National Association of the Deaf

[NOTE: SEE VIDEO DESCRIPTION AND TRANSCRIPT BELOW]

During the 2012 NAD Conference last summer, the NAD unveiled a new program which has been tentatively named the NAD Youth Ambassador Program (NYAP). At the 40th anniversary of the Miss Deaf America Competition, we bid our farewells to the pageant for young women. As the last Miss Deaf America Ambassador, Chanel Gleicher is still performing her duties until the next NAD Conference. We are all very excited to get started with the new program!  In this video, Alim Chandani and Renca Dunn invite YOU to join their committee as they plan the new competition.  

The new program format will showcase young deaf and hard of hearing female and male Americans who vie to become the NAD ambassadors. The new program will be a competition for all deaf and hard of hearing youth, between the ages of 18 to 30, currently residing in the United States. Contestants will compete against each other through five rounds, prior to and during the NAD Conference. Two selected youth ambassadors will work with the NAD to implement a strategic plan that addresses a social issue identified by the contestants during the competition. Moreover, the ambassadors will represent the NAD at various presentations, workshops, the Youth Leadership Camp (YLC), and other events within the deaf community. The new competition will debut at the 2014 NAD Conference in Atlanta, Georgia!

Submit your interests to yp2013@nad.org.  

www.nad.org

VIDEO DESCRIPTION AND TRANSCRIPT:

On a royal blue background, the NAD logo in brighter blue appears, with the words "NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF" in white and "www.nad.org" in yellow, over the logo.  After three seconds, video fades to a space-like background, with bright camera-lens transitions, words appear, "Got creativity?" "Got ideas?" "Want to get INVOLVED?" "Then, this is the right place!" Video quickly fades out and zooms to two people laughing as they walk in frame.

Alim Chandani, wears a funny wintery hat and Renca Dunn, wears sunglasses.  

ALIM CHANDANI: That was so funny.

RENCA DUNN: Yes!

Alim looks to the camera and is taken aback.  Renca does the same.

RENCA: Hey, is the camera on?

ALIM: Yes, I think so!

RENCA:  Oops!

Alim removes his hat and Renca takes off her sunglasses.  Both straighten up to look more professional on camera.

ALIM: Hello, my name is Alim. I am the director of the Youth Ambassador Program Competition that will be hosted at the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in July 2014.  The competition will happen there!

RENCA: My name is Renca and I am the assistant director.  Do you remember at the 2012 NAD Conference in Kentucky, the NAD explained that the Miss Deaf America Ambassador program will no longer continue, but a new program, the Youth Ambassador Program, will begin.  This new program will welcome both males and females to compete for the ambassador titles. More information will be coming soon!

ALIM:  I would like to notify you that the name  "Youth Ambassador Program" will be changed. The new name will be announced soon.  Now since there is a new competition, we need a new team!  We are looking for people who are energetic, have a positive attitude, and have creativity to be part of the team!  

Video fades to black and words fly in and appear, one after the other. "Judge/Evaluation Coordinator," "Stage Tech Coordinator," "Logistics/Hospitality Coordinator," "Public Relations Coordinator," and "Budget/Sponsorship Coordinator."  Video dissolves back to Alim and Renca.

ALIM: When all the positions are filled, we will work together towards the competition at the NAD conference.

RENCA: Yes, now, if you are interested in one of these positions, email us. Please email us with the following two requirements.  The first one is to email us which position you want and why. The second one is to send us a vlog, up to one minute telling us an interesting fact about yourself! The email address is YP2013@nad.org.  The deadline is Wednesday, March 6th.  We welcome anyone who wants to be on our team!

ALIM: If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please do email us.  We look forward to having a great team!

RENCA: Alim, ready to search for our champ team?

ALIM: YES! LET'S GO!

Alim and Renca step away in opposite directions until both realize they're not walking in the same direction.  Alim gestures Renca to join him, Renca does.  

Video fades to space-like background then to black as a camera-lens transition of the words appear, "This is your chance to apply!" "DEADLINE: March 6th."  "YP2013@nad.org."

On the royal blue background, the NAD logo in brighter blue appears, with the words "NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF" in white and "www.nad.org" in yellow, over the logo.  After three seconds, the video ends.
 

[VIDEO] Watch NAD Board Appointed Member Tawny Holmes talk about the January 2013 Education Update! Ms. Holmes outlines strategies that the NAD Education Committee, Education Strategy Team and Education Advocates are exploring, and tells you about the NAD's top education priorities and motions.

By Tawny Holmes, Appointed Board Member Focusing on Education

Education is an issue that the community has been more interested and involved with the past few years. This parallels with what the NAD has been focusing on during the past two conferences in 2010 and 2012. Out of the various priorities and motions that are made and voted upon by members and delegates, an outstanding number was about education, 16 total. The priorities and motions focus on different areas such as language deprivation, system changes, concerns about schools for the deaf, ensuring parents have access to ASL instruction, and bilingualism.  Here is the list of priorities / motions and committee assignments:

2012 Mandate:

Informed Decision-making and Language Deprivation (EST* sub-committee)

2012 Priorities:

Legislative Training (Legislative Training specialist and Educational Advocates)

2012 Motions for Ongoing Work:

1. Informed Decision-making and Language Deprivation (EST* sub-committee)
2. Legislative Training (Legislative Training specialist and Educational Advocates)
3. Education/EHDI (supporting Child First campaign goals) (EST and Headquarters)
4. National ASL Content Standards (EST)
5. Parental Sign Language Instruction Programs (EST)
6. NAD Partnering with CAID/State Deaf Associations to Save Deaf Schools (EST and EA*)
7. Promotion of ASL Standardization and Usage in Pre-K to 12 Educational Programs (EST and Education Policy Committee)
8.  Freedom of Information on CI (Education Policy Committee and HQ)
9. D/HH Mainstreaming School Programs (Education Policy Committee and EST)

*EST means the Education Strategy Team and EA refers to Educational Advocates- see below for more explanation.

2010 Priorities:

1. Protect Schools for the Deaf (EST)
2. ASL-English Bilingualism (Parents receive information e.g. Parents Section on NAD website) (EST)
3. Human Rights (promoting passage of CRPD) (HQ and Education Policy Committee)
4. Early Intervention (involvement and training) (Educational Advocates)
5. National Data Resource Center (Headquarters)- will share resources with HQ
6. Federal EHDI Oversight (Headquarters)
7. Parental Sign Language Strategies (EST)

Now the question is how the NAD Board can most effectively achieve these 16 priorities and motions? The answer: the community must be involved.  How?  There are three groups.

The first one is the Education Policy Committee which is under the Public Policy committee umbrella (see http://www.nad.org/blogs/admin/nad-needs-your-help-call-volunteers). This committee will be composed of researchers and policy experts to discuss and to make sure all valuable data and information are collected and ready to be used for future debates. This committee is in the process of being finalized.

The second is the newly established Education Strategy Team which NAD President Chris Wagner has mentioned in his last two vlogs. This team will draw together 10 to 12 individuals with various roles from across the nation to discuss and prepare a 5 to 10 year plan to make sure every deaf and hard of hearing child has access to quality education and language access because without both, the deaf and hard of hearing child will struggle. That’s the main focus of the EST. The roles are:

• Parent(s)
• Teachers (from both the Mainstream setting and the School for the Deaf setting)
• Social worker
• Superintendent
• University representatives with expertise in education/early intervention
• Principal
• Early Intervention specialist
• Legislative policy specialist
• Educational interpreter  (new)

The concept of EST is to unite experts and knowledgeable people from various fields to match up with the 16 priorities.

There will also be three sub-committees under the Education Strategy Team: Early Intervention Focus, Language Deprivation and one focusing on ASL/English Bilingual Schools. 

If you feel you or someone you know would be a good candidate, please email nad.info@nad.org before February 8th and include an explanation of why that individual would be a good fit for the Education Strategy Team. From there, the Education Strategy Team will be developed and ready to serve the next two years.

We also have a third group which is important as well, because it depends on a local grassroots movement. That is the Education Advocates group. Every state association or affiliate of the NAD selects one or two individuals to focus on education issues through discussion or information gathering on what is happening in “my state” so to share information with other advocates. This will result in an invaluable information exchange and network through which we can support each other. The NAD will also provide ongoing training opportunities to this group, which has already started last summer at the 2012 NAD conference, with a total of 28 state representatives and 3 national organization representatives. The training went very well and we hope to see this number increase so that we can identify and develop educational advocates in every state. We are thrilled to have recently partnered with the American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC) (www.deafchildren.org). They will work with us to identify parents who can become advocates and parent representatives for their states, so we can build connections between parents and the deaf community in each state.

In addition, the NAD is partnering with the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD) to promote the Child First Campaign, which is a national effort to ensure that federal law appropriately addresses the language, communication, and educational needs of deaf and hard of hearing children. In addition, the NAD and CEASD will work together to promote the ideals of a fully accessible quality education for every deaf and hard of hearing child.

If you are interested in becoming an advocate for your state association, email nad.info@nad.org and make sure you contact your state association or organization first. Alternately, if you want to become a parent advocate, email Cheri Dowling, ASDC Director at ASDC@deafchildren.org. We, the NAD Board, are ready to welcome your involvement in this important effort, and ready to ensure every deaf child has full access to quality education and language development.

VIDEO DESCRIPTION:

The NAD logo appears on a royal blue background, with the words "National Association of the Deaf" and "www.nad.org" on-screen, then fades away.

Tawny Holmes, Appointed Member, appears in the official NAD "Nothing About Us, Without Us!" navy blue T-shirt, available at the recent NAD conference in Louisville, Kentucky. She is reading a book. She then puts down the book, and begins signing.

TAWNY HOLMES, APPOINTED MEMBER: Hello everyone, reading is one great way to teach myself. Are you interested in discussing educational issues? I am, too. My name is Tawny Holmes and I am a NAD board member appointed to focus on education. Education is an issue that the community has been more interested and involved with the past few years. That parallels with what the NAD has been focusing on during the past two conferences in 2010 and 2012. Out of the various priorities and motions that are made and voted upon by members and delegates, an outstanding number was about education, 16 total. The priorities focus on different areas such as language deprivation, system changes, deaf school concerns, ensuring parents have access to ASL instruction, and bilingualism. Now the question is how can the NAD Board most effectively achieve these 16 priorities and motions? The answer: the community must be involved. How? We have three groups and the first one is the Education Policy Committee under Public Policy with researchers and policy experts to discuss and to make sure all valuable data and information are collected and ready to be used for future use. The second is the newly established Education Strategy Team NAD President Chris Wagner has mentioned in his last two vlogs. This team will have 10 to 12 people from all over the nation collectively develop a 5 to 10 year action plan to discuss what the community can do to make sure every deaf child has access to quality education and language access because without both, the deaf child will struggle. I don't want to see that, and I know you don't, either. That's what the EST will focus on. There will be 10-12 roles including parents, teachers (both mainstream and deaf school), a principal, superintendent, social worker, ASL specialist, legislative policy expert, and other roles- you will see a list. If you feel you or someone you know would be a good candidate, please email nad.info@nad.org before February 8th to let me know and include why you feel that person would be a good fit for the Education Strategy Team. From there, I will start the process of getting the team together and ready to serve the next two years. Now, we also have a third group which is important as well, because it depends on a local grassroots movement. How will that work? It's called the Education Advocates group. Every state association or affiliate of the NAD selects one or two individuals to focus on education issues through discussion or information gathering on what is happening in "my state" so to share information with other advocates. This will result in an invaluable information exchange and network through which we can support each other. The NAD will also provide training to this group, which has already started last summer at the 2012 NAD conference, with a total of 28 state representatives and three national organization representatives. The training went very well and I hope to see this number increase so that we can identify a representative for each state. And I have good news- we have recently partnered with the American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC). They will work with us to identify parents who can become the advocate and parent representative for their state, so we can build connections. So if you are interested in becoming an advocate for your state association, feel free to email nad.info@nad.org and make sure you contact your state association or organization first, too. And if you want to become a parent advocate, you can contact this email address, as well- ASDC@deafchildren.org. We, the NAD Board, are ready to welcome your involvement in this important effort, and ready to ensure every deaf child has full access to quality education and language development for years to come. Thank you for watching this. Salut.

As Ms. Holmes signs goodbye, the same NAD logo that appears at the beginning of the video fades back in, and the video ends.

END OF VIDEO DESCRIPTION

[VIDEO] Curious about the life of our current Miss Deaf America Ambassador for 2012 - 2014, Chanel Gleicher? Watch this video to learn more about where Chanel has been in 2012!

Thanks for watching,

The National Association of the Deaf

VIDEO DESCRIPTION [OPENING]:
The NAD logo appears on a blue background, with the letters "The National Association of the Deaf" on-screen.

The logo fades away, and Chanel Gleicher, Miss Deaf America Ambassador 2012 - 2014, appears wearing a green shirt, in front of a darker blue background.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
CHANEL GLEICHER: Hello! My name is Chanel Gleicher. I am the 2012 -- 2014 Miss Deaf America Ambassador. I am very honored that I was crowned as Miss Deaf America (MDA) last July during the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

My role as the MDA focuses on showcasing the NAD to Deaf communities, as well as being a role model to deaf and hard of hearing youth. For the next two years, my duties will include giving workshops and performances, making appearances, and performing community service. As part of my community service duties, I will contribute 24 hours of service every three months towards various causes, organizations and activities.

My goals as the MDAA for the next two years include:
- Performing community service for deaf and hard of hearing children, with a focus on literacy skills

- Providing workshops and visiting Junior NAD chapters across America to help strengthen these chapters

- Inspiring young leaders in achieving their dreams and goals

This is why I am excited to announce that this will be my first of several vlogs for the next two years. In compliance with my community service goals, I will be doing a vlog every three months, sharing updates on what I have been doing for our community.

For the past three months from July to September, I have helped lead some workshops, made appearances, and performed community service.

In August,
o I gave a workshop at the Youth Leadership Camp in Stayton, Oregon
o In addition, I volunteered at the Center on Deafness - Inland Empire (CODIE)

Now, I will explain what I have completed for the past three months from July to September.
o I did two different performances: "Deaf Community Ain't Ragged" at the "Into the Streets" Festival in Frederick, Maryland and at the H Street Festival in Washington, D.C.
o I assisted with ASL translation services at Gallaudet University's Dance Company
o I volunteered with the Transportation Survey program at Gallaudet University
o Last but not least, I volunteered at the Green Festival in Washington, D.C.

The past three months have been amazing. I look forward to meeting people, working with different organizations, and most importantly, giving back to the community.  If you would like to see photos or updates about my journey, please visit the MDAAP (Miss Deaf America Ambassador Program) Facebook page.

Also, if you would like to make an appearance request, please contact Allie Rice, NAD Youth Programs Coordinator, at www.nad.org/contactus.

Thank you!

VIDEO DESCRIPTION [ENDING]:
The video of Chanel Gleicher fades to black. The NAD logo, once again on a blue background, fades back in, and the video ends.

Submitted by chris.wagner on Wed, 11/21/2012 - 09:49

Greetings! My name is Chris Wagner, President of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD).  I am pleased to share some updates on the NAD Board's activities. 

It has been nearly five months since the successful 51st Biennial NAD Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Since then, we have been focused on a number of activities including a Town Hall meeting at our first NAD Board meeting at the Bay Area in California.  We would like to thank California School for the Deaf at Fremont, California Association of the Deaf, Deaf Counseling Advocacy and Referral Agency, and San Francisco Deaf Club for the warm welcome and hosting a great event.

California residents had the opportunity to share their concerns within the deaf and hard of hearing community with the NAD Board. From there, we began developing relationships with different national organizations so we can determine how we can best collaborate and share resources.

Our next action item is to work with committed volunteers for over 20 committees within the NAD. Committees are comprised of different people from all walks of life who work together to discuss various issues and developing strategies to address them.

I want to highlight three important committees. First, the Education Strategy Team (EST) is led by NAD Board member Tawny Holmes.  They have already begun its work. and Tawny will share the EST updates with very soon.

Second, the Employment Task Force, which consists of different experts in the field of employment including colleges and universities and employers.  They will address issues on unemployment and under employment of deaf and hard of hearing people across America.

Third, we are focusing on youth strategies, including increasing youth participation.  Joshua Beckman, who represents our youth as a appointed NAD Board Member will focus on different ideas on how we can improve the Junior NAD and Youth Leadership Camp (YLC) and collaborate with our colleagues at DYUSA (Deaf Youth USA).

As you can see, the NAD is busy! We have also addressed other recent issues, including Hurricane Sandy and disaster preparedness.  We want to look at how we can improve disaster preparedness for deaf and hard of hearing people. We also want to express our thanks to the government entities – local, state, and federal – to ensure that full access is possible for all of us. But our work is not finished. We need to continue this effort.

We are now preparing for our next NAD Board meeting set to take place from January 17-20, 2013 in Atlanta, GA.  Keep an eye out for more information on our Atlanta meeting.

In closing, on behalf of the Board of Directors and their families as well as the staff and their families at NAD, we would like to wish you, your family and friends a happy and great Thanksgiving!  Let's be thankful for what the NAD, its staff, volunteers, members, and supporters have done for deaf and hard of hearing Americans. Thank you!