Jabari Wallace felt unsure when he first started learning carpentry at Prosser Career Academy in Belmont Cragin, but he kept at it and grew to love it, boosting his confidence at the same time..
Wallace needs an interpreter because he’s hard of hearing. The high school junior plans to continue honing his skills after he graduates.
On Monday Wallace shared his knowledge and experiences with other deaf and hard of hearing Chicago Public School students who visited Prosser to get some hands-on training and exposure to careers in the trades and other fields.
“I love teaching [kids] especially the deaf and hard of hearing,” Wallace said. “Giving them a vision of what it is to teach carpentry, talk about carpentry and then educate them about carpentry.”
More than 20 students from Chase, Jamieson and Bell elementary schools toured Prosser Monday afternoon, learning about career paths in the culinary arts, game development, auto repair, welding, HVAC maintenance, machining and others.
The three schools as well as Prosser have deaf and hard of hearing programs. The event was also intended to showcase the high school’s catalogue of career focused classes.
It was CPS’s first career exploration event for deaf and hard of hearing students. Interpreters were on hand to facilitate communication. Prosser students versed in sign language also showed the young learners the skills they’ve picked up so far.
Cicely Boggan, teacher of the deaf at Prosser, said events that cater to the community are important because it shows students what’s possible and that they are supported.
“The world is not completely accessible so it’s easy for deaf individuals to feel isolated, and when you see something that is created for you it makes you more motivated to improve the quality of your own life,” Boggan said through an interpreter. “It’s like OK, that means that I too can do something.”
Students learned how to make toy cars out of wood and cut sheet metal with plasma cutters. They were given demonstrations on furnace maintenance and soldering. They passed around a drone made by a 3D printer and saw how they can learn how to code in the popular video game Minecraft.
Tristan Williams, a 7th grader at Chase, said his favorite activity was learning how to cut sheet metal with a plasma cutter. But he was drawn to the idea of becoming an auto mechanic.
“I like to fix cars, and I want to be able to in the future if my car breaks down I can fix it,” Williams said.
Williams appreciated how there were plenty of interpreters to talk him through the welding and what he can learn in auto repair classes. He knows the value of having teachers who can sign and appreciated that there were plenty of interpreters for the students at Monday’s event.
“It’s good to have one because If I don’t have my hearing aid I won’t be able to understand,” Williams said.
Evelyn Ramirez, an 8th grader at Bell, thought the culinary arts demonstration was her favorite because she likes to cook. Her favorite meal to make is anything with eggs. She’s thinking of attending Prosser next year because of its career programs.
Prosser was one of five schools that was awarded a grant from Chance the Rapper’s nonprofit SocialWorks to support their career-focused programs. Boggan said the school hopes to use part of the money to expand the carpentry program and hire more teachers for the deaf.
Rachel Arfa, commissioner of the mayor’s office for people with disabilities, joined the students on their tour. Arfa, the first deaf person to serve as a cabinet member in the mayor’s office, reiterated the call for more deaf teachers.
She said they are not just educators but also role models that students can see themselves in.
“That may be the only exposure deaf and heard of hearing students have to understanding what is possible for them,” Arfa said. “So that’s why having a deaf teacher is so impactful.”