THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409270130
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
NORFOLK STATE University sophomore Wanda Rozier spent part of her summer helping to bridge the communication gap. Not the gap between the sexes or the gap between the generations, but the communication gap between the hearing and the hearing-impaired.
Rozier taught American Sign Language to students in grades nine through 12 enrolled in the summer session of the Norfolk State University Upward Bound Program.
``It was a small step,'' Rozier said. ``But a great step.''
The Upward Bound Program is designed to help prepare low-income and minority students for college.
Rozier taught her students the American Sign Language alphabet, how to count to 100 (which is done using only one hand), and more than 345 word signs. During the program's closing banquet, her students performed Mariah Carey's song ``Hero'' in sign language.
An early childhood education major, Rozier said that at first she felt intimidated by the high schoolers, many who were bigger than she is, but ``every child I met was interesting and exciting,'' she said. ``They were wonderful.'' By the end of the summer session, she said, she was one of the students' favorite teachers.
Most of her students readily took to her instruction. ``People can't believe how easy it is,'' she said. ``But most people use signs everyday when they speak.''
Devorah Harper, director of the NSU Upward Bound Program, said the students were excited about their ``new-found ability to communicate with the hearing-impaired.'' Harper said she'd like to offer the classes for Upward Bound students in the future.
Rozier is taking a full load - 19 credits - this semester, plus she works part time at the school. She is interested in volunteering what spare time she does have to work with the hearing-impaired. She lives off-campus.
Rozier first learned American Sign Language as a child from her mother when a relative who was deaf moved in with the family. She often served as an interpreter for her brothers (she's the only girl in a family of six children), who had not learned the language.
But she said she lost the ability to sign for many years from lack of practice. She took lessons, locally, to regain her abilities.
``I don't use it in a hearing world,'' she said. ``I need to be in an environment where I can keep using what I have. I don't ever want to lose it again.''
To ensure that she doesn't ``lose it again,'' Rozier said she often signs along with the radio or the television. ``And most of the time when I talk, I'm signing,'' she said.
Rozier, who is ``from Florida, by way of Richmond,'' said she and her mother, who lives in Florida, are capable of holding conversations with each other in sign language.
Because of her interest in signing and her desire to teach at a school for the deaf, Rozier said she has been asked why she doesn't major in special education. But she feels that her early childhood education major, which will certify her to teach grades K through 4, will suit her needs well.
``My heart and desire is to teach young deaf children,'' she said.
Her desire for teaching she said was spawned by her high school math teacher. ``She was very powerful,'' she said. ``Powerful in the sense that she knew your capabilities and how to draw them out.''
``That's the kind of teacher I want to be. I want to shape young minds.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Wanda Rozier signs along with the radio or TV to keep her skill
sharp. ``I don't ever want to lose it,'' she says. by CNB