Aimie R.

Villanuva
ABM 12-3

Marlee Matlin
Marlee Beth Matlin was in Morton Grove, Illinois, to Libby (Hammer) and Donald Matlin, an
automobile dealer. She has two older brothers. Her family is of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish
descent.

Marlee lost much of her hearing at the age of eighteen months. That did not stop her from acting in a
children's theater company at age seven; she was Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz." Her deafness never
held her back. As an adult she said it so eloquently: "I have always resisted putting limitations on
myself, both professionally and personally." Marlee studied criminal justice at Harper College in
Palatine, Illinois, and maintained her passion for acting after graduating. While performing on stage
throughout Chicago and the Midwest, Marlee attracted notice for her performance in a production of
the Tony Award-winning play "Children of a Lesser God" and was cast in the movie version, Children
of a Lesser God (1986). Although this was her film debut, she won the Academy Award for Best
Actress. While shooting her next movie, Walker (1987), in Nicaragua, big-hearted Marlee took time to
visit both hearing and hearing-impaired children. She continued this tradition of visiting local children
throughout her travels to Germany, England, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Canada, etc.

Her interest in the criminal justice field played a part in her on screen career; she portrayed an
assistant D.A. in the TV series Reasonable Doubts (1991), while off screen she married police officer
Kevin Grandalski on August 29, 1993. The couple has four children. Marlee was nominated for an
Emmy Award in 1994 for her performance as Laurie Bey in the Picket Fences (1992) episode
"Dancing Bandit." Marlee is also a spokeswoman for the National Captioning Institute. In 1995, she
testified at a congressional hearing and helped get a law passed that requires all TV sets 13 inches or
larger to be manufactured with built-in chips to provide closed captioning on their screens; this was a
godsend for deaf viewers.

Marlee serves as the national spokeswoman for the largest provider of TV closed captioning, and has
spoken on behalf of CC in countries such as Australia, England, France, and Italy. She also serves on
the boards of a number of charitable organizations, including Very Special Arts, the Starlight
Foundation, and other charities that primarily benefit children. As someone who loves children so
much, it is only fitting that she has four of her own. Professionally, Marlee has even tried producing,
being the executive producer for Where the Truth Lies (1999).
Maria Daniela F. Valencia

ABM 12-3

Maricel Apatan

This is the moral story that can be learned from this inspiring journey of a woman who did not lose
hope in achieving her dreams. When she was still a young girl at the age of 11, Maricel Apatan was
with her uncle. They were on their way to draw water when they bumped into four men who were
carrying their long weapons. They were told to face down the ground until the four brutal men
hacked his uncle in the neck which ended his life. Maricel was panicking and did not know what to
do because these men were their neighbors. She ran as fast as she could to escape the scene, but
the went to chase her. Maricel was crying out loud saying “Kuya, ‘wag po, ‘wag n’yo akong tagain!
Maawa po kayo sa akin!”But these men were drawn to the idea of ending her life as well. She lost
consciousness and when she got back to her senses, she pretended to be dead because they were
still there. After the men had left, Maricel ran to her mother who was in shock when saw her
daughter covered in blood. Maricel survived, but his arms were taken off by the men. Instead of
blaming God because of what happened to her, she used it as an inspiration to become better.
Maricel studied hard with the help of some people, she went to school in the School for the Crippled
Children whereas she was claimed as the best in computer, most courteous and most industrious.
She found several ways to do things on her own without her hands. Even without her hands, she was
able to finish a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management in 2008. But Maricel was determined to
achieve more and in 2011, she finished another course as a chef. She is indeed one of the role
models that people should look at. Her determination to be the best at what she does despite of her
imperfections is truly admiring!
Ruth Jean A. Marasigan

ABM 12-3

Britain's greatest ever paralympic athlete, Tanni Grey-Thompson crowned a magnificent career with
two gold medals in the 100 and 400 metres in the 2004 Athens Paralympics. It took her remarkable
medal haul over 16 years and five Paralympic Games to 11 gold, 3 silver and a bronze and
established her as one of the most gifted and courageous sportswomen of her generation.Born with
spina bifida and confined to a wheelchair from the age of seven, Grey-Thompson began wheelchair
racing at 13. At 17, after major surgery had grafted a metal rod on to her spine, she joined the
Rookwood paraplegic club in Cardiff and started her competitive career. She went on to train for the
1988 Paralympics in Seoul from where she returned with a bronze in the 200 metres. She lost a year
when she had to return to hospital for further surgery on her back, but undeterred she focused on
the Barcelona Paralympics of 1992 and promptly hit the headlines with quadruple gold medals in the
100, 200, 400 and 800 metres.She showed her enormous versatility and stamina in the same year
when she won her first London Wheelchair Marathon, an achievement, which she repeated in 1994,
1996, 1998, 2001 and 2002, when she competed just three months after giving birth to daughter
Carys.Tanni won just one gold in the Atlanta Paralympics in the 800 metres, but also collected three
silver medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metres. She was back to the gold standard with a vengeance in
Sydney in 2000, repeating her tour de force of Barcelona, with gold medals in the 100, 200, 400 and
800 metres. Her exploits in Sydney earned her the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year Award
and her enthusiasm and determination in the face of her physical handicap has made her an
international sporting hero and increased awareness of Paralympic sports.Away from the track, she
has played an active role in administration. She is the Vice-President of the Women's Sports
Foundation, a member of the United Kingdom Sports Council, a patron of the British Sports Trust
and she was a member of the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. Her
latest appointment is with UK Athletics to help identify Britain's paralympic stars of the future. In
2003 she was awarded the Freedom of the City of Cardiff. In 2005 she was created ‘Dame’ Tanni
Grey-Thompson for her services to sport. In March 2010, Grey-Thompson was created a life peer on
the recommendation of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and was conferred as
Baroness Grey-Thompson, of Eaglescliffe in the County of Durham.