* *MEDIA ADVISORY FOR FRIDAY 9/6 -- They 'hear' With Their Hands And Feet ** (Photo) -09/05/24

Tours/Interviews/Visuals/Audio: Media opportunities this week

MEDIA CONTACT: Dianne Danowski Smith, dianne@publixnw.com; m: (503) 201-7019

 

WHAT/WHY

Back to School: New Campus Expansion Opens at Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth in Vancouver Capturing Acoustics, Light and Awe – This week, deaf and hard of hearing students and staff are stepping and stomping into their new, accessible and innovative learning  and athletic spaces at the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth‘s Washington School for the Deaf.

• Students at this school ‘hear’ each other with their feet and their hands
• Come: Tours of the brand-new campus expansion/construction showing acoustics, sensory awareness and light for Deaf/HoH students and staff to learn and communicate.
• See: How floor acoustics are used to share and get attention – for example, the new state-of-the-art gymnasium where students ‘hear’ with foot stomps. See how the new wider hallways allow for side-by-side sign language. See the unique sensory-aware playground. See the new athletic center where the students will ‘hear’ through the floor.
• Meet: The principal/executive director and the students who helped plan these new spaces and the design and building experts who brought this special campus to life.
• Note: September is Deaf Awareness Month.

“This expansion means two brand new and much needed spaces for improved learning and for athletics in this unique student environment,” says Shauna Bilyeu, executive director at the CDHY, which is the state agency that oversees the Washington School for the Deaf. “The design and construction work here has ranged from the use of mass timber, acoustically-friendly flooring, important visual improvements with abundant natural lighting, wider-set hallways for active sign language communication and so much other care and concern for the needs of our unique community.”

 

WHAT/WHERE

Friday, Sept. 6 between 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Students, staff and design/building leads will be available for tours/interviews/visuals (to include sign language interpreters) at campus of the Washington School for the Deaf/Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth - 3107 E. Evergreen Boulevard in Vancouver, Washington. Park in the open lot along E. Evergreen and proceed toward the covered walkway. Drone footage and still photos are available upon request.

 

WHO

• Shauna Bilyeu, Executive Director at the Washington School for Deaf and Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth (CDHY) and student ‘ambassadors’ (+ their interpreters)
• Alan Halleck, Project Executive, Skanska, Co-lead on design-build team
• JoAnn Hindmarsh Wilcox, Mithun, Co-lead on design-build team

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