Football, Sign Language and a BondThat Can’t be Broken

It’s no surprise that teachers andother adults can change a stu-dent’s life, inspire a student toperform beyond his wildestdreams, or help a student choosea lifelong career path. Many of uscan look back fondly on a teacheror adult who made such a pro-found stamp on our lives that wewill never be same.

ut it’s also true, as you will soonsee, that some students leave just asprofound an imprint on the adultscharged with guiding them. Instead, theyguide us.Consider the possibility that you’re adeaf student managing a world withoutsound, navigating the winding hallwaysof a busy suburban high school, learningcalculus or physics or European history.Imagine that you spend a majority of your time surrounded by teachers andstudents who can hear.Oh yes -- and imagine that you play highschool football.Such is the case for Nathan Engel, a sen-ior at Blind Brook High School and amember of the school’s Trojans footballteam. Nathan, who attends the Southern Westchester BOCES Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Blind Brook, uses American Sign Language to communi-cate. He, like other students in the pro-gram, is assisted by a staff of interpreters,but primarily has come to know anddepend on Christine Fico, an interpreterwith the BOCES program since 1994.It’s clear when you meet with these two -- the 17-year-old student and his 50ishinterpreter -- that theirs is a bondcemented by millions of moments thathave hinged entirely on communication.Ms. Fico is Nathan’s ears on the world,and his voice when that voice needs tobe heard.

Side by Side, Fingers Flying

At Blind Brook, the 20 high school/mid-dle school students served by the well-regarded BOCES program (another sevenstudents are served in the elementaryschools) have become so familiar to theschool’s non-disabled students and staff that, in general, the sight of interpretersand mainstreamed deaf students sittingside-by-side during classes, their handsand fingers flying through the visual cuesof sign language, is commonplace.“This school is great,” said Ms. Fico, “andI think the program is one of the best inthe nation. Here, our students are on alevel playing field with any student.They’re accepted, achieving, and mostbecome involved in all kinds of extracur-ricular activities and sports.” Which brings us back to football.Nathan, who lives in Katonah, is physi-cally active and a sports fanatic, proudlywearing a Syracuse University baseballcap and a Blind Brook athletic sweatshirtduring a recent interview. As a junior, heran spring track and competed in thelong jump, and made the varsity footballteam as he entered senior year. That turnof events required his presence at prac-tices twice a day beginning in August,and daily practices (including weekends)throughout the fall.It also meant that Nathan would requirethe presence of an interpreter, both atpractices and during games, so Ms. Ficoor her colleague, interpreter DebbieDvorak, came along to every practiceand game.The interpreters shadowed Coach JoeRinello, translating his calls and instruc-

Nathan Engel, right, a senior at Blind Brook High School, and his interpreter, Christine Fico, who hasbeen with the SWBOCES Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program for the past 14 years.