Moon Township, Pa. – This past week, the RMU men's and women's hockey teams visited the DePaul School for Hearing & Speech, located in Shadyside, Pa. The school's Education Director and Principal, Mary Jo Maynard, and her staff gave the players and coaches a tour of the school. Following the tour, the players and students at DePaul spent an incredible day on the ice at the Penguins Hunt Armory Rink.
The DePaul School for Hearing & Speech was founded in 1908 by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. The school has been providing quality Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) education for children with hearing loss for over 100 years in the Pittsburgh area.
Their goal then, and still today, is to prepare each student for success in the hearing and speaking world.
Moving forward through changes in technology and innovation, the school has changed very much over its 115-year history. The school recently added a SAILL preschool Program (Speech And Integrated Language for Literacy Program) which is a separate preschool program at DePaul approved by the Pennsylvania Board of Educators. With a separate private academic license, SAILL is for preschool-age children ages 3-5 who may not have hearing loss but are in need of intensive speech and language services.
"We've been through a lot of changes," said Julianne Bartko, the Outreach and Development Manager at DePaul. "With technological improvements like hearing aids and cochlear implants we've developed a lot over the years."
Morgan Basinger, a parent liaison at DePaul, was a tour guide for the day and gave insight to the RMU hockey teams about how the school operates. Living in Greene County, Basinger drives over an hour each day to take her kids Knox and Jaxyn to school. "We love to do events like this for the kids," Basinger said. "This day means a lot to us. The kids are super excited to be here. Giving them a chance to skate with great role models is a very unique experience."
After an informative tour at the school, the students and RMU hockey players walked over to the Hunt Armory for a fun time on the ice. The Hunt Armory is operated by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, located just across the street from the DePaul School. With the rink so close by, it gives the students an opportunity to learn to skate, not far from home. "Having the rink right next to us is great, but we needed help getting the kids comfortable on the ice, and RMU Hockey provided that help to us," stated Basinger.
The day was especially meaningful for siblings
Cameron Hebert and
Allyson Hebert, as both are education majors. "A day like this, to see the kids laugh and have fun is just really special," said Cameron. "Today was unbelievable," said Allyson. "It means a lot for us to be here in the community."
To learn more about the history, staff and programs offered at DePaul School for Hearing & Speech, you can follow them on
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and
YouTube. Or, check out their website
here.
As the Colonials programs return to action this upcoming fall, the team has plans to stay connected with DePaul. "We look forward to working with them again and building on this relationship as we move into next season," stated
Chris Kostick, the team's Hockey Operations Coordinator.
"This was a fantastic opportunity for our student-athletes to get on the ice with the students from DePaul School, and everyone enjoyed their time at the Hunt Armory," said Kostick. "It was also great to tour the DePaul School and learn about their programs and how they serve deaf and hard of hearing students from all around the tri-state area. The kids were great and had a blast!"
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