Books for Deaf Students in Dumpster

The Detroit Day School for the Deaf, is a unique learning environment, that is being sacrificed to provide administrative offices for Detroit Public Schools. The embedded video is from WXYZ following up on a parent finding textbooks for the students in a dumpster. When film crews came to check, those weren't there - however the parent, Deborah Love-Peel took photos of the evidence when found.

Starting this school year, the roughly 40 deaf students who attended the Day School for the Deaf are being mainstreamed into other school buildings. 

"What they did was they took a building that only deaf students can use and gave it to administrators who could go anywhere," said Elena Herrada, a school board member. "It's criminal...it's people with absolutely no expertise and no morals are making these decisions."

Former principal of the School Jan Goike says the building was designed for deaf students and has special acoustics, smaller classrooms, and visual signals for fire alarms and severe weather.  As for the textbooks in the dumpster, Goike says she's not surprised.    

"What else can we assume except that their main imperative at this time is to get everything out of there, everything related to Detroit Day School for the Deaf, and move in the administrators so the students cannot return," said Goike.

[Read more]

April Rally from OccupiedMedia.us, Photo: James Fassinger

Parents, teachers and students are asking for support in a rally of protest at the school located at US-10 (Lodge Fwy) and Canfield on September 4, 2012 all day.

[Facebook event link]

Mass Rally to Save the Detroit Day School for the Deaf! Friday 3/30 @3pm!

Join BAMN in their organized youth-led direct mass action TODAY!

• KEEP ALL DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS OPEN!
• Use State Surplus Funding to Restore DPS!
• Restore Dr. King’s Dream for America in Detroit!
• Equal, Quality Education for ALL Black, Latina/o, other minority and poor White Students!
• Unite the Black and Latina/o communities in a common struggle to determine our shared destinies. Build the new youth-led independent integrated civil rights movement

INFORMATION

• Location: Detroit Day School for the Deaf, 4555 John C Lodge Fwy. Detroit, MI 48201
• Date: Friday, March 30
• Time: 3:00pm
• Bring: A sign of support
• If you can't go - offer support and promotional sharing

Downloadable flyer - English | Spanish

History

Organized in 1898 with four teachers and 37 students, the Detroit Day School for the Deaf is one of the oldest schools of its kind in the United States. Its name distinguished it from residential programs, the more usual form of education for the deaf at that time. The present building was designed and built specifically to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students. Detroit Day School for the Deaf was the first publicly supported school for the Deaf in the country, attesting to the humanitarianism of the Detroit Community.

Read more about BAMN's action today >>>

RE:GENERATION Music Video: "I'm Not Leaving"

Lion Martha Reeves in collaboration with The Crystal Method and the Funk Brothers. Enjoy the video and its look around Detroit and a celebration of music.

Presented by Hyundai Veloster, RE:GENERATION is a documentary film that follows DJ Premier, Pretty Lights, The Crystal Method, Mark Ronson, and Skrillex as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music. Learn more at youtube.com/veloster and regenerationmusicproject.com.

Save the Detroit Day School for the Deaf

The Board of Education for the City of Detroit has determined the Detroit Day School for the Deaf should be closed.

A Community Blog

This blog site was created for all Detroit Lions Club members to be able to announce their services, give a look into what they are working on, and introduce themselves.

As a team blog we are able to keep abreast of what each Lion is working on at any point in time. If you have questions feel free to ask Stephen - a link to reach me can be found through the author link on this blog post at the bottom.