Notes by CBDA at GFI's 27th Board Meeting

(In photo: Turner, Luetgers, Rolen, Blackburn, Stochowiak & Agapito)

September 27, 2013 - Vinings, GA

Introduction:  “What is the deaf, and what is reading to them?” The report would seem to tell the story of the journey of CBDA from a mission school to what it is right now.  In between the numbers and facts are stories about individuals (‘faceless’ individuals in the Philippines and here at Galing) who believe in the education of children (in our case with special needs) and that perhaps even a single year in education, especially for the deaf, would make a big difference.

 

27 September 2013: GALING FOUNDATION MEETING

 

A.     Personal:  Gratitude and acknowledgement for the invitation

B.     Greetings from the Philippines:  CBDA

I.                 March 31^st received an email of the First Shipment of book donations

Received the shipments in April

Significance of the timeliness of the books:  Assessment of the Academic Year 2012-2013 as CBDA’s first year of recognition by the Department of Education – The Government Recognition means that CBDA has passed all qualification requirements to teach Pre-school and Grades 1-6. “Permit and Recognition”

Needs:  LANGUAGE and COMMUNICATION 1) English – correct sentence structure (SEE vs ASL); 2) Filipino – basic Filipino words (goal: to appreciate their identity, culture, and history); SIGN LANGUAGE – meaning of words; recognition and spelling; CULTURE and HISTORY;

II.               May received second email of the Second Shipment of book donations

Received shipments in June; coincided with other donations here from Georgia (Cornerstone and anonymous individuals: Please see The Woodley Mission Newsletter sent to Galing)

Significance of the timeliness of the books:  Assessment of the Academic Year 2013-2014 (The second academic year of CBDA as a recognized educational institution of Deped)

1)      Developments achieved in terms of literacy competencies – response to the “gaps” identified in the summer assessment a year prior [Read “General Literacies”]

2)      New needs identified:  1) lack of textbooks, 2) attention span of new students, 3) parent cooperation (follow-up at home)

3)      New goals (geared to utilize books from GALING):  Subject-Book Reading Classroom Activity Goals – answers the lack of textbook and short attention span of the deaf by using “visuals”, “story-telling (picture books)”, and introduce reading appreciation to students

III.              Accomplishments of CBDA

1)      Mission goal

2)      Social goal:  a) educate the deaf, b) promote awareness of deaf needs

IV.              The New Challenges of CBDA Today

1)      Combined Curriculum

NOTE:  It should be noted that the permit and recognition given to CBDA is for a regular hearing school. This means CBDA adopts the curriculum for the hearing and teaches that to the deaf with special awareness of the level of the deaf students. It becomes a challenge to reconcile the gaps and competencies for the two “clients”/”needs”:  Science, Math, English, Filipino, Sibika/Hekasi, MAPE/TLE; Sign Language, Bible, and Livelihood Skills

2)      Physical requirements:

from a mission school to a recognized institution:  a) yearly renewal of permit and b) maintenance of qualifications (building, number of students)

3)      Funds and sponsorships:  a) dwindling of sponsorships b) One-Sponsor, All Children Benefitted – a move to fiscalize minimal funds

 

ACTUAL MEETING NOTES:

1.      $490 /3 – for actual “needs” request from the 3 GFI beneficiaries.

2.      NOTED SUGGESTION: “ubiduo” machine (for translating or facilitating communication between a deaf/hard of hearing and a hearing person).