NEW TRUSTEE APPOINTED BY THE WILLIE ROSS SCHOOL
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
JUNE 23, 2008
At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Willie Ross
School for the Deaf, held Wednesday, June 18, 2008, at the Longmeadow
Campus of the school, Judge Daniel Swords, Chairperson of the
Nominating Committee, announced the election of a new trustee, Azell Murphy Cavaan.
Ms. Cavaan, who begins her three-year term on July 1, has had a
distinguished history serving in public service and in our area.
Currently she serves as the Communication Director for the Mayor of
Springfield. As Communications Director for the City of
Springfield, she is responsible for the direction, execution, and
management of internal and external communication strategies and plans
furthering the image and identity of the City of Springfield. In
her position there is expressed emphasis upon the city’s
financial, managerial, and cultural revitalization. Ms. Cavaan
graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, with a
Master’s degree in journalism; she received her undergraduate
degree from Northeastern University in journalism with a minor in
speech communication. She is a member of the Society of
Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black
Journalists and she holds an honorary appointment to the Massachusetts
Commission on the Status of Women to which she was appointed by the
Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators in 2007.
The annual meeting was chaired by Mr. Jay Primack, Vice-Chairperson of
the Board, and reports of the committee chairpersons were requested and
given. Judge Swords also presented the slate of officers for the
2008-2009 academic year, as follows: Attorney Susan Phillips,
Chairperson; James H. Ross, Jr., Treasurer; Barbara Garvey, Secretary.
Dr. Louis Abbate, Executive Director of the school, reported on the
many activities held in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the
school’s founding. The staff planned many celebratory
activities for the students in honor of the school, its founders, and
its accomplishments. The weekend of October 21st and 22nd was the
official celebration, first at the school where all of the students and
staff gathered to celebrate the school’s birthday and to meet
Mrs. Barbara Ross, founding parent and mother of Willie, for whom the
school is named. On Saturday, October 22nd, the Board of Trustees
held a 40th anniversary gala dinner at the colony Club with honored
guests Mrs. Ross, her son Stevens Ross, and John Ratzenberger, honorary
chairperson of the Board of Trustees, television personality, and
philanthropist.
May 5, 2008
Willie
Ross School for the Deaf in Longmeadow is pleased to announce that Karen
Stackow, Social Worker at the school for five years, will be
honored at the Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Awards Dinner at
the Log Cabin, Holyoke, on Thursday, May 8, 2008. This dinner and
awards ceremony is one of three events this spring honoring teachers in
Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties. The event is sponsored
by The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, the Harold Grinspoon
Charitable Foundation, Southworth Paper Company, Springfield
Republican, WGBY Channel 57, abc40, Channel 22, Meyers Bros &
Kalicka, STCU” credit union, and local YMCAs of Hampden County.
Ms. Stackow is being honored as Willie Ross School’s Teacher of the
Year for her many contributions to the Willie Ross students, ages 3 –
19, with whom she meets individually as well as in groups at all
levels. Since coming to Willie Ross School, she has made
significant and lasting contributions to the educational process for
these deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
Her particular interest in vocational training and transition has
resulted in very specific new, meaningful programs for students.
She has been the Will Ross School liaison to the Inclusive Concurrent
Enrollment program instituted by the Massachusetts Department of
Education. Students who would not normally qualify to attend
college are permitted to do so through this D.O.E. grant support.
Willie Ross School for the Deaf has students attending classes at
Holyoke Community College; this is the only private school
participating in this program. Karen Stackow has attended
planning meetings, driven students to orientation and classes, waited
to be sure they had transportation home, and shopped for art supplies,
to list but a few of her specific activities with this new
program. Without Ms. Stackow’s dedication, Willie Ross School’s
students would not have been able to participate in this innovative and
rewarding program.
For additional information, please contact Gregory DeLisle, Deputy
Executive Director, at 413.567.0374 Voice/TDD, or by email:
gdelisle@willierossschool.org.
March 19, 2008
On Friday, March 28, 2008, the
students and staff of the Willie
Ross School for the Deaf will continue to
celebrate the school’s 40th anniversary in a production by
the Little Theatre of the Deaf at the Furcolo
Student Center at the Longmeadow
Campus from 9:30-10:30. The
students from both the Longmeadow Campus and the Partnership Campus in East Longmeadow will attend the performance.
The Little Theatre of the Deaf is a touring
company which presents original and classic dramatic works in American
Sign Language and spoken English. It brings shows filled with fables,
fairytales, folktales, facts, and fun to all audiences.
This children’s theatre has performed at Willie Ross School
a number of times, and WRSD welcomes the theatre company as part of the
school’s 40th anniversary.
For additional information, please contact
Gregory DeLisle, Deputy Executive Director
of Willie
Ross School for the Deaf at
413.567.0374 Voice/TDD, gdelisle@willierossschool.org.
______________________________________________________________
WILLIE ROSS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, LONGMEADOW, MA
ANNOUNCES ITS 40TH
ANNIVERSARY WINTER FESTIVAL
On
Friday, February 8, 2008, anniversary celebrations continue at the
Longmeadow Campus of the school with a Winter Festival. The school is
celebrating the 40th anniversary of its founding by parents in 1967
with a series of events throughout the year specifically designed for
the students.
The
day begins with a performance in the Furcolo Student Center by the
Berkshire Hills Music Academy from 9:15 – 10:15. Students from
early childhood through high school will be attending the music
performance, and students from the East Longmeadow Partnership Campus
have been invited to attend this all-school event.
Following
the performance, students from early childhood through elementary will
stay to build 40 snow-children from snow or from poster board,
construction paper and felt. The snow-children will be fastened
to the Willie Ross School playground fence.
For
additional information, please contact Gregory DeLisle, Deputy
Executive Director, at 413.567.0374 Voice/TDD, or
gdelisle@willierossschool.org.
January
10, 2008
WILLIE
ROSS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF
40TH ANNIVERSARY ART EXHIBIT
Willie
Ross School for the Deaf, which is
celebrating the 40th anniversary of its
founding in year-long
events, announces that the 40th Anniversary Art Show,
“Looking
Forward, Looking Back” will
be open to the public on Thursday, January 17, 2008
at the Longmeadow Campus from 2:00 – 5:00.
Students at both campuses
have contributed their art projects, and Wing Hall in the
Founders Classroom Building
is the exhibition space, where paintings, drawings, and sculpture may
be seen. Some students did research about
well-known deaf individuals in the past, so
that they could portray these lives through art. Other
students focused forward on what their own lives might be in the future.
The art show is one of a
number of anniversary activities, planned specifically for the
students during this
academic year.
For additional information about the art
exhibit or the school’s anniversary, please contact Dr. Louis Abbate,
Executive Director, at 413.567.0374 or labbate@willierossschool.org.
WILLIE ROSS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF
CELEBRATES ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY
1967-2007
September, 2007
The Willie Ross School
for the Deaf in Longmeadow
is celebrating the anniversary of the 40th year of its founding during
the
2007-2008 academic year. Dr. Louis
Abbate, Executive Director of the School since 1985, announced the
focus of the
year as a celebration of our founding parents whose children were
deafened by
the maternal rubella epidemic in the United
States in 1964-1965, and as a time to applaud the
success
of Willie
Ross School
students in the decades since 1967. The
school was founded by this group of parents who wanted, above all, to
have
their children live at home and attend a day school, like their
brothers and
sisters. Far ahead of their time in
choosing an innovative model for their school, these parents broke
ground for
the school that has grown and changed in ways not even dreamed of four
decades
later.
The lead-off public event
was a Breakfast Salute by the
Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield on Wednesday,
September
5, 2007 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. abc40
in Springfield will honor the school with a Coffee Cup Salute in late
September, a time which Willie Ross School has
designated as School Spirit Week. A
photograph of all of the school’s present students is a part of that
week’s
activities.
The month of October
promises to be a very exciting one at
school, when the students and staff will welcome Mrs. Barbara Ross,
Willie’s
mother, and her son Stephen on October 19th, the date of the 40th
birthday
party for the school. The students and
staff will gather in the Furcolo Student Center at the Longmeadow
Campus for
birthday cake. An afternoon reception in
honor of Mrs. Ross and members of that first parents’ group, staff
members,
present families, and guests will be held at 3:00 in the Cooley
Administration
Building.
On October 20th, an
Anniversary Celebration Dinner will be
held at the Colony Club in Springfield, a time in which many of the
individuals, who have contributed to the school in countless ways over
the past
forty year, will come together to celebrate the school’s achievements. John Ratzenberger, Honorary Chairperson of
the school’s Board of Trustees is the Master of Ceremonies for the
evening’s
program immediately following dinner.
While
many of the events are especially for the school’s students, others are
open to
friends of the school.
For additional information, please
contact Dr. Louis Abbate
at 413.567.0374 Voice/TDD or labbate@willierossschool.org
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