ANNA MAYRA

Alaska State School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Preschool

Homeroom: 125 A

Phone: (907) 742-1317

Hello. My name is Anna Mayra. Currently I'm the preschool teacher at Alaska State School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASSDHH.) I have the opportunity to work and play with children ages 3 to 5 to build their knowledge and communication skills.

We have the best of all worlds in our preschool community. Students and staff in our classroom may be deaf, hard of hearing, or hearing. The hearing children are our Signing Pals. Generally they are siblings of children in our program or are otherwise associated with deaf or hard of hearing community members. They're here to learn sign language and communication techniques to use when talking with deaf and hard of hearing people. They also are excellent verbal models for our deaf and hard of hearing children who can hear English.

Our children are delightful! It's wonderful to see them grow and develop. They develop so many more skills than the average preschooler because of their exposure to English, American Sign Language, fingerspelling, lipreading, gestures, mime, and many other aspects of visual communication. The children grow in communication competence and self-confidence right before our eyes.

Please come visit our bilingual preschool. It's a very special place.