Hear to Learn

A friend of ours has been very involved in a parent-driven initiative to improve the classroom hearing and learning experience in the Lincoln, NE school system. Hear to Learn is an excellent program, and it started me thinking about not only Audrena's listening environment when she gets into school, but also Reyana's and Kelton's.

Soundfield systems involve a microphone worn on a lanyard around the teacher's neck. It carries the sound to speakers around the classroom, creating sort of a surround sound effect so that the teacher's voice surrounds the room, distributing the sound to students all over the classroom. (These are my own words, so not really very technical, but you get the idea.) They are a great benefit to normal hearing students, not just the hearing-impaired.

I had heard from another parent that the Vermillion elementary schools would be receiving soundfield systems in the classrooms within the next 5 years. My curiosity was piqued, so I e-mailed Reyana's principal to ask about it. She replied that, due to the statistic that students only hear about 50% of what the teacher says in the classroom, the school board had created a 5 year plan for the installation of the soundfield systems. That was several years ago, and we do now have the systems the classrooms! As it turns out, I could have just asked Reyana. Her teacher uses it daily. I was thrilled! Yesterday afternoon during our parent-teacher conference, I brought it up to Reyana's teacher, explaining that I was so excited to hear that she was using the soundfield. She was happy to demonstrate it to us, whispering from the front of the room. It was crystal clear in the back of the room. Imagine what a difference that makes for the students!

On a related note, the SD School for the Deaf Service Coordinator (I hope I got that title right) stopped in to see us at our genetics appointment. She used to be the outreach consultant for our area and had some really great things to say about Vermillion and the school district. She basically told me that if we could have landed anywhere for Audrena, this is the perfect place to be. Once again, I am feeling very thankful to God for bringing us to Vermillion 9 years ago. At the time I was not terribly happy to be moving here, but now I know that this is where we were meant to be.