Fifteen Central Florida middle and high school students with hearing disabilities gained some confidence to succeed in school thanks to a recent weeklong Deaf Leadership Camp sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Independent Living and held at the University of Central Florida.
Led by volunteers who are聽deaf and fluent in American Sign Language, students took part in team-building activities based on 麻豆精品 S淭he Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens 麻豆精品 S� by author Sean Covey.
Facilitator Malia Johnson, president of the Deaf Talk consulting firm, shared strategies for common challenges, such as addressing classmates 麻豆精品 S� misconceptions, applying for college, and participating in extracurricular activities. Students also interacted with a panel of successful people who are deaf, including a NASA employee and UCF political science graduate student Jacob Salem.
The camp was also sponsored UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Toni Jennings Exceptional Education聽Institute, with support from the 2013 Disney Helping Kids Shine Grant.
麻豆精品 S淏efore this camp, I was not ready to go back to school. I was bored and not able to make friends, 麻豆精品 S� said 13-year-old Dakota Rochette, a 7th-grade student at Greenwood Lakes Middle School. 麻豆精品 S淣ow, I am ready for school, hoping to keep getting A 麻豆精品 S檚 in my classes, and ready to make friends by being helpful, respecting others, talking, and staying friendly. 麻豆精品 S�