Dates to Remember

Parent tour of se-curity improve-ments February 3 Silent day February 5 Teacher of the Year Nominations Due February 13 Junior NAD Valen-tine Sales February 13 Elem. and MS Honor Roll/MVP Luncheon February 16 Krewe of Mardi Gras Pre-School Parade “Tell Me A Tale” February 19, 9:30, PEC Mardi Gras Holi-day canceled, School in session February 23—27 High School Honor Roll/MVP Luncheon March 2 Third 9 Weeks Ends March 16

LSD welcomes Kevin Lemoine as the new liaison for the three Board Special Schools who will be based out of LSD. Most recently, Kevin was the principal at Zachary High School which has a student enrollment of 1,250 students. The Zachary School System has been the highest rated district in the state for the past four years. He comes to us with experience at Catholic High of Pointe Coupee, Livonia High School, Lee High School, Capitol Middle School, Kenilworth Middle School, and Zachary High School. Kevin is a native of Simmesport in Avoyelles Parish and is one of five children. He comes from a family of educators. He is married to his childhood sweetheart who is a librarian at Zachary Elementary School. Kevin has two children; a daughter who is a sophomore in education at LSU, and a son who is an 8th grader at Zachary Middle School. Kevin graduated in1987 from LSU with a BS in Industrial Education and Physical Education. He earned a MA in Administration from Southern University in 1993. He has been a coach throughout his teaching career and has primarily coached football, track and baseball. In his leisure time, Kevin runs three and a half miles daily and enjoys deer hunting. He is very involved at his church, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, in Zachary where he serves as a lector and CCD teacher. Kevin looks forward to the challenges of working as an administrator for the Louisiana Department of Education and for LSD. He feels that his varied experiences have pre-pared him for this next step in his career as an educator. He looks forward to learning

Kevin LeMoine, New Liaison for Board Special Schools

Louisiana School for the Deaf February

2009

On Eagle’s Wings

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New Student Enrollment Welcome to these newly enrolled students: Elementary School: Matthew Lane, Katre’Anne McDuffey, Nathaniel Leleu Middle School: Johnny Alba-Cruz

Condolences LSD alumnus, Dino Frank Bertucci, 45, of Las Vegas, passed away Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. He was born June 26, 1963, in New Orleans, and was a four-year resident of Ne-vada. Dino was the beloved husband of Stacey Dufrene Bertucci; father of three chil-dren, Amberlyn M. Dufrene, Kaitlyn Aline Dufrene and Christopher Alexander Bertucci; and the son of Anne Fontana Bertucci and Frank Bertucci. A former LSD student, Lokita Hartford, passed away Sunday, December 14, 2008. Funeral services were on Friday, December 19 in Amite, Louisiana. Lokita attended LSD for several years before returning to school in New Orleans. Her mother, Pat Bel-ton, and dad, Bert Hartford both attended LSD. Pat Belton is Glenda Belton Lewis’ (Arianne Lewis' mom) sister. Cheryl Broussard Bass, 51, passed away at home on December 24, 2008 after strug-gling with cancer. Cheryl was a native of Lafayette and resident of Youngsville. She was a member of the Lafayette Athletic Association for the Deaf. She was a loving mother, grandmother, sister and daughter. She graduated from LSD year of 1977. Veronica Jefferson, 38, mother of LSD student, Devyion Stewart passed away on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at her home. Services were held at Rose of Sharon Baptist Church on Thursday, January 22 with interment at Zachary Public Cemetery.

Congratulations Rebecca Lyn Jesgar and David Ashton Reed exchanged marriage vows on December 27, 2008, during a ceremony held at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Lafayette. Rebecca is a Middle School teacher at LSD. The bride is the daughter of F.J. Jesgar and Sheila Rooks Jesgar, of Charlotte, NC. The groom is the son of Dr. Donald James Reed and Elaine Domingue Reed. He is currently a medical student. A wedding a reception was held at the Cajundome Convention Center in Lafayette followed by a honeymoon trip to Belize.

Former LSD teacher, Jim Peyton, was recently named the head football coach and Dean of Students at Lee High School. Jim is a 1970 graduate of Lee, so he is returning to his alma mater after a 20 year career at LSD. Last year Jim was the head football coach at East Iberville High School. We offer best wishes to Jim in his new career at our near neighbor, Lee High School.

Jessica Williams Medero, Residential Team Leader of the Middle School Dorms, and her husband, Dave, welcome daughter Hannah, born on Wednesday, January 21, 2009. Hannah weighed 7 lbs., 10 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. We join Jessica and Dave in celebrating the birth of Hannah.

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An organizational meeting of the new Eagle Eyes parent group will be held on Tuesday, February 17 in the Student Center at 6:30 pm. The agenda is to elect officers and ap-prove a set of by laws as a first step in having a viable parent organization. Interpreting and child care will be provided. Mission Statement: This group is organized for the purpose of supporting the educa-tion of children at LSD by fostering relationships among the school, parents, teachers, government leaders and larger Deaf community. The immediate goal is to improve communication between the school and all concerned with the school; this includes parents, teachers, alumni, the Deaf community and the students of LSD. The group welcomes and needs your input and involvement.

Parents Form Eagle Eye Support Organization

LSD has purchased computer software that will enable individuals to make anonymous tips. People with knowledge of wrong-doing are sometimes hesitant to report what they know because of fear of reprisal, an attitude of apathy, or reluctance to get involved. This tip line will enable individuals to provide information without directly speaking to administrators or police, or having to testify in court. Tips should pertain to the safety and well-being of LSD students and staff, or the appropriate use of LSD property. This is not a suggestion box where comments about the menu, the amount of homework, the color of wall paint, etc. are made. Tips can be made online or by text message. All transactions are done via a secure connection on a secure server and all data is encrypted the entire time it is on the server, meaning that it is impossible to trace your e-mail address or cell phone number. Anonymity is guaranteed. Your tip will be assigned a code number that you can use if you wish to check the status of your tip or to provide additional information. It is hoped that this tip line will provide an additional layer of safety for LSD students and staff. More information about this service and other resources LSD provides to parents can be found on our school website. Go to www.lalsd.org and click on Parents > Resources for Parents.

New Tip Line Established

Jr. NAD Valentine Sale

The Junior National Association of the Deaf will conduct their annual Valentine’s Day sale on Friday, February 13, in the High School Department. Valentine gifts, such as novelty items, stuffed animals, fresh flowers, chocolate and I Love You balloons will be available. Items will be raffled including a small barbeque grill. Please support the Jr. NAD by purchasing Valentine items.

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LSD Foundation Evening with the V-Tones On January 8, 2009 Baton Rouge band, The V-Tones, performed a benefit concert at the Varsity Theatre to benefit the LSD Foundation. Thanks to LSD staff who attended and thanks to all who bought tickets even though they couldn’t attend the event. Ap-proximately $3,000 was raised to help the Foundation’s primary project, funding all of the Positive Behavior Programs on campus.

Teacher of the Year Nominations Sought You are invited to submit a nomination for LSD Teacher of the Year for 2009 - 2010. The honoree is invited to participate in the district Teacher of the Year competition in the fall of 2009. The qualifications for this honor are in accordance with the BESE/SDE Teacher of the Year Awards Program Guidelines for Selecting Candidates: The candidate should be an exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled

teacher in an active teaching status, pre-K through 12th grade. LSD has determined that teachers who are teaching outside of the classroom (resource teacher, ALC, etc.) are eligible for consideration.

Candidates with supervisory and administrative responsibilities should be of secon-

dary consideration. Principals, assistant principals, supervising teachers, guidance counselors and librarians are ineligible since the major purpose of the program is to recognize contributions of teaching.

The candidates should have the respect and admiration of students, parents and

co-workers. They should be active in their communities as well as in their schools, often distinguishing themselves as leaders. Candidates should be actively involved with school groups and activities and affiliated with educational organizations.

The candidate should be poised and articulate and able to manage a busy sched-

ule. S/he should represent LSD well. Nominations are due by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 13. Nominees will be con-tacted on Wednesday, February 16 and asked if they will accept the nomination. Inter-views will be held on Wednesday, February 18 and a recommendation will be made to the Director and Administrator of Teaching and Learning on Thursday, February 18. The selection process will culminate with the announcement of the Teacher of the Year in May. Teacher of the Year must have the following qualifications: • Superior ability to inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn. • Exceptional skill and dedication as a teacher. • The earned respect and admiration of students, parents and colleagues. • Leadership qualities within the school and community. • Poise and the ability to represent LSD well. Please provide at least one paragraph about the reason you are nominating your candi-date. Include information about the nominee’s teaching ability, involvement outside the classroom (if any), passion for education, professional development, etc. Return your nomination to Trish Mann via e-mail (pmann@lalsd.org) or standard mail (P. O. Box 3074, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-3074) by Friday, February 13.

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Staff Changes, New Hires

Pete LaFleur Leaves for Division of Administration Business Manager, Pete Lafleur’s last day at LSD was January 19, 2009. He is trans-ferred to the Division of Administration as a Functional Budget Analyst, where he will be working with the LaGov/ERP Project. This is the system that will be replacing the State's present accounting, budget and purchasing systems. Pete was not with us long, but he contributed his time and talent to our school, and for that we are grateful. We will miss Pete and his expansive knowledge of the state’s budget procedures.

Willie Turner, Director of Safety and Security

Willie Turner is the newly hired Director of Safety and Security at LSD and started work-ing here on December 1, 2008. Willie has followed an interesting career path that led him to a great variety of interesting endeavors. He is a native of New Orleans and at-tended LSU on a football scholarship from 1977 to 1981. He played defensive back un-der Coaches Charlie McClendon and Jerry Stovall. Willie earned a BA in Political Sci-ence in 1981 from LSU, and then played in the National Football League with the Oak-land/ L. A. Raiders for several years. During his NFL career Willie married and had two daughters. He commuted back and forth from California to Louisiana for many years and that strain got old. During the off season, Willie began working in law enforcement, initially with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. He later started working in the Nar-cotics Division of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office. Willie served on statewide Drug Task Forces, though he maintained his home in Denham Springs. Willie knew the Ser-geant at Arms of the state capitol who recruited Willie to upgrade the security services at the capitol. Willie worked as the Director of Training and Security for the Louisiana House of Representatives for three years. When a Director of Safety and Security posi-tion was created at LSD, Willie was recruited to apply for the position. Willie is married to a LSU graduate, his oldest daughter just graduated from LSU and his youngest daughter is a senior at U. High at LSU. Willie says that his whole family bleeds purple and gold. Willie is happy to be at LSD and is learning about deafness and sign language, as well as implementing security procedures on the campus. Willie would like to see LSD be-come the model for residential school security where our high standards are copied by other institutions. We welcome Willie Turner to LSD.

Mona Alkadi on Sabbatical Instructional Facilitator, Mona Alkadi, has been on sabbatical for the 2008-2009 school year and is working on her PhD at LSU in the Department of Communication Disorders. This semester Mona is taking two classes and two independent study courses. She es-timates that it will take two or three more years to complete the requirements for her PhD. Mona’s major professor is Dr. Janet Norris, a reading strategy specialist. Mona’s research interests are in the area of comparative reading strategies with students who are deaf. Mona is on the LSD campus one day a week to teach the CAEBER (Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research) classes after school, so most of us never see her. Mona is so energized by the classes that she is taking. She says, “I love being a college student!” She plans on returning to LSD for the beginning of next school year.

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Bob Moulds Returns to LSD Bob Moulds has come full circle in his teaching career. He worked at LSD in the early 80’s and has returned to LSD after retiring as a teacher and coach in Pinellas County, Florida. Bob was born and reared in West Virginia and spent his first two years of col-lege there. During his junior year in college Bob transferred to Florida State University in anticipation of his parent’s retirement and move to the Tampa Bay area. Bob gradu-ated with a BS in Biology and Physical Education in 1970 and went on to earn a Mas-ter’s degree Exercise Physiology at the University of South Florida in 1975. Bob taught physical education in Florida for several years and decided to work on a PhD. One of his former mentors was at LSU, so Bob entered the PhD program at LSU and studied there for two years, completing about half of his advanced degree requirements. Bob was hired by LSD in 1982, having had no previous experience in working with students who are deaf. He taught P.E. at LSD for three years until the declining health of his elderly parents caused him to move back to Florida in 1986 to help care for them. Bob taught the remainder of his career in the Pinellas County School System near St. Petersburg, Florida. He served as a coach for football, track, wrestling and some swim-ming. Bob retired from the Pinellas School System in 2002 and enjoyed fishing and golfing for several years. He became bored with retirement. Bob’s wife asked him, “If you could choose anything to do, what would it be?” Bob’s response was that he wanted to return to LSD in Baton Rouge. Amazingly, his wife agreed. They packed up all their belongings, and left their four adult children and five grandchildren in Florida and moved to Baton Rouge! Bob was hired in August, Gustav visited in September, and school closed for a month in October, so he has been on a wild adventure since returning to LSD. Bob is coaching the Boys’ and Girls’ Powerlifting Teams, and will be an assistant track coach for the Boys’ and Girls’ Teams. If enough boys are interested in forming a team, Bob will become the football coach next year. Bob is enthusiastic about being back at LSD. He thinks it is a great school with a very committed staff. He looks forward to helping to rebuild the football program. Bob, wel-come back.

John Jarrett, New Middle School Teacher Mike Owens

John Jarrett is a new Middle School teacher this year and he has been a big plus for the department. Although he completed his studies at the University of Tennessee and came to LSD from there, he is a true Louisianaian at heart, having grown up in Shreve-port. When he was a middle schooler himself, he tells a wonderful story of his seventh grade teacher who challenged him to read To Kill A Mockingbird which helped him overcome reading problems and other learning problems. He says if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be a teacher today. By the time he was in high school, he had challenged himself to take over 20 honors classes and 5 advanced placement classes. John says his favorite restaurant is California Pizza Kitchen, and his favorite food, of course, is pizza. He continues to enjoy reading as a hobby, but loves movies and games, too. Besides teaching, in his spare time, he enjoys gardening and traveling. Some of his recent travels include trips to Kentucky, South Dakota and Atlanta. He re-ports that hockey is his favorite sports interest, but he enjoys following any college sport. When it comes to the pros, he has no interest at all.

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History Highlights Looking Back 1853 to 1859 Trish Mann

Above: Original school building

“College was a great time. I loved it!” John added, “I would love to be a forever college student.” When asked what was the reason he picked LSD to work he said, “I was cho-sen to come here. I love Louisiana and I missed living here when I moved out in 2000 to attend college at Tennessee.” One interesting fact about John that very few people know is that he is adopted and has never met his birthparents. Concerning his goals, John says, “My current goal is to lose weight and be more active. I want to keep teach-ing because I really like reaching and inspiring kids. Maybe in a few years, I will go back to school to get another Master's or a PhD in Educational Administration.” Good luck, John and welcome to the LSD family!

Chris Harvin Returns to Business Office After Military Training Chris Harvin, an accountant in the Business Office, recently returned to LSD after a 14 month absence while a member of the Air Force Reserve. Chris had previously served in the Army as an infantryman for 7 years, including a tour of duty in Iraq during the first Gulf War. He was then a member of the Army National Guard for 3 years. When Chris returned to civilian life, he worked in the financial industry and returned to school to complete a BS in Accounting. He worked at LSU in the School of Renewable Natural Resources for three years and began employment at LSD in 2005. Chris has always been interested in aviation and after his commitment to the National Guard ended, he began to think about joining the Air Force Reserve. He was too old to begin pilot training, so he looked for another specialty that would satisfy his interest in aeronautics. Chris joined the 815th Airlift Squadron out of Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Chris left LSD in October 2007 to participate in 14 months of train-ing as an Aircraft Loadmaster. His training brought him to Biloxi, San Antonio, Little Rock, Pensacola, and Washington State. As a loadmaster, Chris safely loads/unloads planes with cargo or troops, and conducts cargo and personnel airdrops. Chris returned to LSD in December 2008. His unit will possibly be deployed during the summer of 2009. State Civil Service regulations require that an employee’s job be held for them while they are engaged in military service. Chris is about a year and a half into his six year commitment to the Air Force, so he will be in and out of LSD as his unit is called up for service. Chris we appreciate the service you are giving to our country.

The five years it took to construct the original school building, from 1853 to 1858, were chal-lenging. The Board of Administrators commenced construction of the building without an overall estimate of the final cost. Each year they authorized contractors to proceed with building, and then hoped that the Legislature would fund the obligations that they incurred. No predictable yearly allocation was made for the regular expenses of running the school. By 1858, enrollment had increased to 60 students with five teachers instructing them. When completed in 1858, the building was the second largest in the state, exceeded in size only by the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans. All instruction was conducted in sign language by male teachers. In 1859 a female “speaking teacher” was hired, which was quite revolutionary at the time. Superintendent Brown was very interested in the teaching of speech and speech reading. He was also very interested in teaching the printing trade to male students, as he, himself, was trained as a printer. In 1859 the Legislature funded the purchase of a printing press and a few fonts of type. The school’s carpenter began teaching construction skills to some of the deaf boys. Male students who were blind were taught how to make brooms and brushes. Some opposed the idea of teaching vocational skills, so Superintendent Brown, in his report to the Legislature in 1859, pointed out that over half of the students enrolled were orphans and would become dependent on public charity if not taught an employable skill.

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Please support LSD student activities/needs by clipping the "Box Tops for Education" logo off of the items you use everyday in your homes. You will find the Box Tops on hundreds of items including a large selection of cereal boxes, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Yoplait , Hamburger Helper, Nature Valley and other food items. You can also find Box Tops on other products including Ziploc storage bags, Cottonelle, Scott and VIVA paper products, Huggies diapers and many more household or personal care items. Box Tops can be sent via campus mail or brought to Kattie Nolen in the Administrator of Student Life's office.

Community Cash For Schools is a program that helps area schools earn funds by col-lecting UPCs from Community® products. Please clip and save any Community UPC labels and send them to Wanda Bozeman in the Administrator of Teaching and Learn-ing’s Office.

Please Save Stuff

Winn-Dixie Community Pals You can raise money for LSD every time you shop at Winn-Dixie. Enroll in the Winn-Dixie Community Pals Program and you’ll instantly earn points for LSD. At the end of each quarter, the school will receive a donation based on the percentage of purchases credited to LSD. Enrollment is easy. Clip the activation coupon below (keep one and give one to a friend or family member). Next time you shop at Winn-Dixie, give the cashier your Winn-Dixie Customer Reward Card and this activation coupon. The cash-ier will scan both and instantly enroll you. For all future purchases, you’ll only need to use your Customer Reward Card. If you don’t have a Customer Reward Card, get one for free at Customer Service. Questions? Contact Susan Blackwell, sblack-well@lalsd.org

Safe and Drug Free School Day The High School and Middle School had Safe and Drug Free School Day on Friday, January 16. Middle School students rotated between workshops. Lisa Cook and Kelly Rendleman led a workshop on Drugs, Paula Rodriguez and Mike Owens were the hosts of Deal or No Deal, David Imme and Kim Jones led a workshop on Cyberbullying, and Brian Fisher conducted a workshop called “Be Careful with Drugs.” High School students began their day with a presentation on Drunk Driving by Ruth Dewitt and Debbie O’Neill. They then divided into four groups and rotated between four workshops for the remainder of the day. Walker Estes and Brooke Aldrete led a work-shop titled, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” Evelyn Castleberry and Tiffany Por-tie presented, “You Smoke, You Choke.” Laurie Williams and Joey Nipper conducted a

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PPEP: New Orleans Area Gathering Donna Embree LA-Hear Coordinators, Terri Mohren & Linda Frantz gathered the families from the New Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Lafourche, St. Charles, Tangipahoa and St. Tam-many Parishes for a day of fun. Families with deaf and hard of hearing children were able to meet each other and enjoy the day with their children at the Monkey Room in New Orleans. Many new friendships were formed as phone numbers and e-mail ad-dresses were exchanged. Sixteen families attended, and that included 38 PPEP stu-dents and their siblings. It was a good opportunity for families to meet each other and add to the current directory of families in the New Orleans area who have deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Self Reflections Laurie Self

workshop, “Drug Free, High Tech Style.” Jessica Rogers and Nicole Alleman hosted a workshop entitled, “I Went to a Party.” Students were able to learn useful information about the dangers of illegal drug use in an engaging atmosphere. Thanks to all of the staff who volunteered their time and tal-ents to make this day a success.

The Student Life Division welcomes two new hires to our dormitory program. Michelle Scott was hired in January to perform the duties of the night Residential Advi-sor in our elementary girls dormitory. Michelle is from Lafayette, Louisiana and a LSD alum. Michelle has great memories of her school years at LSD and looks forward to working with the students of LSD to make their years at LSD memorable as well. Stephanie Robinson was hired as a Residential Advisor in the elementary girls dorm to work the evening shift. Stephanie’s father is Steve Robinson who works in the Opera-tions Department at LSD. Stephanie is very excited about working with the elementary students in the after school program. During the month of January, the Student Life Division employees participated in a Posi-tive Behavior Support (PBS) Refresher class with Ms. Rhonda Fung and Ms. Jessica Medero. Student Life PBS trainers will conduct another PBS refresher class in March. Ms. Rhonda Fung will also conduct a Boundaries Refresher class in late January for all Student Life Division employees.

Left: Michelle Scott Right: Stephanie Robinson

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Sign Language and Interpreting Services Missy Mills

Students of the Month November/December

Troy Goss – Elementary

Diamonte Pierce – Middle School

Brandon Freed - High School

On December 5-7, Geoff Poor from NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf) in Rochester, New York, came to LSD to provide SCPI Team refresher training. Geoff is the Coordinator in the Office of Communication Assessment and a nationally known lead trainer for SCPI assessments. On Friday, December 5, Geoff met with any staff members who were interested in learning more about the SCPI process. On December 6 and 7, he met with LSD’s SCPI team members to focus on the interview process. Several LSD staff members volunteered to serve as interview candidates so that the interviewers could sharpen their skills. The training on Sunday focused on interview rating. The manual used to guide the rating process had been updated and Geoff re-viewed the changes in the rating process. Two ASL Specialist positions have been approved pending the procurement of funding for the positions. The positions were advertised nationally and several applications have been received. Interviews will commence once the funding is secured. Four community sign language classes began on Monday, January 26. Three Level 1 classes are being held and one Level 2 class. Two new teachers are co-teaching with a partner; Clint Sadler is co-teaching with Debra Teasdale and Debbie Anderson is co-teaching with Dorothy Rodriguez. Lisa Chase will teach one section of Level 1 and one section of Level 2. LSD is working closely with the Psychology Department at LSU and will serve as an internship location for graduate level psychology students. Dr. Clayton Cook and his interns will all participate in a Level 1 class. Lynne Gomez traveled to Shreveport on November 17 and 18 to assess the need and interest for sign language classes in the north western part of the state. Lynne coordi-nated with our PPEP, La. Hear Coordinator, Margaret Berry, to gather an enthusiastic group of parents interested in improving their sign language skills. It is hoped that sign classes can be offered in other areas of the state as the sign language department con-tracts with teachers in various areas around Louisiana.

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SNOW!!!!!!!!

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Elementary News

Christmas Program The annual Christmas drama was initially canceled because of a lack of time to prepare the program, but the Elementary School staff prevailed upon Gigi Brown and assured her they could “pull it off.” Indeed, they did. “Signs of Christmas” was the title of the program presented on December 18 in the auditorium. Every Elementary class pre-sented a Christmas song, as well as the musical stylings of teachers Laura Kliebert and Laurence Wainwright, and a retelling of the O. Henry story, Gift of the Magi by Mike Owens. Many thanks to Reechia Colbert, Laura Kliebert and Robby Porter who organ-ized the program. After a delicious Christmas lunch in the cafeteria, Santa visited the Elementary Department and distributed gifts donated by the organization, Christmas for Challenged Children. When Santa departed, a group of National Guard soldiers from the 204th Theatre Airfield Operations Group based out of Hammond came in two Hum-vee vehicles and delivered Christmas gifts for the Elementary Dorms. It was an excit-ing and busy day!

Above: Mike Owens

Right: Mandaree Graham’s class Far Right: Jordan Howard, Troy Goss, Justin Shafer

Right: Laura Kliebert and Laurence Wain-wright Far Right: Linda Davis’ class

Right: Luis Uribe Far Right: Padmini Nadkarni’s class

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Middle School News

Elementary Dorm News

The Elementary Dorms are grateful for the generosity of the LSD Foundation which an-nually gives gifts to the dorms. During Hurricane Gustav, a group of Louisiana National Guard troop were stationed on our campus. They were grateful for our hospitality and paid it back by bringing Christmas gifts for the Elementary Dorms. Many thanks to the LSD Foundation and the 204th Theatre Airfield Operations Group based out of Hammond. We will have fun playing with all the toys throughout the coming year.

PBS Trip to Celebration Station Marcia Kirk

Forty eight Middle School students who had earned 25 or more Eagle Bucks for posi-tive behavior spent a day at Celebration Station on January 15th. Students enjoyed the game room, miniature golf, and, especially, the go carts. Everyone enjoyed a lunch of pizza and soft drinks.

Right: National Guard troops de-livering gifts Far Right: Stu-dents Inside a humvee

Right: Awesome gifts Far Right: Troops visit with Elementary Dorm students

Right: Elementary Girls Dorm students with gifts from LSDF Far Right: Elemen-tary Boys Dorm stu-dents with gifts from LSDF

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To prepare for the trip, teachers worked with students on map and math skills, and how to use a video phone. During the trip, students completed a photo scavenger hunt. Following the trip, students worked on writing projects and math word problems con-nected to their fun outing. Special thanks to Ms. Anne Aucoin for driving the bus, and to Carolyn Clark, Jennifer Fogarty, Sarah Fall, and Amy Watson, our parent chaper-ones. Thanks also to the LSD Foundation that helped fund the trip.

Taylor Hayden, Louisiana’s Junior Miss Taylor Hayden reigns as Louisiana’s Junior Miss scholarship winner. The Junior Miss competition is a national scholarship program in which young women compete in the areas of scholastics, talent, physical fitness, self expression, and inner strength. Taylor is a senior at St. Joseph’s Academy. She was required by America’s Junior Miss Pro-gram to do at least one presentation entitled “Be Your Best Self” which incorporates the character traits of health, involvement, respect, ambition and studiousness. Taylor chose to do her presentation at LSD and met with Missy Mills to learn enough sign lan-guage to be able to introduce herself to her audience of Middle School students. On Monday, January 19, 2009, Taylor presented a motivational talk in the gymnasium. Supervising Teacher, Lorraine Loup, was grateful that Taylor came and shared her tal-ents with our students.

Taylor Hayden Louisiana’s Junior Miss

Middle School PBS Mike Owens

Students enjoyed Free Dress Day on December 19 and January 16 when they scored 95% or higher for the Class Competition program. Others can "purchase" free dress with 10 Eagle Bucks. The November Class who won with the highest score was the 7th grade group who had a Pizza Party and Play day on December 10. The 5th/6th graders won with the highest overall score in the December competition and had their party on January 14. The January class with the highest score will have their pizza party on February 11. Any middle school student who has a score of 95% or better in January will have Free Dress day on February 13. Other upcoming events include Free Hat Day on January 23 and Free Shoes day on January 29. Free Shirt day is February 6, Free Blue Jeans day is February 20 and Free Shoes day is Feb 27. Free Dress Day is 10 Eagle Bucks and all other "free" days are 5 Eagle Bucks. Also as an incentive for good behavior, students who have received no behavior refer-rals in a month receive an Eagle Buck for each month of good behavior, and any who have no referrals for the quarter, also receive an Eagle buck from the ALC teacher. In the first quarter, eleven students had no behavior referrals, but by the 2nd quarter, that number more than doubled to 24 students who had no behavior referrals!

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Middle School Dorm News Nicole Hawkins

Building Blocks Dorm Activities Kim Jones

The Building Blocks students are enjoying living in the dorms. Tony Nguyen and Sarah Strickland are both living in senior apartments, and Tony is helping to prepare supper daily. Brandon Jackson, Tre'von Williams, and Rakeem Harper are enjoying playing air hockey and computer games in the high school dorm recreational areas. Demontre Dawson's favorite activity is watching videos about trains on the computer in the middle school boys' dorm. Alexis Gordon is in the girls' dorm where their favorite videos seem to be about all the latest dance moves. And of course all our Building Blocks students love to attend basketball games in the school gym and cheer on our War Eagles. Go Eagles, and Go Building Blocks!

CAREER AND TRANSITION/OJT Pam Ross

Transition staff includes: Pamela Ross, Wanda Bozeman, John Jumonville, Houston Moss, Donna Smith, Susan LeFors and Tracy Johnson. The 2008 year has come and gone for the Career and Transition/OJT Department. For 2009 in the OJT program we start out with the following students and their work cites: Brandon Freed, (Jiffy Lube) second year; Jason Blair, Calandro’s first year; Ro-maldo Magee, McDonald’s second year; Clifton Howard, McDonald’s first year; Tim Sylvain, McDonald’s first year; Sarah Strickland, McDonald’s second year; Gregory Manual, State Grounds and Buildings, first year; Antonio Ngyuen, State Grounds and Building, second year; Curtis Ford, State Grounds and Buildings, second year (early graduation in Jan 2009) ; Raven Prejean, LA Capital Federal Credit Union, five months (laid off due to cuts) now McDonald’s one week; and D’Ara Johnson, McDonald’s one year, and Second To None Beauty Shop, five months (program ended). D’Ara also

Below: Middle School Dorm Stu-dents at their Christ-mas Party in the Student Center

Right: Tre’von and Brandon play air hockey Far Right: Tony relaxes in his senior apartment

Every year we have a traditional Christmas party in the dorm, but this year we made things more interesting by moving our party to the Student Center. The Student Cen-ter is much more spacious, and we have access to awesome sound and light effects there. Although we were working with a limited budget this year, parents and staff pitched in to make the party a successful event. The students really enjoyed them-selves. We want to thank the Student Center staff for all their hard work on the beauti-ful Christmas decorations, and for their help in serving food at the party. Evelyn Kuyrkendall designed a Christmas background for taking photographs, and the stu-dents were able to take pictures to remember this very special Christmas at LSD. We also want to thank the Louisiana School for the Deaf Foundation for bringing Christmas presents to the dorms. This is a yearly tradition for the LSDF, and each year the gifts are so awesome, we think they can't possibly get any better, but they do! This year the LSDF brought four new bicycles to the middle school girls' dorms, and four more to the middle school boys' dorm. The students were so excited, and all of the bicycles are currently being put to good use on a regular basis.

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Day/Date School Location Time

Tuesday, 2/03/09 Jehovah Jireh Home 6:00 p.m. Boys

Thursday, 2/05/09 Hosanna Home 6:00 p.m. Boys Girls

Thursday, 2/12/09 Gables Away 6:00 p.m. Boys

Thursday, 2/19/09 Gables Home 6:00 p.m. Boys

3/07/09 State Playoffs Alexandria TBD TBD

High School Basketball Schedule

Sports News

graduated December 2008. Jivencia Valicus, Second To None Beauty Shop, 5 months (program ended) now at McDonald’s one week. Michael Williams and Rhett LeBoeuf are continuing to learn basic carpentry skills under the guidance and leadership of Mr. Houston Moss. All of the OJT students are working hard and doing an excellent job in performing their specific job tasks and daily routines. Transitional Services were also provided in 2008 and continuing in 2009 to the follow-ing students: Alan Beteta enjoyed dual enrollment at Louisiana Technical College where he studied Computer Graphics. Alan graduated early in December 2008 and will be continuing his studies at LTC for the Spring Semester with assistance from Louisi-ana Rehabilitative Services (LRS). Best of luck to Alan! D’Ara Johnson has applied to the Methodist Mission Home in San Antonio, Texas and has been accepted. She plans to begin her independent life skills study program on January 19th 2009. We wish D’Ara much success in her endeavors. Curtis Ford graduated from LSD in December 2008 and has been placed in paid em-ployment at home with Paragon Casinos where he will work as a crew helper in the kitchen. Best of luck to Curtis in his future! Joseph Decuir received transitional services in continuing his studies at Baton Rouge Community College for the Spring Semester 2009. He was provided technical assis-tance through the OJT program with job placement at Sears where he works as the dis-play changer for the store. We are proud of you Joe!

High School Students Tour World War II Museum On Tuesday, January 27, high school social studies students traveled to New Orleans to visit the World War II Museum. Students participating included: Lauren Adams, La-Porcha Ardoin, Frani Crotty, Taza Davis, Jorge Decuir, Donna Harrison, Shane McNeil, Ryan Poindexter, Matthew Scott, Peyton Scott, Kelli Smith, and Jamey Vedros. Many thanks to chaperones Tiffany Portie, Audrey Fleet, and Paula Rodriguez.

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Mason Dixon Tournaments The annual Mason Dixon Basketball tournaments were held at the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville, KY for the boys and at the South Carolina School for the Deaf in Spartanburg, SC for the girls. Students left LSD late Tuesday night, January 20 to meet up with charter buses at the Mississippi School for the Deaf in Jackson. A total of 27 high school students traveled to participate in these two tournaments, as well as seven adult chaperones and coaches including: Chip Stirling, Gilbert Culpepper, Noel Haynes, Bryan Sipek, Jessica Jesgar Reed, Stacie Glatt, Jason Gray and Sonia Ceaser. Sadie Snyder and D. J. Carr won All Tournament recognition. The Boys’ Team won the Sportsmanship trophy. Girls basketball team Victoria Ward Megan Garig Ana Shelton Lauren Adams Sadie Snyder Taza Davis Frani Crotty Christell Wilson Laporcha Ardoin Tatiyanna Nelson Meri Goldman Boys basketball team Michael Williams Darryl Carr Adam Guy Rhett Leboeuf Garth Conner Devante Wilson Derion Savoie Ryan Poindexter Tim Sylvain Eric Scott Nelson Arce Quinten Ross Cheerleaders Arianna Lewis Destiny Adams Tameka Eackels Kenisha Lewis Jemmishela Logan Alberta Phillips

Parent-Staff Communication Tools Although LSD is a "second home" for most of our students, parents continue to be the primary educators of their children. LSD is committed to providing support for parents as we work together to provide the best education for our students. Parental involve-ment and communication between school and family are vital, but especially chal-lenging when a school serves such a large geographical area. Parent Communication Center: (http://72.159.111.232/jpweb/) This service enables parents to view their child's current attendance, discipline and grade reports. The first time you attempt to access this service, you must register for an account. If you need assistance with this, please contact our Admissions and Re-cords Office at (225) 757-3312. Emergency Text Messaging System: (www.e2campus.com/my/lalsd/) By registering for this service, which is provided free of charge to you, you will receive a text message on your cell phone and/or e-mail message in the event of any emer-gency situation. Go to the link above and follow the instructions to register. TipSubmit Anonymous Tip System: (https://www.tipsubmit.com/WebTips.aspx?AgencyID=751) If you have knowledge of any criminal activity involving the school, you can submit an anonymous tip online or using your cell phone. Please respect the fact that this is not a "suggestion box" or a forum for complaints, but a service meant to ensure the safety of LSD students, staff and property. To report a tip using your cell phone, send a text message to CRIMES (274637). The message must begin with "TIP751" fol-lowed by your tip. The tip should include as much information as possible.

Louisiana School for the Deaf P. O. Box 3074 Baton Rouge, LA 70821-3074

On Eagle’s Wings

The next edition of On Eagle’s Wings will be published in March, 2009. Anyone wishing to provide feedback or submit articles should contact Trish Mann at outreach@lalsd.org