Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

UO Visitors Program Part 2

Korrin B.

November 14, 2009 - 1:35 PM

Last month, we started the UO Visitors Program at the elementary school I work at. As a leader of this program, I am responsible for finding a new speaker to come in each month to talk to our kids about what they do at the UO and why they love it. At the end of the year, we'll be taking a field trip to the University. The kids have so far loved learning more about the Ducks. We started the program off with the fabulous Regan and Carissa from the UO Annual Giving Program and the UO Student Alumni Association for October. This past Tuesday, we had our next guest and it was fantastic!

Jo Larson is a professor of American Sign Language in the Communication Disorders and Sciences department at the UO. Try as I may, I cannot sing my praises for her enough. Throughout college, you meet a lot of people. Each year brings you a new set of teachers and a variety of subjects. A lot of it can become mundane and just a normal part of the college grind to get enough credits within four (or five) years. However, every now and then, you find a diamond in the rough. There are always those couple of teachers or people you meet throughout college who, years from now, you will still remember as making a profound difference in your life. For me, Jo Larson is one of those people.

What do I love about Jo? Just about everything. Jo is incredibly knowledgeable in her field, welcoming to her students, and has, undoubtedly, one of the best senses of humor on the UO campus. However, I think what shines about her the brightest is how much she loves what she does and, in turn, how much that affects the work she does. It is truly admirable to see someone doing what she is truly passionate about and I hope that one day my career will lead me down this path as well.

After a struggled attempt at Ancient Greek for my language requirement last year, I decided to start American Sign Language this year. I had thought about taking it in the past, but ASL only recently became recognized as qualifying for the foreign language requirement at the UO. I'm very happy that it did. Sometimes it is very interesting the way that life works out. For the longest time, I have complained about having a poor ability of verbally expressing my thoughts and feelings. I have always found myself trying to describe how I feel by using my hands in different ways and expecting those around me to just get it. Reflecting upon this now, it's almost like, duh! Of course, I would take sign language! Jo has often told us in class about how when she becomes emotional, she finds herself better able to express her feelings through ASL versus English. ASL was Jo's first language, as both of her parents were deaf. Her background helps to give the class a wonderful view into the Deaf world. I never realized what a beautiful and rich culture existed within the Deaf community until I enrolled in ASL 101. It has really opened my eyes.

Anyway, Jo came into my elementary schools after school program on Tuesday to speak with our kids during their lunchtime and they loved it! She talked a little bit about why she signs, what signing is, and Deaf culture. Then, she taught the kids a few different signs and, of course, they asked her for several other words as well. Each of our groups in the program have different names. For example, my group, the first graders, are called the Green Beans. It is a farm theme this year. The second graders are the Purple Peacocks. The third and fourth grade group is the Yellow Ducks. Our oldest group, the fifth graders, is the Red Roosters. At the end of lunch, we usually excuse tables based on who can yell their name the loudest after the teacher says the group's color. Jo showed us how to sign our names instead and I must say that I am enjoying the more quiet approach to excusing tables now! We ended our visit with Jo by having her translate the bucket fillers we read to the kids into sign language. Bucket fillers are things that students and teachers write to and share with each other that are kind and supportive, like little compliments to make you feel good about your day. I loved watching all of the kids' enamored faces as they watched Jo flawlessly sign each bucket filler. I think they were most excited when she would sign their names as we read them! They kept asking about how to do that, so I promised my group that we'd learn the ASL alphabet in class someday soon.

After Jo left, all of the staff agreed with me that it had been a great presentation. My program's coordinator kept asking me how to sign all sort of things. She was very excited. Jo Larson definitely has that sort of positive energy that can really affect a room and I, along with the rest of my staff, are incredibly grateful that she could come in and be our second speaker in our UO Visitors Program.