The Texas School for the Deaf Foundation is proud to showcase the creative energy of the talented

students we support. We would like to share their holiday spirit with you and show you how your

gifts could make a difference in their lives.

Welcome to Candy LandThe Third Annual Holiday Window Event

“Sweet Creations”December 2009

“Candy Land Heaven” by Texas School for the Deaf

A classic child’s holiday play land, with a touch of Deaf culture to remind you that the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) is a unique home to students where they

LEARN, GROW and BELONG.

As children, we all grow up playing with ABC building blocks. Here on the blocks,

you see A, B and C and the American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet’s fingerspelled

equivalents. (Dactylology is the technique of communicating by signs made with the

fingers, as in manual alphabets.)

Our decorated tree is calling attention to the visual beauty ASL. Inspired by Andy

Warhol’s work, TSD photography students posed to demonstrate a number of ASL signs that are indicative of the holiday season. And TSD elementary students

used popsicle sticks and adornments to create these ornaments in the whimsical

shapes of hands. Can you find the signs for CHRISTMAS, STAR, CANDLE or COOKIE

in the ornaments?

“Signs of the Season”Sophomore Alexandria B. from Salado used an SLR camera and her skills with Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 software. She created layers of images she captured of her TSD classmates demonstrating the “signs” of the holiday season. Excited to show her work to the public, Alexandria sends this message to you in American Sign Language, “I wish you CANDLES burning brightly—LOVE, HOPE, SUPPORT and FRIENDSHIP delivered by ANGELS carrying CANDY.” Try signing this holiday message yourself.Alexandria’s favorite subjects are Algebra and Photography. She runs cross-country track at TSD, and aspires to be a teacher.

Mary Wallace-Green holds a degree in Art Education from the University of Texas and has taught at TSD for more than 30 years.

“Reach for the Stars” Texas School for the Deaf junior, Marivel H. hails from Houston and has created a magical feeling in her digital photography piece displayed for the holidays. The creative use of three self-portraits shows herself scaling heights to trim her holiday tree with the notable TSD Ranger mascot. Rebranding of the TSD mascot in recent years brought forth the current horse that represents TSD today. Like the school that has stood in South Austin for more that 150 years, the image of the horse conveys endurance, agility, strength, power, energy and intelligence. And like Marivel standing tall here, a horse’s free, forward stride symbolizes TSD students reaching for their dreams. Marivel plays volleyball, basketball and runs track for TSD. She is a member of TSD’s Hispanic Club and the school’s Junior National Association of the Deaf chapter.

Bobbie Guerra holds a B.S. in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin. She is a 26-year veteran at TSD, teaching classes in Video Technology, Digital Graphics & Animation, and Art.

“Holiday Surprises” Sophomore at Texas School for the Deaf (TSD), Keisha H. from Laredo, credits her education at TSD for preparing and inspiring her to become a teacher someday. Her favorite subject is English, and she enjoys photography as a hobby. In her holiday-themed project, Keisha made a collage using photos she took, including some of her classmates. Keisha thought of the surprises the holidays bring and tried to invoke thoughts of wonderment with her glowing gift boxes. Keisha plays volleyball and softball at TSD and claims her family among her most significant role models. Her biggest dream is to become a singer.

“Hands On Holidays” Laura L., Texas School for the Deaf senior from Dallas, loves photography and video technology. She says she’s discovered her creative niche in photography class at TSD.

Because Laura loves young children and believes they inspire the world, she chose them as the theme of her holiday piece here. Combining a selection of her digital photos, Laura used her Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 skills. Removing the background to bring the hands to the forefront of the image was a challenge in achieving her unique vision. Like TSD, she says, “the image is all about the beauty of the children and the magic of their hands.” Looking inside the ornaments, you’ll see TSD students of all ages expressing their joy about the holiday season. Laura is considering a career teaching art to children.

“Marissa in the Box of Memories”

Texas School for the Deaf senior, Kalie K. from Sugar Land, has a strong passion for performing and visual arts. Kalie played the lead role of Sandra Dee in the school’s

performance of the musical “Grease” last year and credits the production’s two co-directors and her art teacher at TSD as impacting her life the most by instilling in her confidence and determination. For her piece, Kalie combined painting, using acrylics, and photography – choosing photos she felt showed a glimpse into her playful personality, with mixed media to add texture and the appearance of coming to life. Through her art, Kalie feels the freedom to express herself in several different ways. Kalie hopes to attend the University of Texas and become a therapist to help hospitalized children express their creativity through art and drama.

“Reindeer on the Austin Skyline”

Senior from Dallas, Laura G. is aiming for a career in radiology after graduation. When not studying science at the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD), Laura also excels in her Digital Graphics class. Using Adobe® Photoshop® CS4, Laura created a variety of special effects. Wanting to capture the magic and fun of the holidays, Laura worked to choose just the right facial expressions in her subjects, and then playfully juxtaposed a classmate over the Austin skyline, giving this unique effect. If you spread your fingers and place both thumbs on your temples, like Laura’s friend here, you are signing REINDEER – give it a try!

“Happy Holidays Tree” Texas School for the Deaf senior, Matthew P. from Kyle considers himself a 3-D Design Graphic Artist and plans to pursue a masters degree in the design field after high school. In his Digital Animation class, Matthew chose this holiday version of a snowy winter’s eve. Using Adobe® Photoshop® CS4, he experimented with

various shades of color before he settled on the holiday feeling he was looking for. Standing tall in the background – symbolizing TSD’s strength - is the distinctive clock tower that stands on 67-acre campus in South Austin. Matthew added the softly falling snowflakes to represent the magic and spirit of the TSD community.

“TSD Elves Take Five” Studying photography and animation in her senior year at TSD, Desiree is from El Paso. She created this collage of TSD Elves with digital photos she took and special effects using Adobe® Photoshop® CS4. She added the three photos along the bottom for balance, including TSD’s Ranger mascot. Desiree and many of her classmates live in TSD’s dorms during the school week and return home each weekend to Take Five, remaining connected to family. Desiree feels “more like a whole person” since transferring to school at TSD and believes her future opportunities have broadened because of the student body - consisting of roughly 500 deaf and hard of hearing students, the large population of American Sign Language users and the burgeoning Deaf community here.

“Toyland Sleigh” Antonio B. (16) from Katy, Austin B. (14) from Ft. Worth, Guadalupe C. (15) and Cristian M. (14) both from Laredo, Rodolfo C. (17) from Del Rio, Jenny C. and Darrion G. (18) both from Houston, Laura G. (18) and Cristian G. (15) both from Grand Prairie, Dakota H. (17) from Cedar Park, Karen, H. (17) from Jacksonville, Matthew J. (19) from Round Rock, Cordie, L. (17) from Winnsboro, Matthew R. (16) from West, Modesto R. (15) and Jose T. (17) both from Austin, and Gabriel T. (17) from San Antonio.

Texas School for the Deaf elves busy in Mill and Cabinetmaking class built this handcrafted sleigh for its debut. The Mill and Cabinetmaking class is a course in the Career and Technology Education (CTE) Department that integrates academics with technology, teaching hands on skills that can apply to many trades and careers down the road. For this project, students began with a pattern cut from ¾ inch oak plywood. They used a saber saw to create dimensionality, drilled all the connecting points, then assembled it using ¼ inch brass screws before using a cherry red stain and finishing it with the Texas state cut out. The toys here will go to TSD’s Early Childhood program.

Dan Guerra holds a B.S. in Industrial Arts from (Southwest) Texas State University. He teaches Mill & Cabinetmaking, Computer Maintenance and Drafting at TSD.

“Holiday Masks”by Texas School for the Deaf Elementary Students

1st, 2nd and 3rd grade elementary students convey many emotions from day to day at the Texas School for the Deaf, but the holiday season always brings a lighter sense to their moods. With these embellished masks they created, you see a range of emotions evident in facial expressions – just as in American Sign Language (ASL). Facial expressions in ASL provide grammatical context in the same way English speakers do with voice. Facial expressions and gestures can completely alter a sign’s translation with movement of the eyebrows, lips and mouth showing different grammatical aspects of sign language. Many students at TSD use their voices, along with ASL. From traditional to exotic and international, these masks are synonymous of the diverse population of deaf and hard of hearing students in our community.

Mindy Moore, M.Ed. is a graduate of TSD (’90) and has taught elementary art at TSD for 10 years.

“Holiday Vignettes”Using Apple’s Final Cut Pro 7 with Motion 4 software, students learn the applications of special effects. In these holiday vignettes titled Santa’s Woodshop and Run Run Rudolph, see how many American Sign Language signs you learn from the budding actors in the production.

“Tsunami Shorts”Enjoy Tsunami Studio’s holiday vignettes Santa Claus is Coming to Town and the notorious TSD Weatherman.

Texas School for the Deaf’s “Tsunami Studio” operates under the school’s Career and Technology Education Department, providing countless opportunities for students to explore hands-on use of cutting-edge equipment, software and technology that matches that of many university programs. Studio students each year select their studio name and operate as a full in-house production company — acting, producing, writing, editing, compositing and marketing.

2009-2010 Tsunami Studio: Mysty A. (18) from Post, Adrian B. (17) from Edinburg, Charlene B. (16) and Matthew P. (18 ) both from Kyle, Trannon C. (19) from Krum, Kirsten C. (17) from Georgetown, Kalie K. (17) from Sugar Land, Ashlee L. (17) from Whitehouse, Laura L. (17) from Arlington, Emily O. (15) and Jamie U. (15) both from Austin, Leonard R. (19) from El Paso, Kasey S. (17) from Newton, and Emmanuel T. (19) from Dallas.

Texas School for the Deaf ’s Holiday History

On loan from the Texas School for the Deaf museum, curator and TSD alumnus Franna Corley-Camenisch gives a glimpse of TSD past. The replica here was the original main administration building at the Texas School for the Deaf, constructed in 1877. With the featured twin towers, the Austin deaf community coined the building “Mule Ears” and still today uses the same American Sign Language sign for “mule” when referring to the treasured old landmark.

This model was built by TSD alumnus Van Nelson (’63) in 1995 using only old photographs of the original structure, since it was demolished in 1956 when it became unstable and deemed irreparable. This replica of Mule Ears is a featured display in TSD’s Heritage Center museum at the South Congress campus. If you put only your pointer and middle fingers together on each hand, with your thumbs on your temples, you are signing MULE or MULE EARS. Try it!

Ongoing financial support from friends like you will ensure that deaf and hard of hearing students - both on campus and across the state of Texas - will continue to Learn, Grow and Belong. TSD’s Educational Resource Center is the only statewide educational resource for deaf and hard of hearing students and their families in Texas.

While TSD stretches to maximize its’ efficiency, the cost of providing nationally recognized programs and educating this special population of students remains our biggest challenge. This is where you can help, by supporting the TSD Foundation and the Texas School for the Deaf’s mission.

Essential needs include: $55 = one hour of speech therapy for a student

$130 = one student’s hearing aid batteries for a year

$250 = two months of medication for a needy student

$550 = 25 new books for the library

$1000 = major miracles!

info@tsdfoundation.org