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From an architect to a new learning program, NJ School for Deaf getting much needed makeover | NJ.com
A newspaper report last month about poor conditions at the New Jersey School for the Deaf's Katzenbach campus has drawn offers of help from readers in neighboring communities - and beyond.
The 148-acre campus is more than a century old and its age is showing, superintendent Angel Ramos told The Times last month.
Ramos ticked off some of the limitations: The library is closed, the only auditorium also serves as a gymnasium, the outdoor track consists of gravel and dirt, and walkways are poorly lit at night.
In the article, Donna Kelly of Jersey's Hope for Hearing, an advocacy group for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, verified the complaints, saying the campus is unusable because the school doesn't have the funding to renovate.
Ramos said it would cost $100,000 just to come up with a plan to present to the state in a request for funding.
NJ School for Deaf seeks aid to repair school
Princeton architect Steven S. Cohen was one neighbor who wondered what he could do to help when he read about the conditions at Katzenbach.
"I'm an architect. It's a good cause. And, so I figured, what the heck?" Cohen said.
Cohen's Moran Avenue office frequently works with nonprofit organizations including the Rescue Mission of Trenton free of charge, Cohen said.
"It's something I enjoy doing," he said.
So Cohen arranged to meet with Ramos.
"He called and said he read the article and wanted to set up a meeting with me to discuss our architectural needs, that he was interested in providing us with whatever help we needed," Ramos said.
"They have a good idea of what they want to accomplish, which is great," Cohen said. "So, what I want to do is see how I can further that goal."
Another offer of help came from Karen Jezierny, Princeton University's director of public affairs, who described Princeton and the New Jersey School for the Deaf as having a "good neighbor relationship." She's been working with Trisha
Thorme, assistant director of Princeton's Community-Based Learning Initiative, to build on that relationship.
Thorme's office facilitates research projects that relate to students' academic work that is useful to nonprofit organizations.
"Dr. Ramos has identified areas of interest and concern and I think we've been open-minded and helpful where we can be. We're in the education business too, so we understand some of those challenges," Jezierny said.
With the help of student volunteers, Princeton will assist the Katzenbach campus's redesign as much as it can, she said.
HEATING PROBLEMS
The heating system at the Katzenbach campus is another big problem: The heating in the dorm and a couple of other buildings can't be turned off. Ramos said it costs the school roughly $700,000 each year for electricity and $1 million for heat. One of the school's supporters reached out to Andy Kern of Real Goods Solar, a Colorado solar power company, who met with Ramos and agreed to help him with his dream of building a solar farm on the campus.
"We have already met and he will be giving me a proposal in the next week or two. The solar farm will help reduce our energy costs and eventually supply all of our electricity needs, making more money available to meet the instructional needs of our deaf and hard-of-hearing students," Ramos said.
To make sure the 165 students enrolled at Katzenbach are getting a quality education while their campus prepares for a physical makeover, Ramos said the school's teachers will receive training on Achieve3000, a web-based, individualized learning tool used in public and private schools across the country. Ramos used the program when he was superintendent at the Sequoia School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Arizona.
"We obviously try to help schools to the degree that we can. Since the superintendent was a former customer, it just made perfect sense for us," Achieve3000 spokesman Michael Fleischner said.
PROGRAM AT NO CHARGE
The company has decided to provide the program to Katzenbach at no charge.
"The main reason is because the CEO of Achieve3000, Saki Dodelson, and I both share the same goals - we want to see students improve their reading skills. She is not interested in making money out of working with Katzenbach. She genuinely wants to help our deaf and hard-of-hearing students," Ramos said.
"It was after she offered to give us the training and on-site program for free that I suggested she do research on our deaf and hard-of-hearing students, a suggestion she readily accepted," he said.
One suggestion led to another.
"I also suggested she ... add the ASL (American Sign Language) videos to the reading materials. She also accepted that proposal. She wants Achieve3000 to meet the needs of all students and not just hearing students," Ramos said.
Meanwhile, Jersey's Hope for Hearing will continue its advocacy for the
Katzenbach campus by hosting an event at the end of the month with Justin Osmond, the nephew of singers Donny and Marie Osmond. Justin is 90 percent deaf.
"It is very gratifying to know that the community supports Katzenbach," Ramos said. "It is incredible the amount of support the community is giving us.
It makes me thankful to be superintendent of Katzenbach and to have the pleasure of working with such a great group of community supporters," Ramos said.
A newspaper report last month about poor conditions at the New Jersey School for the Deaf's Katzenbach campus has drawn offers of help from readers in neighboring communities - and beyond.
The 148-acre campus is more than a century old and its age is showing, superintendent Angel Ramos told The Times last month.
Ramos ticked off some of the limitations: The library is closed, the only auditorium also serves as a gymnasium, the outdoor track consists of gravel and dirt, and walkways are poorly lit at night.
In the article, Donna Kelly of Jersey's Hope for Hearing, an advocacy group for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, verified the complaints, saying the campus is unusable because the school doesn't have the funding to renovate.
Ramos said it would cost $100,000 just to come up with a plan to present to the state in a request for funding.
NJ School for Deaf seeks aid to repair school
Princeton architect Steven S. Cohen was one neighbor who wondered what he could do to help when he read about the conditions at Katzenbach.
"I'm an architect. It's a good cause. And, so I figured, what the heck?" Cohen said.
Cohen's Moran Avenue office frequently works with nonprofit organizations including the Rescue Mission of Trenton free of charge, Cohen said.
"It's something I enjoy doing," he said.
So Cohen arranged to meet with Ramos.
"He called and said he read the article and wanted to set up a meeting with me to discuss our architectural needs, that he was interested in providing us with whatever help we needed," Ramos said.
"They have a good idea of what they want to accomplish, which is great," Cohen said. "So, what I want to do is see how I can further that goal."
Another offer of help came from Karen Jezierny, Princeton University's director of public affairs, who described Princeton and the New Jersey School for the Deaf as having a "good neighbor relationship." She's been working with Trisha
Thorme, assistant director of Princeton's Community-Based Learning Initiative, to build on that relationship.
Thorme's office facilitates research projects that relate to students' academic work that is useful to nonprofit organizations.
"Dr. Ramos has identified areas of interest and concern and I think we've been open-minded and helpful where we can be. We're in the education business too, so we understand some of those challenges," Jezierny said.
With the help of student volunteers, Princeton will assist the Katzenbach campus's redesign as much as it can, she said.
HEATING PROBLEMS
The heating system at the Katzenbach campus is another big problem: The heating in the dorm and a couple of other buildings can't be turned off. Ramos said it costs the school roughly $700,000 each year for electricity and $1 million for heat. One of the school's supporters reached out to Andy Kern of Real Goods Solar, a Colorado solar power company, who met with Ramos and agreed to help him with his dream of building a solar farm on the campus.
"We have already met and he will be giving me a proposal in the next week or two. The solar farm will help reduce our energy costs and eventually supply all of our electricity needs, making more money available to meet the instructional needs of our deaf and hard-of-hearing students," Ramos said.
To make sure the 165 students enrolled at Katzenbach are getting a quality education while their campus prepares for a physical makeover, Ramos said the school's teachers will receive training on Achieve3000, a web-based, individualized learning tool used in public and private schools across the country. Ramos used the program when he was superintendent at the Sequoia School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Arizona.
"We obviously try to help schools to the degree that we can. Since the superintendent was a former customer, it just made perfect sense for us," Achieve3000 spokesman Michael Fleischner said.
PROGRAM AT NO CHARGE
The company has decided to provide the program to Katzenbach at no charge.
"The main reason is because the CEO of Achieve3000, Saki Dodelson, and I both share the same goals - we want to see students improve their reading skills. She is not interested in making money out of working with Katzenbach. She genuinely wants to help our deaf and hard-of-hearing students," Ramos said.
"It was after she offered to give us the training and on-site program for free that I suggested she do research on our deaf and hard-of-hearing students, a suggestion she readily accepted," he said.
One suggestion led to another.
"I also suggested she ... add the ASL (American Sign Language) videos to the reading materials. She also accepted that proposal. She wants Achieve3000 to meet the needs of all students and not just hearing students," Ramos said.
Meanwhile, Jersey's Hope for Hearing will continue its advocacy for the
Katzenbach campus by hosting an event at the end of the month with Justin Osmond, the nephew of singers Donny and Marie Osmond. Justin is 90 percent deaf.
"It is very gratifying to know that the community supports Katzenbach," Ramos said. "It is incredible the amount of support the community is giving us.
It makes me thankful to be superintendent of Katzenbach and to have the pleasure of working with such a great group of community supporters," Ramos said.