“Austine Strong” was the theme Sept. 27 during a rally at the Statehouse in Montpelier.
The “Save Austine School and Services” rally, organized by the Austine Alumni Association's Save Austine School Committee, drew hundreds of supporters, organizers reported.
The rally was prompted by the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to close the Austine School in Brattleboro, the organizers said.
The rally began with a full-throttled roar of the Harley-Davidson Deaf Riders of Vermont, among them Austine alumnus Mike Palmer, class of 1990. More than 300 people paraded through Montpelier to the Statehouse behind a banner reading, “Gov. Shumlin PLEASE save Austine School.”
Other signs proclaimed, “Austine School is our home” and “Don't sell the campus,” organizers told The Commons.
At the Statehouse, Austine alumnus Mike Carter, '91, led off the afternoon of presenters with a cheer for Austine School.
State Rep. Lynn Batchelor of Orleans County reportedly told attendees, “We must think of new ideas and strategies because we renovated the campus so that deaf and hard of hearing children can attend the boarding school. Mainstreaming cannot be the only choice.”
Batchelor donned an “Austine Strong” T-shirt, and accepted a challenge from Vermont Association of the Deaf (VTAD) President Mary Essex, '79, to wear it on the first day of the new legislative session, which starts in January 2015.
The afternoon continued with Austine Alumni Association President Bruce Hubbard, '67, thanking attendees for their turnout.
He introduced Rene Pellerin, '71, who said that 58 percent of Austine School graduates go on to college, remarks highlighting the school's success in preparing students for post-secondary learning opportunities.
Bill Hudson, '76, the statewide director of Vocational Rehabilitation for Deaf Services, said that during his 23 years with the state he has seen a variety of deaf people, many from mainstream schools, who could have greatly benefited from going to Austine School without having to spend more money from the Vocational Rehabilitation funds for additional education services.
The program closed with the recitation of a poem, “Dandelions” by Clayton Valli, '71, by Mary Gorman, '74. Gorman explained poetry in its truest form cannot be translated.
VTAD and the Austine Alumni Association say they are committed to working with legislators in the pursuit of Austine School education options for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children in Vermont and Deaf adults requiring community supports.