Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (1787-1851) holds an important role in the history of education for Deaf students in America. Gallaudet Day is celebrated each year on his birthday, 10 December. High School students in Julie Burton’s ASL I and ASL II classes, in addition to a few other students, put on a wonderful play this year, telling the story of Gallaudet’s work to establish education for Deaf students. In the play, a statue of Gallaudet (played by Santos Castanon-Gonzalez) “comes alive” to a group of current Gallaudet University students and they discuss how his meeting of a Deaf child, Alice Cogswell, led Gallaudet to travel to Europe, learn about education for Deaf students in France, and return to America with a Deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, to establish the first permanent school for the Deaf in Harford, Connecticut (the American School for the Deaf). Kudos to all the talented students who worked hard in practices to put on this great show and Julie Burton for her many hours working to make this event happen!

Captions will be added soon.