May 29, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Photograph by Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman/WPN
At the Texas School for the Deaf, in Austin, the learning options have grown alongside the student body. The school has 500 students, about evenly split between boys and girls — a big change from when the school was started in 1857 and just four boys attended.
Take auto-body class, for instance. As one of the many vocational courses at the school, the class, led by Don Twomey, teaches high-school students how to polish and restore cars. Mr. Twomey, who owns a body-repair shop across the street, volunteers his time and has hired an alumnus of the school to work in his shop.
Noting that several students have continued on with their training in auto repair at community colleges, Keena Miller, the school’s fund raiser, says that Mr. Twomey provides the students with “a real look at how a shop operates.”
The school serves students up to age 22, including those with other handicaps in addition to hearing impairment. Half of the students live on campus. The Texas School for the Deaf also provides training for educators and family members at more than 50 regional day-school programs for the deaf that are scattered across the state.
Like other public schools in the state, the institution has been subject to budget cuts over the years.
To bolster its budget, which totaled more than $21-million for this fiscal year, it started a fund-raising arm in 2000 that solicits private gifts. Last year the foundation received $100,000 to start an endowment and has attracted a gift of $175,000 this year.
The school also raises money in other ways: Last year a car show organized by Time Warner and a local news channel on the school’s campus brought in more than $18,000 for the school’s auto-mechanics program and classroom-technology needs.
Here, Mr. Twomey, second from right, shows students how to sand and fix dents in a Chevrolet El Camino.
