What do we know about words?
They're powerful. They're meaningful. And, sometimes, the best words are the ones that go unsaid.
Donald Preston enjoys conducting the interviews the most. It's his way to connect and really tell the story.
On a recent Wednesday, Preston, 18, and a senior at the Ohio School for the Deaf, sat in the library across from the school's newest teacher, Kelsy Ramey. He was working on a profile piece for the school newspaper, The Ohio Chronicle.
It's unique. It's something you don't hear of on a regular basis: a deaf student journalist.
It's a field that definitely has its challenges.
"Yeah, sometimes," Preston said.
What Preston knows about challenges...it's just a word. It's a word that is meant to be overcome.
"I want to help to improve and show people that we can have good skill sets," he said. "I want people to be impressed."
He's not the only journalist at the student newspaper.
"I'm interested in that and also some other things, but I really do love writing," Nicole Greene said.
Greene is 17 years old. She's a senior. Journalism is more than the path of words to paper for her. It's the path of continuing to learn.
When talking with 10TV's Bryant Somerville, students used translator, Kristy Palmer.
"I like finding out new things and learning new things from lots of different people and discovering different opinions and ideas and personalities and learning new things that way," Greene said.
So does sophomore, Chloe Kuhns.
"I like interviewing different people and seeing their sides of the story or you can interview someone about the same topic and ask them the same questions, but they come back with different things and different opinions," she said.
Opinions. That's a word these students are familiar with. Opinions, perhaps, from others about their ability, or opinions about how certain jobs might affect those who are hard of hearing.
Those opinions don't matter.
"Within the deaf community, it's easier," Kuhns said. "I know there's a lot of hearing people that already have that mindset, so I have to work a little harder to prove myself and work a little harder to show them that I'm capable. But, once I've shown them, I think they'll see."
High expectations. Those are two words Amy Massey-Norton holds her students to.
The Ohio Chronicle had been around the school for many years. Through time, with teachers leaving or retiring, it went away.
This year is the first in many the monthly newspaper has returned. All of it is produced, written and designed by deaf students.
"There are things out there that I didn't know about," Joey Mendis said. "So, if I weren't in this class, I wouldn't know some other students or I wouldn't know some of these things that I'm learning."
Mendis sees his future dabbling more in computer science, coding, and programming, rather than journalism. Adrianna Berry wants to be a doctor, specializing in pediatric oncology. It's the value of The Ohio Chronicle, beyond the words...that's why she takes it.
"When I'm writing for the paper, I like to put my own thoughts into it," Berry said. "I like to research things, I like to put other peoples' opinions, too, so then when they read it I like to hear their feedback about it."
They write about everything: news, profiles, events, features, and sports.
"I like writing about anything," Greene said. "I would have to say I like interviewing people and hearing their stories and their experiences and their personal opinions and points of views."
"I'm really impressed to see their work," Massey-Norton said. "I am overwhelmed with pride."
This teacher's opinion is, arguably, the only one that matters. She works to make her students accept and embrace the fact they can do this.
"I think it's very important for each of our students to have good self-esteem and a good sense of identity so when I started the program I really wanted our final product to be equivalent to any other high school newspaper," she said.
Words are powerful. Words are meaningful. But, sometimes, the best words belong to the loudest voices we don't always hear.
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