Bouncing, painted children celebrate Deaf Heritage Day
by Paul Matson, reporter

    NW Campus held Deaf Heritage Day for several hundred hearing impaired children last week.

    “You can do anything you want if you persevere,” Raylene Lotz, Miss Deaf Texas, said when opening the festival.

    “Abraham Lincoln was not elected to public office the first time he ran, but he continued to run until he was finally elected to the senate and then to the presidency,” she said.

    Ellen Lee, student, said the event brings together students from several different schools around the area.

    “These children usually get to see each other only once a year, and this way they get to renew friendships. It also allows NW campus student signers to interact with the deaf community, practicing signing skills and learning a little more about the profession they are training for,” she said. “Signing takes months and months of hard work, but it’s worth it when you see these kids.”

    Lee said that Deaf Heritage Day also invites celebrities to make children and others aware of the deaf community.

    Outside, several games were set up for entertainment. Students seemed to enjoy the football and baseball toss, the volleyball court, face painting and exhibits from the Saginaw Police and Fort Worth Fire Department.

    Inside, were puppet shows and Regenia Davis, the Deaf Fairy Tale Princess, signing fairy tales for the younger crowd.

    Davis, who is deaf but can speak, writes all her own fairy tales.

    “There are no deaf fairy tales with deaf characters. I write my tales about families with disabilities and how they react to certain situations,” she said. “I write my fairy tales in a context that shows the deaf can succeed at anything.”