From the Corpus Christi [Texas] Caller-Times:

Katherine (Katie) Murch, with her mother, left, has made education her mission. The reigning Miss Deaf Texas can’t accept the fact that the average deaf high school graduate only reads at a fourth-grade level. She says more education is needed for parents of children with hearing impairments “so they won’t be frightened or indifferent.”

Murch, who was born profoundly deaf, maintains a 3.6 grade-point average at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She is among the 22 women who will vie for the Miss Deaf America title on Thursday.

Murch’s history as an education advocate for the deaf began with her own desire to be mainstreamed into Flour Bluff schools. It sparked a four-year court battle that ended with a Texas Supreme Court decision requiring the district to provide special programming for the incoming fourth-grader.

With video of Murch signing. “I want to send a message around the world that deaf people can. Deaf people will,” she says. (Caller-Times photo)

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 7:09 am and is filed under deaf/hard of hearing, education, entertainment, law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.