor of these donations. GURC Director Kim Krebs is quoted in the article.