Students at Montana School for the Deaf and Blind learn the value of giving back
Core to the philosophy of civics is that citizenship is a two-way street. That in addition to the rights and privileges that citizenship bestows, every citizen also has an obligation to be an active, responsible, and knowledgeable member of the community, and to do what they can to improve the lives of the people they live among.
It’s a lesson that the students and faculty at the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind embrace and plan to act upon.
On Wednesday, Sept. 7, the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind (MSDB) will host a food drive to benefit the Great Falls Food Bank. It’s something the visually- and/or hearing-impaired students there have done in the past, but next week's food drive is different in that the students are reaching out trying to become more visible and actively involved in the communities in which they live.
“The Montana community and Great Falls in particular has been so integral in supporting us through many, many years,” explained MSDB teacher Erin Barr. “We think it’s important for our students to go out and do some volunteering and build citizenship skills. We want to give back to the community.”
Located on Great Falls’ east side, just across Central Avenue from Lewis and Clark Elementary School, the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind has been a fixture in Great Falls since 1937. However, the importance of the work being done there has sometimes gone unrecognized by people not directly involved with the vision- or hearing-impaired community.
“I think a lot of times people don’t know who we are or what we do,” Barr said of the school where she works and the students who study there. “Because of that they don’t necessarily feel comfortable coming in and observing or considering us as just a regular school like any other in Great Falls.”
Last year there was a change of administration at the MSDB, with principal Paul Furthmyre assuming the reins as the school’s new superintendent. Early in his tenure Furthmyre made it a goal for the students and faculty to become more involved within the broader community in which they live. The school established a new student volunteer outreach program with Barr serving as its coordinator.
Barr said next Wednesday’s food drive will be the first of many events yet to come.
“We’re going to start doing this two times a month and each time it’s going to be something a little bit different,” she explained. “We’re hoping to do some work with some of the animal shelters in town, and then also have a carnival and invite a couple of the classes from some of the other schools that our students attend. September 7th will be our very first outing under this new program.”
Past food drives the MSDB has participated in were largely hidden from the public, with food and cash contributions limited largely to donations from the students’ families. Wednesday’s event will be in the public eye, with students and faculty manning donation tables at the two Albertsons grocery stores in town.
“If the weather’s nice we’re going to be outside with tables at two entrances at each Albertsons,” Barr explained. “Both students and staff will be there. We’ll have a table set up for collecting food, along with some shopping lists of the food items the Great Falls Food Bank is specifically looking for. If people just want to bring extra non-perishable food from home, they can do that as well. At one of the Albertsons we’ll also have a money collection can and that money will go directly to the food bank. At the other location we’re having a raffle for a ‘Family Movie Basket’ and that money will also go to the Great Falls Food Bank.”
Barr said that in addition to the satisfaction of knowing that their work is going to help hungry people less fortunate than themselves, the students also benefit from getting out and interacting with other young people and with adults out and about with their daily activities.
“We would love to have more involvement with the community and hopefully make people more comfortable being around our students,” she added. “We’d like for people to feel comfortable coming to our school and maybe observing a class or having lunch … and we’d like people to remember our students and perhaps consider them for employment in the future as they get older and are ready for employment.”
The Montana School for the Deaf and Blind provides a free, appropriate, public education to eligible students through age 21 who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deafblind. More than 750 students’ statewide benefit from the school’s outreach program, including approximately 50 students who live on campus as part of the school’s resident cottage program. Many more come from all across Montana to spend a week or two on the MSDB campus each month.
When and where?
Students and staff from the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind will be collecting non-perishable food items, cash donations, and selling raffle tickets for a Family Movie Basket at both Great Falls Albertsons to benefit the Great Falls Food Bank
The food drive will take place on September 7, 2022 from 8:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at both the Albertsons on 3rd St. NW and the one on 10th Ave. S.
A brief history of the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind
1893 – The State Deaf and Dumb School first opened on Sept. 1, 1893 in Boulder, Montana and was originally in a two-story frame house with no electricity and no running water. Three months later the school added a Blind Department. At the end of the 1893 – 1894 school year the student body included four deaf students, four blind students, and two that were at that time referred to as being ‘feeble-minded.’
1898 – The name of the school was changed to Montana Deaf and Dumb Asylum. The School moved to a more permanent location in May, 1898. However, the following winter was severe, and the school’s heating system failed. The dormitories were reportedly at 0˚ and it was -25˚ outside.
1901 – The school graduated the first ‘deaf and dumb’ pupil and its first blind pupil – the first to graduate high school in the state of Montana.
1934 – On January 20, 1934, the Montana State Legislature agreed to segregate the schools for the deaf and blind from the school for the ‘feeble-minded.’ The city of Great Falls donated 10 acres of land for the construction of a new school.
1937 – On October 11, 1937 the new Montana School for the Deaf and Blind opened in Great Falls. The school was formally dedicated on November 1, 1937, at which time it had 82 pupils in the deaf department and 22 pupils in the blind department. Instruction for deaf students was oral. Sign language could only be used after school and for chapel services.
1942 – ‘Shep’, Montana’s famous faithful sheepdog is run over and killed by a train in Fort Benton. Following Shep’s death, Joel F. Overholser compiled a sixteen-page booklet entitled "Story of Shep, the Dog Who Was Forever Faithful," which sold for 50 cents to passengers on the Great Northern Railway. Proceeds from the book were donated to the children at the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind to pay for recreation opportunities and to purchase playground equipment.
1981 – Money from the Shep fund and from other donors, most notably the Great Falls Lions Club, were combined to create the MSDB Foundation Fund. The fund remains active to the present day.
1983 – New cottages, dining facilities, and a physical education facility were added to the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind campus and made ready for occupancy.
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Montana students at Deaf and Blind School giving back with food drive
