The upcoming 2022-23 school year marks the 10th anniversary of the Escuela de Educación Especial de San Miguel de Allende A.C. (EEESMA). This significant milestone is being commemorated through a year-long calendar of 10 special events, some familiar and some new and exciting.
Our first special event showcases both the familiar and the new. We are launching a design contest to revamp our logo. As we reflect on the school’s growth over the past decade and prepare for the evolving needs of the future, we want to ensure that our community understands who we are, what we do and whom we serve. Our new logo will be a powerful visual tool to communicate that message.
A prize of $2,000 Mexican pesos or US$100 is being offered, along with a sterling silver pin bearing a rendering of the logo, created by the students in the school’s accomplished jewelry making workshop. The contest is open to all. Submissions will be accepted until June 15, 2022. The winning design will be announced on June 30, 2022. Full contest details are available on our website at www.eeesma.com.
The other nine events planned for the “Celebration of the Decade” include an incredible on-line silent auction in October, an initiative honoring the Deaf community on Day of The Deaf in November and of course our magnificent Robert Burns Supper in January. Watch for those announcements as you won’t want to miss them!
Exact dates and pertinent details will also appear on our website as they are finalized. We hope you will join us for some or all of the planned events as we honor all our former and current students and their families, staff, volunteers, and supporters whose commitment, dedication and hard work have paved the way that we continue to follow today.
EEESMA was established in August of 2012 by a local group of concerned citizens. There were then, and still are, no publicly funded schools for Deaf children in the State of Guanajuato. Their only option was to attend public school with hearing students, where they received no sign language instruction and very limited support. EEESMA was founded to help deaf children in San Miguel and the surrounding areas to become literate, independent, and productive citizens who set and achieve life goals. The school would not exist without the donations, grants and fundraising programs supported by private donors in Mexico and abroad, for which we are eternally grateful.
If you know of a child who experiences hearing loss, please reach out for help as soon as possible. Early intervention and language development for a deaf child will end their quiet isolation, strengthen their linguistic, cognitive and psychosocial skills and help facilitate their integration within their families and communities.
When we improve children’s futures we improve our own, and that’s worth celebrating!
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Activities at EEESMA have been plentiful. Most recently the students have enjoyed some educational and enjoyable field trips. Please check out the photos and the video that accompany this report.
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A day each November is set aside as a special day to commemorate Day of the Deaf in Mexico. This year at EEESMA it was a low key affair with film, art, games and grilled burgers and hot dogs served outdoors. This day gives the students an opportunity to focus on what makes their Deaf community unique, celebrate their language (Mexican Sign Language) and provide awareness to the hearing community as to what it means to be Deaf. For example:
Why big D vs little d? A person who identifies as being Deaf with an uppercase D is indicating that they are culturally Deaf and belong to the Deaf community. Most Deaf people are sign language users who have been deaf all of their lives. For Deaf people in Mexico, Spanish is a second language and as such they may have a limited opportunity to learn to read and write Spanish. And this is certainly the case for many children in Mexico where a school providing instruction in sign language is, in the majority of cases, unavailable to them.
Deaf Culture Social Club was organized for the first time by the older students of EEESMA on November 13th. Activities were proposed, discussed and decided upon by the students themselves. Included were chess, Jenga, fuzbol, movies, video games, and just plain old socializing! Future activities being considered are films with closed captioning, motivational speakers with sign language translation, and perhaps even music appreciation. The goal is to have the students responsibly organize their own social activities on a regular basis, outside of school, in a safe environment , enabling them to share time with other young people within their own Deaf Community. Let us applaud them and wish them success!
We wish to introduce Elidia When it was time to bring on a new teacher's assistant, the Board of Trustees at EEESMA decided that the best way forward was to hire someone with acceptable skills and credentials living in the San Miguel community. It would be necessary to train that person, teach them sign language, and help them develop the special education skills required; all while on the job. No small task. A collaboration with NGO, Jóvenes Adelante, introduced EEESMA to Elidia. Having recently graduated from university with a Degree in Education, she is currently assisting Juaniz, Director and primary school teacher, with her young charges. Please join us in welcoming Elidia to EEESMA
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After over a year of holding classes virtually, Spring holds the promise of re-opening to in-person learning at EEESMA. A target date of May 31st has been set. Teachers and staff received their shots against Covid-19 in early May and are feeling excited and confident to return together. On May 17th, Dia de los Maestros (Teachers Day) gave students and board members the opportunity to celebrate the amazing things EEEMSA teachers have accomplished despite the pandemic. Flowers for the ladies, chocolates for Diego and "Felicidades!" to each and every one of our wonderful teachers!
As a typically energetic and curious six-year-old, Jacobo attends primary school at EEESMA and is learning Mexican sign language for the first time in his young life. Jacobo and his family live in a rural community about an hour bus ride from school. When classes resume, he will rise at 6am with his mother and younger hearing sister to arrive at school at 8am, but he doesn’t mind because his eagerness to learn translates to a love of school. During his first few years, prior to Covid, integration to school was understandably a challenge for Jacobo because of his inability to communicate his needs. Learning sign language has changed that. He is now better able to participate in social activities, even online, and it will be a happy day for Jacobo when he can finally be back at school.
It is with great pride we announce two young deaf women, Fernanda and Juanita, have successfully transitioned from the Vocational Training programs at school to a fulltime employment opportunity! May 11th was Fernanda’s and Juanita’s first day on the job at Fiaga, a retail clothing store which operates its own sewing workshop. Working together as a team, the young women will support each other as they face the challenges of employment in the hearing world, something very new and strange to them. The students continue to learn that deafness does not preclude them from pursuing their dreams and will certainly not hold them back. Please join us in wishing them success!
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