AGBMS/AEHI Gala

Today Mary-Beth and I went to the AGBMS/AEHI Gala at the Hilton Northbrook Hotel.

AGBMS (Alexander Graham Bell Montessori School - www.agbms.org) is supported by AEHI (Alternatives in Education for the Hearing Impaired - www.aehi.org).

Ben Lachman's parents (a deaf native cuer) had struggles with the public school systems with the core of the issue mainstreaming Ben in the local elementary school. The school system won the lawsuit, which indicated that the school system had the right to place a deaf child in the appropriate program regardless of location. Essentially Ben had to ride a special bus or have arrangements to be dropped off at a school further away which had a deaf and hard of hearing program.

As a result of this lawsuit, Ben's parents went on to found AEHI and help found AGBMS. Ben is one of many cuers that graduated from AGBMS and moved on to mainstream education. I saw the school myself and realized that the school was in a commercial-type building originally intended for an business office. While sitting in on the AEHI's board meeting (I was in town for business), I saw the board members at work ensuring that AGBMS had all the support it needed and preparing for the big transition to a new location. At this time a new school building is being built next to the Chicago Executive Airport.

This was my first experience meeting people who have a deep connection to AGBMS. For instance, I met two deaf cuers who went through the program. They both seemed really interested in getting involved in advocacy and taking part in the Adult Deaf/HoH workshop. Now MB and I have found more motivation to get the ball rolling in terms of starting monthly events for cuers. I just need to get back to my project with the Adult Deaf Cuers Committee, which is proving to be more of a challenge than I expected.

Another item on my list of things to do is take the CAECS-E and the national certification exam. If I pass both, I'll officially be certified as an instructor in Cued Speech. The next certification exam is in Cleveland, Ohio, where the next NCSA board meeting takes place. That reminds me of yet another task to carry out: creating amendments to the bylaws. The life of a board member. At this point, people should be part of a pool to see how long it takes for me to get burned out.