Kendall County Deaf, Hard of Hearing Program Recognized by State Superintendent

Submitted by Oswego School District 308

OSWEGO, IL — Illinois State Superintendent Dr. Tony Smith featured the Kendall County Special Education Cooperative’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) Program based at Community Unit School District 308 in his weekly message sent to public school administrators throughout the state.

Smith said that one of his primary areas of focus as Illinois’ state superintendent is to ensure that students of all abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds have fair access to a high-quality, world-class education.

“As I’ve had the opportunity to travel the state and get to know your local school communities better over the last 10 months, I’ve seen outstanding examples of programs and educators who bring this goal to life in innovative and inspirational ways,” Smith wrote in this weekly message. “One such example I’d like to share with you is the Kendall County Special Education Cooperative’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program based at Community Unit School District 308.”

District 308’s DHH program serves children with hearing losses, ages 3 to 21, in District 308 as well as in the Yorkville, Plano, and Lisbon school districts and in the grade school and high school in Newark.

“It provides educational support by having educators travel to students’ home schools and through specialized services in a classroom setting,” Smith noted.

According to District 308 DHH teacher Shelley Strnad, hearing loss can create barriers to learning and feelings of isolation. The DHH program teaches valuable social and coping skills to students with hearing loss in a nonthreatening environment.

The skills deaf and hard-of-hearing students develop in a setting with other children who share their unique challenges helps them thrive while interacting with their peers and other adults in a general education setting, Smith wrote in his weekly message.

Smith also noted that District 308 has published a video of the program’s highlights, with insights from Strnad and other educators.

“I encourage you all to take a few minutes to watch and learn more at https://vimeo.com/156297704,” Smith wrote in his weekly message.