Students Raise Money for Hurrican Relief
Clerc Center Lends Helping Hand to Hurricane Katrina Survivors

October 15, 2005

By Michael Walton

Happenings Archives

One of the first—and sobering—lessons Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center students, teachers, and staff learned upon returning to school to start the new year was the devastation and human suffering brought on by Hurricane Katrina. On August 29, the full brunt of the storm hit the Gulf Coast, wreaking havoc in New Orleans, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; and the surrounding area. One thousand miles away in Washington, D.C., students at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES) discussed with their teachers the grim reality of Hurricane Katrina and decided to help.

Their mission was to raise money for deaf students of the Louisiana School for the Deaf (LSD) in Baton Rouge who may have lost their homes and belongings in the hurricane. Team 4/5 teacher/researcher Susan Schatz and her students began their fund-raising efforts by asking members of the Clerc Center community to donate toys, games, clothing, shoes, small appliances, and other items to a KDES store, which was set up near the school’s main lobby. The community responded in kind, donating an overwhelming number of items the students could sell in order to raise money for the relief efforts.

Schatz and her students then organized the goods, created signs announcing their store, and created an “employee schedule” to ensure the store was fully staffed. When the store opened, Team 4/5 students manned it each day, selling their goods, collecting payments, and keeping it tidy. “When we discussed what to do to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, we felt we had to do this because it was for such a worthwhile cause,” said Schatz. “At the same time, students could also learn very important life lessons, such as managing money, how to work with others, treating people with respect. They are also learning patience.”

One Team 4/5 student, Derika Saunders, explained the goal for the LSD students, “I want us to raise as much money as possible. I want to help them because they need help.”

At the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), students and staff opened their doors to welcome displaced deaf students whose schools were closed. So far, one student whose school was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina has enrolled at MSSD.

In addition to welcoming displaced Gulf Coast deaf students, Clerc Center staff members journeyed to Houston to counsel and help deaf students there. Gallaudet University has an agreement with the American Red Cross to provide services in the event of a disaster involving deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind individuals.

On September 13, Heidi Camacho, an MSSD personal counselor who is originally from Louisiana, traveled to LSD to work in the dorms with students and their family members. On September 16, Kendra Smith and Carla Shird, from the Mental Health Center (MHC), and Dr. Frank Zieziula, from the Department of Counseling, flew to LSD to provide additional intervention. Also dispatched to Houston were Dr. Barbara White, from the Social Work Department; Alexis Greeves, a Clerc Center outreach specialist from the Office of Training and Professional Development; and Vass Valoo, an intern at the MHC.

A web log (or “blog” for short) has been set up to record the relief efforts of Clerc Center staff member Greeves and Dr. White. For the latest updates on the relief sfforts, please visit: http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/hurricane.

Copyright © 2005 Gallaudet University Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
800 Florida Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002
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