DHHproud 2024: Thanks for Joining Us!

The event unofficially began on April 21st, when 23 students and 12 TDHHs from all over the province flew (or sailed) in and gathered at the nearby Cactus Club for dinner. They were joined by a smaller group of younger students and parents who came down as participants of the Outreach Satellite pilot Program – we’ll share more in one of the upcoming newsletters. All in all, there were 51 students and adults, sitting at 3 long tables and enjoying lovely food and each other’s company.

   

April 22nd, DHHproud – Showcase – a proud celebration of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Identity through ASL poetry, DHH art and Spotlight competitions: This year’s theme was “What is My DHH Superpower? 125 students from 19 school districts and the BCSD embraced their inner DHH Superhero and revealed their superpowers via ASL Poetry, DHH Art and Spotlight presentations. The live event featured a record 27 Spotlight contestants (grades 6-12) and 4 ASL Poetry contestants in grades 8 -12.

The ASL poetry K-7 and DHH Art K-12 contributions were submitted electronically and judged a few days earlier. You can watch them here:

21 of 48 ASL Poetry contestants

Special thanks, in no particular order:
The Burnaby Board of Education and Burnaby Schools Leadership; the contestants, parents and teachers; Karim Mansouri (himself a contestant on this stage some years back), who not only emceed flawlessly, but also gave a crash course in ASL handshapes during intermissions;  Teanna Kay, last year’s Spotlight winner, who gave a few pointers to the participants (and reminded them to breathe!), the judges:  Douglas Lambert, Hester Hussey, Elizabeth Mathers, Jenifer Ashton, Sarah Taylor, Amar Mangat, Donna Burdick and Ingrid Potter, who worked hard to pick the best of the best; Mahsa Soufi and JMJ Eagle Tech for A/V and goodies; the Accessibility Team – Accurate Realtime Captioning and ASL interpreters Sharon and Rebekah; Rob Pottinger and the Burnaby South Economics Class that provided delicious lunch, and the MJF Theatre staff.

In the afternoon, our participants from out of Lower Mainland districts took a tour of the Victory Hill Dorm, played games, and enjoyed burgers and more with their new and old BCSD friends.

April 23rd, DHHproud – Friendship Day: A record 261 K-12 DHH students and 135 teachers/chaperones  from 23 districts across the province joined us at the Science World for a morning filled with science for all ages, fun, friendship, and pizza. That is one fifth of all the DHH student population in all of BC!
We cannot thank the Science World Team and Donors enough, without whose knowledge, organization, patience and support this event could not have happened.

Terry Maloney welcomes all the students and teachers to the Friendship Day as the Science World team prepares for a science demo

Science World experiences would not be possible without the generous support of:

Proceeds from Science of Cocktails
Teekay Shipping
Wells Fargo
And the financial assistance of the Province of British Columbia

We would also like to thank Mimi from Fresh Slice Pizza who single–handedly delivered 90 delicious pizzas to feed us all after all the sciencing was done!

BCSD Elementary students getting ready to explore