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Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program Celebrates with a Culminating District Picnic

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Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program Celebrates with a Culminating District Picnic

The Federal Way Public School Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program recently gathered for its second annual picnic at Steel Lake Park in Federal Way. As buses arrived, they dropped off 70 students from 21 FWPS schools at the playground next to the lake, where a spacious setup awaited. The location provided ample space for yard games, tables for lunch, and area for partners and organizations to set up a variety of stations for the attendees.

“This picnic is a great experience for our scholars. Our students get to hang out with one another, they get to make new friends, see students from other schools, and our whole community just shows up to make sure it’s a great time for everyone,” shared organizers of the event.

The attending scholars made the most of the occasion to hang out, make friends, and have fun together with students from across the district. For an icebreaker, each student received an event T-shirt and a shared challenge: collect as many signatures from fellow attendees as possible. The school that gathered the most signatures would win a prize! Soon, personalized shirts could be spotted everywhere, serving as a visible reminder for students to seek out more signatures. It kicked off the event with a flurry of meeting and greeting, smiles, and enthusiastic interaction.

Then the picnic was in full swing with program staff, family volunteers, and partners filling out the area with a multitude of exciting activities and spaces. Throughout the space, numerous stations engaged students in different experiences. Todd Beamer High School art class student volunteers offered face painting, ASL class volunteers from Federal Way High School guided participants in building soda pop rockets, Officer Price, the Federal Way Police Department signing officer, connected with students and handed out goodie bags, KBTC/PBS showcased remote-controlled robots, and the wide green fields hosted yard games open to all.

There was no end of excitement, energy, and friends, and the students loved every moment of it. Divine, a kindergartener from Valhalla, shared with staff, “I had so much fun and met kids who wear hearing aids just like me!” Another student eagerly shared how thrilled they were to have made new friends. And for the first time the Deaf and Hard of Hearing preschool was able to attend and they told their parents and teachers that “everything was fun, they loved the rockets and bracelet-making,” and that, “they want to come back every year, forever!”

At FWPS, fostering inclusive spaces where scholars can learn from one another and embrace their authentic selves is a key priority, so that scholars know they have limitless potential and they fell seen, heard, valued and celebrated for who they are. The Deaf and Hard of Hearing picnic is a shining example of how teachers and staff bring this vision to life—providing an opportunity for scholars to meet and engage with like peers, facilitate a time for scholars to play and communicate, and to develop and foster each scholar’s sense of self.

 

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