Deaf Anthology
Posted by Gary A. Fitts at 15:48
2017-09-29
It ain’t no ordinary classroom as I step into the magical world of Evelyn Zola where she welcomes me to SJSD with open arms, and introduces me to a great Deaf community on a great lake, Milwaukee. As an icebreaker. Evelyn invites me to dinner at a German restaurant, Mader’s, downtown before I even settled down. I don’t think any of my Deaf boys would be caught daydreaming in her classroom that is full of visual stimulation. Evelyn works wonders as role model to our Deaf children and as a leader in our Deaf community. We became lifetime friends, supporting each other. Evelyn was there as a guest on my first live, “Deaf Milwaukee,” broadcast on cable. UWM interpreter students were also on the set performing a song, “Respect.” The toughest thing about being a producer is adding subtitles to a short video. I returned Evelyn a favor, becoming Santa Claus at a local Deaf club. Evelyn Zola invites my oldest Deaf sister, a teacher at CSDB, to talk with her ITP students and then host her to a dinner at her home while I took my other sister, a dorm supervisor at ASD, to a Brewers game. My Deaf brother, a linotypist with the NY times, came to SJSD to chat with my dorm boys one night before going to a Deaf bowling tournament. Evelyn also met my other Deaf sister, a former teacher of black Deaf students at the then segregated ASDB, at a Deaf seniors conference. One interesting thing I want to point out is that they both live at opposite sides of the BART line, with Evelyn down in Concord and my Deaf sister up there in Richmond, out west in California. While SJSD prepares our Deaf children for the rites of confirmation. Evelyn even took a Deaf Jewish boy aside, taught him that we’re God’s chosen people, to be proud of our heritage and traditions. I noticed that Evelyn collects Deaf artworks that you wouldn’t find at the Smithsonian Institute. I can go on and on writing everything about Evelyn Zola, the great things she done at SJSD, her involvement in the Deaf community, but this a blog, not a biography which probably will be thousands of pages thick and a bestseller. One thing for sure, Evelyn Zola ain’t no ordinary teacher; she set high standards and expects us to accept our Deaf identity, living up to our full potential, and leaving this world a better place. Evelyn Zola spirit remains in our hearts, we all missed her.
Source: deafanthology.blogspot.ca/2017/09/dorm-tales-evelyn-zola.html
