Alabama School for the Deaf (ASD) included student Mia Teague of Jacksonville and Joshua Kirk of Piedmont as part of the 2023 graduating class. Maria Quintino of Ohatchee graduates from the Alabama School for the Blind. The schools form part of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind.
From 1858 to the present, Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) has offered a high-quality education to students who are blind, deaf or deafblind in order to help for their unlimited potential. The graduation ceremony for this year’s AIDB will take place on May 25, 2014, starting at 10:10 a.m. at Hawkins Chapel with the annual Baccalaureate Ceremony. The guest speaker for the ceremony was Allen D. Cope, the Deputy General Counsel of Honda North America, Inc and President of the AIDB Foundation.
Allen Cope is Senior Managing Counsel at American Honda, in the Law & IP Unit. He is in charge of the Contracts Department in the Corporate Operations Support Division in which he is in charge of the legal and support services for Honda’s indirect and direct contract within the United States, as well as all real estate-related matters as well as tax incentives for both the federal and state levels. Alongside his position as a Director at American Honda, Cope has been as a Director on the Board for the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind Foundation, Inc. since 2014. He is currently the President of the Foundation.
Helen Keller School of Alabama Commencement
The commencement ceremony in the Helen Keller School of Alabama (HKS) will take place at 11:30 p.m. in the Wood Hall Auditorium.
The speaker at the commencement is Chip Rowan, Special Education teacher of Gadsden City High School. Rowan created the Beautiful Rainbow Cafe, a restaurant that is entirely staffed by individuals who have significant cognitive impairments. Along with serving farm-to-table foods, this cafe has an organic garden that is open all year. The cafe has put 36 students into private employment in food establishments and restaurants over the past three years. It has also been recognized in the past by Darden Rehabilitation Center, the Alabama Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and the Alabama State Department of Education as a leading vocational training program for disabled people.
The class 2023 of HKS comprises Taylor Gannon of Wilsonville, Jacqueline Gosha of Troy, John Hamilton of Center Point Jennifer Hulsey of Muscadine, Brianna Jones of Dora, Murphy Rabalais of Demopolis along with Angel Williams of Calera.
Alabama School for the Blind Commencement
Exercises for the commencement of the Alabama School for the Blind (ASB) will take place at 22:30 p.m. in the Oliver Hall Auditorium.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony of the commencement will be Paul Schroeder. Since December of 2020, Schroeder has served as the Vice President, Outreach and Impact of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) which provides the education of students with disabilities or who suffer from low vision. In the past, prior to his appointment at APH, Schroeder served as Vice President, Public Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Aira a company in the field of technology that offers access to visually-based information. Schroeder graduated with an undergraduate degree in Arts with a major in Political Science as well as International Studies from American University and is currently living together with his spouse at Silver Spring, Maryland.
The 2023 class of the ASB comprises Zania Abdullah from Talladega, Tinsley Andrews of Fyffe (Valedictorian), Zachary Barnes of Mobile and Cassidie Gorig-Worrell of Grand Bay, Ny’Dariun Marshall-Jones of Monroeville, Isaiah Merrill of Childersburg, Rindarious Pollard of Sylacauga, Maria Quintino of Ohatchee, Saniya Sanders of Birmingham, Narissa Swaim of Scottsboro, Jacquarious Tinniehill of Talladega (Salutatorian) as well as Belle Williams of Birmingham.
Alabama School for the Deaf Commencement
The commencement ceremony at the Alabama School for the Deaf (ASD) will take place at 6:45 p.m. in the McFarland Auditorium.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony the commencement speaker will be Trey Gordon, President of Adjacent Space, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that focuses on educating Deaf as well as hard-of-hearing communities about how to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and advocating for the rights of the community. He is a native of Talladega, Gordon attended Alabama School for the Deaf and was able to obtain his Bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet University. Then, he resided in India for nearly four months, serving the Deaf community. When he returned to the United States He earned his Master’s degree from the School of Public Administration in Nonprofit and Management. The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
ASD’s class for 2023 at ASD is comprised of Iranzi Beatrice from Mobile; Austin Brown of Fort Payne; Kaleb Buck of Sylacauga; Emily Cash of Summerville, GA; Bogdan Dailey of Montevallo; Ellen Demouey of Mobile; Taylor Dubose of Talladega; Anjelica Duran-Carr of Montgomery; MaKenzie Farmer of Talladega; Kerstan Johnson of Bay Minette; Joshua Kelley of Dothan (Salutatorian); Joshua Kirk of Piedmont; Kiya Manson of Tuscaloosa and Carly Ortega of Grayson, GA; Stacey Phillips of Talladega; Hailey Rizor of Clanton (Valedictorian); Denijah Swain of Talladega; Mia Teague of Jacksonville; Juan Vasquez of Pell City and DeShauna Wallace from Birmingham.
AIDB Class of 2023 has been awarded over three million dollars worth of scholarships.
