Mansfield Student Named Award Finalist After Teaching Police ASL

MANSFIELD, MA — A Mansfield student was named a finalist for a national award recognizing outstanding contributions to the hearing-impaired community. Catherine Fitzgerald is up for the 2019 Oticon Focus on People Awards for her work teaching American Sign Language and compiling an ASL pocket guide for the Mansfield Police Department. Fitzgerald was one of only 12 finalists named.

Fitzgerald came to Mansfield police with the idea for her senior project at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton. Since then, other police departments have requested copies of her ASL guide.

Fitzgerald was passionate about this particular project because she was born with profound hearing loss. Mansfield Police were happy to oblige, as learning sign language gives the entire department an ability to help someone in a situation where it might have been difficult otherwise.

"It's been a privilege to have Mansfield's own Catherine Fitzgerald on loan from Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School this semester," Mansfield police said in a Facebook post. "She took it upon herself to create pocket-sized ASL translation guides for our officers and asked to help teach our officers and staff during roll call."

Fitzgerald needs the help of the community to make winning this award a reality. Voting for the award is open through Sept. 26. People can vote at Oticon's website.

"Each year, we’re amazed by the resilience, determination, and selflessness of the applicants for our Focus on People Awards program," Oticon marketing director Nancy Palmere said in a statment. "These 12 finalists especially stand out as trailblazers in the hearing loss and professional hearing care communities. Each one is tearing down walls and proving that a condition like hearing loss does not inhibit their ability to make a difference."