February 2017
Dear Deaf Californians,
Can you believe how 2016 had gone by so quickly? CAD Board officers have been extremely busy with an amazing list of accomplishments and work in progress. Their work is powerful and impactful, causing ripples of systematic changes and paradigm shifts throughout the state and the nation. Our work is felt beyond the boundaries of California!
Imagine that Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) started as a movement of CAD in collaboration with NorCal Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (NorCal). LEAD-K has taken a life of its own. California is the first state to pass the LEAD-K law with SB 210 in 2015. Few months later, in 2016, Kansas and Hawaii passed their LEAD-K laws. During September 2016 over 20 state representatives came to Sacramento, California, for the first national LEAD-K summit, where they received legislative training. Now 23 more states are working on their LEAD-K movement. There is nothing more powerful than witnessing Deaf people in the driver’s seat with policy making and legislative work to improve Deaf education. To learn more about LEAD-K, visit www.LEAD-K.org.
We also challenged Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) about their funding of NCHAM/EHDI, which Dr. Karl White manages. Our letter to MCHB resulted in three online meetings and one meeting in person during the EHDI 2016 conference. Now there will be a mandate to have Deaf stakeholders in future RFPs. We also alerted the nation about CAD’s position with EHDI Reauthorization bill–we ask for you Deaf Californians to oppose the bill unless it is amended with recommendations written by Sheri Ann Farinha.
During 2016, the CAD board members had experienced so many challenges–Yet, we all stayed together as a family accomplishing our dreams and goals for CAD. Please do take the time to review CAD’s 2016 highlights and accomplishments.
We look forward to continuing our work in 2017, especially at the CAD Conference during September 28th-30th at the Hilton Arden West Hotel in Sacramento. Thank you for all your support!
CAD Board of Directors
Julie Rems-Smario, CAD President
Marla Hatrak, Vice President
Deanne Bray, Secretary
Dodi Ellis, Treasurer
Julia Velasquez, Membership Director
Shelley Stout, Northern California Representative at Large
Kavita Pipalia, Southern California Representative at Large
CAD’s MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS
JANUARY 2016
CAD’s ARCHIVES FOUND AND PRESERVED
January 6th–CAD started 2016 with a very special surprise! Julie Glenn and her spouse drove from CSUN in Los Angeles area to Sacramento to drop off CAD archives which will be preserved and stored at NorCal Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Thank you, Julie and David Glenn for your ongoing dedication and commitment to CAD! The old notes by our past CAD officers go all the way to 1906!!
CAD BOARD RETREAT
January 22-24th–CAD hosted a weekend-long board retreat at Marla Hatrak’s lovely home in San Diego to transfer leadership knowledge and documents from the old officers to the new officers. We are already missing Alyce Reynolds, Erika Thompson, Nancy Hlibok Amann, and Patricia Branz very much! They transferred their board responsibilities to CAD’s newly elected officers: Shelley Stout, Kavita Pipalia, Deanne Bray, and Matthew Sampson.
Alyssa Romano did a wonderful job as our retreat facilitator with Jennifer Willey as our retreat assistant. David Prince, the chef, took wonderful care of us with his scrumptious food!
FEBRUARY 2016
CAD SPONSORED NORCAL’s CRAB FEED
February 6th–In Sacramento, CAD sponsored and attended NorCal Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Annual Crab Feed to show our appreciation for their CEO, Sheri Ann Farinha, and NORCAL’s ongoing support for CAD with their services such as legal and financial advices from their attorney and CPA. Senator Galgiani, who sponsored California’s LEAD-K bill, SB 210, was honored at the event. CAD President volunteered as the auctioneer. At the end, CAD was surprised with an award of appreciation from NorCal for our SB 210 accomplishments.
CAD CHALLENGED STARKEY FOUNDATION
February 7th— During the day before the Super Bowl game in the Bay Area, Starkey Foundation promoted “inspiration porn” by making a media circus out of giving free hearing aids to the Deaf children. One family walked out, and several families felt as if they had been exploited for the company’s publicity gain. Clare Cassidy, one of the parents who walked out was featured in the DeafLife magazine and another parent, Stefanie Ellis, wrote an open letter to Starkey. To support the families, CAD also wrote an open letter to Starkey Foundation, calling them out for this inappropriate public relations event. The media responded in our favor.
The Daily Moth February 17, 2016
https://www.facebook.com/TheDailyMoth/posts/486650738203498
California Association of the Deaf’s Concerns With Starkey Hearing Foundation
CAD ENDOWMENT
February 10th–CAD appointed three trustees to start up the CAD Endowment with $1,000,000 from the sales of CAD’s property in Arcadia: Clark Brooke, Denise Sidansky, and Sulghi Hong. Deaf Seniors Foundation of Palm Springs and CAD signed an MOU to turn over their funds of $50,000 to CAD’s Endowment with the funds specifically for the Senior Citizens of Southern California. We are so fortunate to have strong leaders as our trustees to protest CAD’s assets.
MARCH 2016
TOWN HALL MEETING ABOUT RID AND NAD ISSUES
March 6–Dodi Ellis, CAD Treasurer represented us at the joint town hall meeting with NorCRID and DCARA to address the concerns about RID and NAD.
CSDR ACADEMIC BOWL TEAM WON
March 6th–One of the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, (CSDR) Academic Bowl coaches, Alyssa Romano, had asked CAD to sponsor the team and Julie Rems-Smario, the President of CAD, to help the CSDR team so so more students from Riverside can participate. Some of the students stayed at Julie’s house in Pleasanton during the competition. CAD also sponsored the team. The CSDR team won the regional finals at CSD. Congratulations, Cubs! We are happy to be able to help out because we understand the importance of investing in our future generations of Deaf leaders.
CAD HAD A STRONG PRESENCE AT EHDI
March 13-15–CAD coordinated the #WhyISign campaign which was launched during EHDI Conference in San Diego. The entire CAD Board was involved hosting the booth to promote #whyIsign and to host and co-host events in Deaf spaces during the evenings for the Deaf participants and friends.
CAD SUPPORTED 7th ANNUAL CULINARY BOWL
March 21–CAD Youth Co-Chairs, Tanya Polstra and Stephanie Johnston, did a FABULOUS job representing CAD during the 7th Annual Culinary Bowl at California School for the Deaf. CAD is a proud sponsor of this FEAST event.
CAD, SCRID, AND GLAD COMMUNITY FORUM
March 26th— Kavita Pipalia, our Director-at-Large of Southern California hosted a joint town hall meeting about interpreting issues with GLAD CEO, Patty Hughes, and Peggy Huber, President of SCRID. The meeting took place at GLAD building in Eagle Rock and established a task force committee to develop California state standard certification.
MAY 2016
DEAF GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT RALLY
May 9th— CAD sponsored California’s Deaf Grassroots’ National Deaf Rights Rally at the Capitol building in Sacramento. There was a large turnout.
CSUN DEAF STUDIES GRADUATION
May 20th–CSUN Deaf Studies Graduates Award Ceremony: CAD had the opportunity to be part of CSUN’s Deaf Studies incredible ceremony honoring the class of 2016. CAD President was invited as a guest speaker. It was a great honor to be working with the chair of the Deaf Studies Department, Dr. Flavia Fleischer, who carried her father’s legacy to greater heights.
JUNE 2016
STATEWIDE BOARD MEETING IN NEWARK
June 4th–CAD Statewide meeting hosted in Newark, California. Marla Hatrak did a terrific job coordinating the meeting! Afterwards the Board officers and members went to Mozzeria for dinner!
JULY 2016
NAD CONFERENCE
July 4th-9th–National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Conference-Three Delegates: Nancy Hlibok, Terrylene Sacchetti, and Marla Hatrak went to NAD Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Shelley Stout also attended as an alternative. Marla gave a workshop about language acquisition and LEAD-K. Sheri Ann Farinha, who is also one of our past CAD Presidents, received the Federick C. Schreiber Distinguished Service Award from NAD President Chris Wagner for her lifetime achievement as an advocate. Congratulations Sheri Ann Farinha! Thank you for all the work you have done for us for over 30 years!
NAD YOUTH AMBASSADOR PROGRAM (YAP)
Our CAD youth ambassador 2015-2017, Joshua Mora, did a wonderful job at NAD’s Youth Ambassador Program (YAP) with his #SignB4Five campaign about language acquisition rights. We are also proud of Elena Mayer, CAD’s past youth ambassador (2013-2015) and NAD’s outgoing YAP 2014-2016. Elena and Joshua are the future leaders of CAD.
CAD SUPPORTS KODAWEST
Because most of the Deaf adults have hearing children, we believe in raising them with healthy identities with American Sign Language. We sponsored their summer camp event.
AUGUST 2016
CSD HAD THEIR SUPERINTENDENT REMOVED
August 16, 2016–#TakeBackCSD protest dominated the month of August with help from three major organizations: Association of Families, Teachers and Counselors (AFTC), SEIU 1000 (union), and CAD. CAD sponsored the protestors with food and water. The protestors successfully removed Dr. Virnig as Superintendent. Soon the search for new superintendent will begin.
Fremont: School for the Deaf staff seeks superintendent’s ouster – East Bay Times
SEPTEMBER 2016
NATIONAL LEAD-K SUMMIT
September 7th-8th–LEAD-K hosted a national summit in Sacramento to provide legislative training to representatives from 23 states interested in passing LEAD-K bills. LEAD-K also created a new logo for this national movement.
LEGISLATIVE ANALYST OFFICE REPORT
September 21st–Ryan Anderson, who had completed the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) 2016 Deaf Education Report, invited CAD and California Coalition of Option Schools (CCOS) as the first community organizations to receive this report about Deaf Education in California. While the report has some good information, CAD has concerns about both the misrepresentation of Deaf education and inaccuracy of information about Deaf children’s education in California. CAD’s response to this report will be one of 2017 priorities.
CAD’s 0-5 LANGUAGE POLICY COMMITTEE
September 23rd-25th–Co-chaired by Marla Hatrak and Laura T. Petersen, a team of 12 people focused on developing language policy and an advocacy roadmap for Deaf children ages 0-5 in California. The taskforce meeting was three-day long which took place at NorCal Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Funding is made possible by CSUN.
It was rewarding to to work with a wonderful team of people thinking outside of the box for our Deaf babies. This is a dream artwork by Terrylene, Rachel Narr, and Apryl Chauran at at CAD’s O- 5 Language Policy for Deaf Children Task Force.
OCTOBER 2016
CAD STATEWIDE BOARD MEETING IN LOS ANGELES
October 2nd— CAD hosted its statewide Board meeting in Los Angeles at GLAD. Kavita Pipalia did a wonderful job as our hostess!
CSDR WELCOMES NEW SUPERINTENDENT
October 5th — CSDR invited CAD officers, including Southern California CAD Chapter, as special guests at the Superintendent Investiture to honor Dr. Nancy Hlibok. Nancy was CAD’s Board officer as the Secretary during 2013-15. We are so proud of YOU, Nancy!
NOVEMBER 2016
BABDA OPEN FORUM ABOUT VRS
November 6th–Bay Area Black Deaf Advocates (BABDA) invited NorCal CEO, Sheri Ann Farinha, and CAD President, Julie Rems-Smario, to their community forum about their concerns regarding VRS’ treatment to Deaf people of color. The forum was held at the NorCal Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
NYLE DIMARCO FOUNDATION
November 29th–CAD sponsored and worked with the Nyle Dimarco Foundation Fundraiser in Beverly Hills. Most of the Board officers attended! CAD President, Julie Rems-Smario, served as LEAD-K’s PR director and auctioneer. Our Past CAD President, Sheri Ann Farinha, co-chaired this phenomenal event. KUDOS to everyone for a job well done to promote awareness about the benefits of language acquisition with ASL and English for Deaf children. CAD’s Secretary, Deanne Bray, works with Nyle DiMarco as co-spokespersons for LEAD-K. To learn more about Nyle DiMarco’s foundation, www.NyleDimarcoFoundation.com.
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January 2017
January 6th & 7th–As soon as the holidays ended, there was no moment for rest. CAD’s Central California Chapter hosted the CAD Statewide forum on January 6th and business meeting on January 7th at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center (DHHSC) in Fresno. It was a wonderful and productive meeting with the Deaf people of Fresno. We even celebrated CAD’s 111st birthday with a beautiful cake! Afterwards, we continued CAD’s birthday celebration at Dave & Buster’s restaurant.
January 10th— SB 210 ad hoc committee has its second meeting in Sacramento which was organized by Sheri Ann Farinha. There will be two more meetings this year.
January 15th & 16th— CAD 0-5 Language Policy committee, co-chaired by Laura T. Petersen and Marla Hatrak, was hosted their second two-day meeting at CSUN, which was made possible by three professors, Dr. Flavia Fleischer, Dr. Ellen Schneiderman, and Dr. Rachel Narr. The next meeting takes place in March in San Diego.
2016 was a very productive and busy year and we are already busy in 2017! Thank you for being a part of CAD!
We appreciate each one of you very much and look forward to creating more ripples with you in 2017 especially at our next CAD conference during Septemerb 28-30th!
