Sean Forbes on PARADE
http://www.parade.com/news/backpage/mitch-albom/100714-finding-his-beat.html
- Thanks to Parade Magazine
Video: World’s First Deaf Teacher
TeacherTube Videos – World’s First Deaf Teacher
- Thanks to GV and DS
Disability not a deterrent for local woman as she pursues showing horses
When Lisa Osborne sits atop her 19-year-old horse, Sassy, she is a commanding presence. She rides with an air of confidence in the show ring at Clarksville 79 Riding Club, confidence that belies her inexperience.
“She’s going to go far. She’s doing great,” says her coach, Trina Phipps. “She wants to go to state this year, in her first year showing. That’s a lot in a few months, but you can’t stop her. She’s got a lot of energy and a lot of passion. I wish I had more students like her.”
Another thing that makes her unlike any student Phipps has had before: Osborne is deaf. She always longed to show horses, and finally gave in to that longing this spring. Because she can’t hear, she has to go to unusual lengths to understand instructions given in the show ring.
“When they make an announcement, I can hear the noise, but not the words,” Osborne said.
She and Phipps devised an iPhone to iPhone communication system, allowing Phipps to send Osborne instructions while in the ring. It’s not that big of a deal, Osborne said, and it frustrates her that some of her friends allow their disabilities to be deal breakers.
“It just takes time and patience to figure out what to do. I have deaf friends who say, ‘I can’t do this; I can’t do that.’ It makes me mad!” Osborne says. “I’ve always dreamed of being in a horse show. I’m 38 years old, and I’m finally in a horse show.”
From the looks of it, Osborne isn’t just in a horse show. She’s quickly rising to the top, placing in everything she enters.
“It’s really neat,” Osborne says. “I really like it.”
At her last show, she took first place on Sassy and third place on Cheyenne, a yearling filly that is as new to horse shows as Osborne is. Her next big show is the 2010 Ann Dean Open Money Show, set for 4 p.m. July 31 at Clarksville 79 Riding Club. Osborne says her mother, Kay Freeman, her husband, Scott Osborne and the whole club have been endlessly encouraging of her entry into the world of showing horses.
“It tickles me they’re willing to take their time to help me,” Osborne says.
But it’s Phipps who gives Osborne the most attention.
“She really takes all of her time and helps me get ready for the show,” Osborne says about her coach.
Phipps says she wishes she had more students with Osborne’s drive and determination.
“It’s mostly her. She does all the work herself,” Phipps says. “She puts up all her own fencing
. I went over there the other night and she was putting paneling in her horse trailer. She’s not going to wait for somebody to do it for her.”
Freeman says she is grateful for the individual attention Phipps offers her daughter.
“Where Trina has come in so much is teaching Lisa how to show Cheyenne, a filly she has in halter training,” Freeman says.
Taking on a yearling is “a big chore,” Phipps says, but her many years of experience dealing with horses makes it manageable.
“Horses’ body language is close to identical to a person’s,” Phipps says. “You can tell when they’re mad, you can tell when they’re hurt, you can tell when they’re irritated. Most of it is in their ears and their tail.”
And helping Osborne along is well worth the challenge of training a young horse.
“I just absolutely love working with her,” Phipps says. “She’s an awesome woman. For her and the disability she has, she doesn’t care. She’s going to do what she wants to do.”
- Written by Stacy Leiser of The Leaf Chronicle, June 23, 2010, http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20100623/LIFESTYLE/6230306/Charging-into-show-ring.
Ronald Lanier Reappointed to Director of VDDHH
Commonwealth of Virginia
Office of Governor Bob McDonnell
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2010
Contact: Stacey Johnson
Phone: (804) 225-4260
E-mail: Stacey.Johnson@Governor.Virginia.Gov
Governor McDonnell Announces Additional Appointments to Administration
RICHMOND – Governor Bob McDonnell today announced additional appointments to his administration under the Health and Human Resources, Natural Resources and Public Safety secretariats.
Bios for today’s appointments can be found below. Further announcements regarding additional appointments in the McDonnell Administration will continue to be made in the months ahead.
Health and Human Resources
Ronald Lanier, Director, Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Ron Lanier is currently serving as Director of the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH). He was appointed to this position by Governor George Allen in April 1997, and has served continuously under subsequent Governors, including the present Administration. He is a former Adjunct Faculty member of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSRCC) and Virginia Union University where he taught American Sign Language. Prior to his current position, he was Manager of the Technology Assistance Program at VDDHH, Job Placement Counselor for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at the Department of Rehabilitative Services, and a Social Worker with the City of Richmond Department of Social Services. Ron received his B.S. in Social Welfare from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He also pursued courses in Sign Language and Deaf Culture at VCU and JSRCC, in addition to graduate courses in Rehabilitation Counseling at VCU.
Ron serves on the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, and is a past Member of the Virginia Assistive Technology Council. He also serves on the Challenge Discovery Projects’ Board of Directors and represents the Office of Health and Human Resources on the Advisory Board for the NewWell Fund. He has served as a Member of the Court-Appointed Special Advocates and the Central Virginia Lions Hearing Aid Bank advisory boards. He is a member of the Virginia Association of the Deaf, Hearing Loss Association of America and Black Deaf Advocates. He is co-founder (1980) of the Richmond/Hampton Organization of the Deaf. He is former Chair of the Trustee Ministry of Cedar Street Baptist Church of God, where he also served two terms (4 years) as President of the Male Chorus and is former Secretary of the Men’s Ministry. He completed a term as a parent representative on the National Mission Advisory Panel for the Clerc Center at Gallaudet University. He is a 2001 graduate of VEI, a 2005 graduate of the Leadership Metro Richmond (LMR), and is former Vice-President of Membership of a local club of Toastmasters International. In 2006, he was selected to serve a two-year term on the National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Council (NDCD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is currently serving on the Advisory Board for the Partnership for People with Disabilities (PPD).
Ron is a native of Roanoke where, at age 7, he became hard of hearing as a result of an automobile accident. He is married and has one son, who is deaf, and two grandchildren, one of whom is also deaf. He also mentored deaf youth in his community.
Raymond Hopkins, Commissioner, Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired
Raymond “Ray” Hopkins is presently the Commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired. He was initially appointed to this position effective July 1, 2008. Prior to joining the Commonwealth’s government, Hopkins was involved in administration and delivery of rehabilitation services at the national and state levels.
Hopkins was employed by the US Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration, from 2004 through 2008 where he oversaw the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facility Program, an entrepreneurial program serving persons who are blind. Prior to that Hopkins was the Administrator of the Division of Visual Services, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.
Hopkins, a native Oklahoman, holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Arts in Rehabilitation of the Blind from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Hopkins has served in leadership roles with several professional organizations including the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind (NCSAB), the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) and the Blind Entrepreneurs Alliance. Additionally, he has been honored by various disability groups and service organizations.
Hopkins and his wife, Lavinia, live in Henrico County, Virginia and are the parents of three adult children.
James Rothrock, Commissioner, Department of Rehabilitative Services
James A. Rothrock, a native of Martinsville, Virginia, has been involved with disability advocacy and programming for more than 40 years. Since 2002, he has served as the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS), an agency where he also has served as a counselor, training coordinator, and deputy commissioner. In 1965, he began his relationship with DRS when he became a client after a sledding accident which resulted in a Spinal Cord Injury.
Prior to his current position, Rothrock represented a wide array of disability programs at the state level and was responsible for legislation and budgetary actions which expanded the menu of services to Virginians with disabilities. He has been an adjunct faculty member at VCU and continues to serve there in a variety of advisory roles.
Rothrock has served on numerous community boards for private non-profit organizations in the Richmond area (Housing Opportunities Made Equal, A Grace Place, and CultureWorks). He is a graduate of St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and obtained his Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1978. A resident of Henrico County, Rothrock lives with his wife, Jane.
Polly Franks Sweeney, Special Advisor to the Governor on Disability Issues for the Workforce
Polly Frank’s life experience with disabilities, combined with her experience as an advocate, will help her advise the Governor on disability issues and the workforce. Polly has served as an advocate for victims of violent crime, particularly childhood sexual abuse since 1995. Her commitment to this cause stems from her experience as the mother of two children who were victimized by a former neighbor and family friend who turned out to be a convicted serial predator from another state. During his crime spree between 1982 to1998, this predator was linked to a minimum of 286 incidents of sexual crimes. Although she is in a wheelchair, Polly became a licensed private investigator for the sole purpose of bringing this predator to justice. He is now in prison for life without parole.
Since that time, she has testified before Congress and lobbied on Capitol Hill for tougher sex offender laws, such as the nationwide Amber Alert bill and the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act.
In 2006, Polly created the Franks Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting America’s children from sexual predators. She is a also a founding board member of the National Coalition of Victims in Action. Polly is a graduate of Bluefield College. She and her husband Patrick are the very proud parents of three grown daughters, a menagerie of animals (their four-legged children) and a host of “honorary” sons and daughters.
Natural Resources
Frances Boswell, Confidential Assistant for Administration to the Director, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
Frances Boswell has served at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for 36 years. She is the License Accounting Supervisor responsible for the collection of $20 million in hunting and fishing license fee revenue representing 40% of the agency’s annual revenue. In 2006, she implemented the agency’s E-LARS electronic license accounting records system for print-on-demand hunting and fishing licenses. She attended J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. She resides with her husband in Short Pump in western Henrico County.
Public Safety
Erika Fischer, Director, Governor’s Office of Substance Abuse Prevention
Erika Fischer served under Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s administration as the Hampton Roads Community Outreach Coordinator. There she specialized in public safety community relations and coalition building, managing the Class Action program to expand and improve the prevention of gang violence and substance abuse throughout regional schools and communities. Additionally, she coordinated management of regional TRIAD efforts to educate and protect senior citizens, partnering with law enforcement, Council for Aging, and consumer protection agencies. Fischer graduated from Virginia Tech in 1998, earning a Bachelors of Arts degree in political science and history. She went on to earn her Masters of Arts degree in political management from George Washington University in 2003. Fischer resides in Norfolk.
Debra Gardner, Chief Deputy Director, Department of Criminal Justice Services
Debra Gardner has more than 27 years of public service experience. Twenty-three years of this service has been with the Commonwealth of Virginia at the Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program. Her career with the Commission on VASAP began in 1988 as the Alcohol Safety Action Program Supervisor. In 1992 she was appointed to the position of Deputy Executive Director, and as Executive Director of the Agency in 2003. She has also taught as an adjunct professor in graduate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Gardner received her Bachelors Degree in Sociology from North Carolina Central University and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. She resides in Chesterfield County with her daughter Katia.
VSDB athlete makes school history in sports, academics
STAUNTON — When it comes to both athletics and academics, Cyron Stokes has reached plateaus not achieved by any other student in the 171-year history of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.
In basketball, the deaf all-American holds the all-time school scoring record of 1,824 points. And academically, while being the top student in his class, he is the first athlete at the school ever enrolled in advanced placement calculus.
It is not surprising the Cardinals have selected him as their nominee for the City/County Student-Athlete of the Year Award, sponsored by The News Leader and Elliott Chevrolet.
Although he excels in basketball, Stokes doesn’t limit his activities to that sport. He will graduate with four letters in basketball, but also three in soccer and two in track.
Naturally, basketball is his favorite.
“I grew up playing basketball,” he said through an interpreter. “It’s always fascinated me. It matches my skill sets.”
On the court, Stokes was a scoring machine. Several times this year he had 40-plus point games, and ended with an average of over 24 per contest.
He began playing the sport on a recreation team while in the first grade, and when he came to VSDB as a freshman, he immediately joined the varsity squad.
Although he was a center, he could easily take over for a player at another position who was struggling.
“I knew I had the ability,” he said. “I could do just about anything on the basketball court.”
Stokes has been awarded for his accomplishments, being named to the Mason-Dixon all-tournament team in each of his four years, and this season he was selected as a deaf all-American. He also played for the deaf East all-star squad in a national game, which was played in Louisville.
“That’s a really special memory,” he said. “It was a lot of fun, and I played well. My heart jumps when I think about that.”
He was also only one of four high school athletes selected to play in the World Deaf Championships to be competed in Poland this summer, but will not be able to participate because of lack of funding.
In soccer, Stokes has been an active offensive player, but took over as goalie this year when there was an injury. He used the fall sport to stay in shape for basketball.
“He’s a good leader,” said VSDB soccer coach Lindsay Burris. “He really supports younger team members. He tries to pull up their playing abilities.
“When he took over as goalie, his height was a strength. He covered the goal, but he was also a good offensive person.”
 |
| VSDB’s Cyron Stokes, center, runs the 100-meter dash in 12.82 seconds as his team competes at the Waynesboro Invitational at Waynesboro High School on March 31. |
In track, Stokes runs the 100 and 200 meters, as well as a leg on the 400-meter relay team.
“I like the 200 the best,” he said. “The 100 is too short, and the 400 is too long.”
In the classroom, Stokes is No. 1 in a senior class of 21, and holds down a 3.9 grade point average.
Besides AP calculus, he has taken a dual enrollment class in business at Blue Ridge Community College.
“It was different at Blue Ridge,” he said. “But I enjoyed it, and it was a good experience.”
Stokes said he has been influenced by his family and teachers to be a good student.
“They have encouraged me to use my talents,” he said.
Although a star in basketball, Stokes is disciplined in his priorities.
“I think they have to be balanced,” he said of his athletics and academics. “Skills on the court and in the classroom are the same. But school is more important than basketball.
“I wanted to prepare myself for college,” he said. “I just couldn’t ignore my school work. I had to be ready.”
Stokes has been involved in numerous extracurricular activities.
He has been a representative to the student council, and has participated in drama club activities. He is also president of the Varsity Club.
Through his junior year, he worked at Wendy’s, but conflicts with BRCC and an increased academic load forced him to give up that job.
Stokes has received a partial scholarship to Gallaudet University where he will play basketball and major in mathematics.
“As a deaf student, it is a better match for me,” he said of his college selection.
He is also looking forward to playing his sport at the higher level.
“It will be at a very different skill level,” his basketball coach Cliff Watson said through an interpreter. “But I have been impressed with his work ethic. He always hustles and gives 100 percent.”
Although he loves basketball, Stokes, who has limited hearing, likes to listen to music vibrations when he is by himself. And it has caught on with other students.
“Other students couldn’t hear the melody, but could hear the beat,” he said. “They saw me do it, so they decided to do it on their own.”
VSDB athletic director Wayne Hite thinks Stokes will be a success at the next level.
“He’s always there to encourage others to be better,” he said. “In my 10 years here, I rate him at the top of the list as a student-athlete.”
- Written by Ken Bosserman • Sports Writer • May 25, 2010, http://www.newsleader.com/article/20100525/SPORTS/5250330/1006/SPORTS/VSDB-athlete-makes-school-history-in-sports–academics.
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