NTID celebrates closing of Deaf Awareness Week

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RIT/NTID celebrates the end of Rochester’s Deaf Awareness Week with an evening of special events, including a performance from Sunshine 2.0, on Oct. 1.

Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf will celebrate the end of Rochester’s Deaf Awareness Week starting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 1 in Panara Theatre, Lyndon Baines Johnson Hall. All events are free and open to the public.

The evening begins with the unveiling of a plaque honoring William “Dummy” Hoy, an American centerfielder in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1888 to 1902. Hoy is noted for being one of the most accomplished deaf players in league history, and some have credited him with establishing the signals for safe and out calls. The plaque will be installed at a later date in the RIT baseball team’s home dugout.

Following the unveiling is a presentation by Monique Holt, a nationally recognized performer, director, storyteller and certified deaf interpreter. Holt is best known for translating and performing Shakespearian sonnets in American Sign Language. Her presentation is titled, “I am not a good storyteller—Reflections on how to share your story with others.”

Rounding out the evening is a performance from NTID’s Sunshine 2.0 traveling theater troupe, a 21st-century reboot of Sunshine Too, a similar on-the-road performing arts program that was established in 1980.

Sunshine 2.0 provides entertainment and activities for deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing children and adults that highlight the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts and math, as well as other topics pertaining to the deaf experience. The group regularly travels to schools, organizations, conferences, civic groups, festivals and other venues. The performance will be presented in voice and American Sign Language.

Interpreters have been requested for these events. For more information, contact Jeanne Behm at jsbnss@rit.edu.