Jennifer Shipp, Language arts teacher has survived a stroke and six bouts of cancer, and for this reason she wants to encourage empathy toward others situations.
This is why Shipp said she is taking her class to see Crom Saunders, a deaf professor, comedian and performer on Thursday, Oct. 19, in the library.
“Making them more aware of what it’s like to have the disabilities that he has, give them an appreciation of what they have, and also an understanding and hopefully more empathy towards others,” Shipp said. “It is very easy to stay in your comfort zone and we take a lot of things for granted, and I think it is important to see that not everybody has what we have.”
Shipp said seeing Saunders’ performance relates to the language arts curriculum because in language arts students need to put themselves into characters’ perspectives.
“Creating or capturing the idea of human nature is an essential part of language arts,” Shipp said. “There is always something to be learned, and there is always a takeaway from someone else’s perspective and story.”
Katy Drissell, American Sign Language teacher, is also planning to take her class to see Saunders so her students can be exposed to a deaf person.
Drissell said Saunders will only be signing during his performance, with some interpreters.
“He is going to be doing some deaf poetry, and poetry is very important to deaf culture,” Drissell said.
Raymond Holmes, librarian, said Saunders’ work focuses on his personal experience and how pop culture and deaf culture play a role in shaping who he is.
Holmes said Saunders is coming to MHS as a part of the St. Louis storytelling festival, something the St. Louis County Public Library holds every year. The library hosts storytellers, but also helps schools get in touch with them.
Other storytellers have visited other RSD schools in the past, but this is the first time MHS has had the opportunity to have a storyteller visit, Holmes said.
“My initial thinking when just requesting for a storyteller in general was to share the joy of storytelling, especially when it is presented live,” Holmes said. “It brings a different element to storytelling and people’s understanding of narratives and how you can share your personal experience.”
Holmes said he was even more excited when he learned the storyteller visiting was Crom Saunders.
“His perspective is very unique to what a lot of students might hear about on a day-to-day basis here at Marquette,” Holmes said.
Rebecca Blindauer, theater teacher, also plans to take her class to see Saunders.
“Seeing as he is a storyteller, which is what theater is, just telling stories,” Blindauer said. “Having an opportunity to see someone who tells a story in a different way than traditional theater I think could be really cool.”
