RMS seventh graders, pictured from left: Nick Vlasto, Della Goodman, Meredith Kenny, Maddy Walsh, Sage Ruttenberg, and Sofia Rodrigues.
Hearing the World
By Annette McLoughlin
Every Friday in Debra Aronson’s seventh-grade American Sign Language class is reserved for lessons in deaf culture. A few months back, the theme for the week was hearing aids and cochlear implants. After discussing how hearing aids can help those who are deaf, as well as those who are hard-of-hearing, Ms. Aronson showed a video clip of a young man named Justin Osmond. Diagnosed with 90% hearing loss at age 2, Justin ran 250 miles in ten days to fundraise for children in need of hearing aids and raised enough money to provide 25. It was this act of selflessness and determination that inspired Ms. Aronson’s big-hearted students to immediately organize and run a fundraiser almost entirely on their own. “The students took it upon themselves to make a difference in this world,” said their proud teacher.
Settling on a T-shirt sale as their project, the seventh graders came up with the slogan, “A Chance for Change” on the front with a globe, and on the back, the words ‘I LOVE YOU’ in sign language hand symbols along with the words, “Hearing Aids for Africa” just below.” They enlisted sponsors to pay for the production of the T-shirts and printed their names in each finger. Ms. Aronson supervised throughout but kept her distance to encourage the students’ independence, ingenuity, and creativity.
“On their own, the students brainstormed, designed the shirt, wrote a business letter asking for support, and reached out to Custom Ink. I had very little to do with this project, other than checking their spelling and grammar,” she said.
The students raised the money for the production costs from local supporters and sold 95 shirts over the course of three days, raising $1,660. The money will purchase and support ten hearing aids for children in Africa through a foundation called Hear the World. They exceeded their initial goal of $1,495, thanks to the generous support of teachers and fellow students.
If these children are representative of their generation, the world is in very good ha
RMS seventh graders, pictured from left: Nick Vlasto, Della Goodman, Meredith Kenny, Maddy Walsh, Sage Ruttenberg, and Sofia Rodrigues.
