The California School for the Deaf held its 31st annual ‘L’il Cubs’ pageant at the school’s auditorium for its 4th and 5th graders on May 1. Crowds showed up to support their children and family. The pageant was a good way for the kids to be more comfortable and confident with signing and being on stage.
At the CSDR, they showcased their students and their achievements throughout the year so far.
They celebrated their sports team, cheerleading, volleyball team, and academic achievements.
The pageant made sure to be accessible to everyone; by including an English interpreter and a Spanish interpreter so families could come and support their loved ones. The turnout was huge.
There are a lot more deaf and hard of hearing students and staff on Riverside’s campus than more people realize. There were even people from RCC who came to the Pageant.
There aren’t that many activities and events catered to the deaf community on campus a lot of the time. If a deaf student wants to participate in such activities like the CSDR pageant for instance, they have to go out of their way which begs the question:
Why aren’t there more things like that on campus for our deaf community here at RCC?
Events like the CSDR Lil Cubs pageant are really important for us to have because without these types of events, it becomes difficult for deaf children and adults to communicate and to build a connection with other people.
These events give them the opportunity to do things that they probably wouldn’t get the chance to do because of the communicative struggles they have to face on a daily basis. It lets them share their talents with others, and it gives the deaf community a chance to socialize outside of their own circle.
These events will help them feel less insecure about being deaf and give them more confidence to sign instead of feeling pressure to speak. It helps make them feel more welcomed and empowered.
We live in a hearing world that was not made to accommodate or support the deaf community, but the deaf community has a place and plays an important part in the hearing world, and it is important that the CSDR is advocating for that.
RCC’S deaf community, although small, is still a community we have that is often overlooked and it would be nice to see more activities and events catered to our deaf community. So that not only will they be more recognized but also for them to have more accommodations on campus.
A lot of the deaf community in RCC only really hangs out on one side of campus because that’s where all the people who know sign language are. If the deaf students and staff need to travel to other parts of campus it will be more difficult because the majority of RCC doesn’t have accommodations for its deaf students and staff.
RCC’s deaf community deserves to be recognized for all the things they contribute to our school and the community of Riverside.
At the end of the pageant the contestants were asked to answer the question “If you could make one rule for the entire world to follow, what would it be?” and a lot of the kids from the pageant said that they would make everyone learn ASL (American Sign Language) so that they could be included in more opportunities outside of CSDR.
A lot of deaf people can feel isolated because there is often a language barrier that is keeping them from interacting with the rest of the world. It would do some good if everyone could learn sign language even just to have it under your belt because you never know who you might run into.
