WAIMEA — Eighteen students from Waimea Elementary, Keaau Elementary and Kealakehe Elementary clad in felt antler headbands signed “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” together at the 3rd Annual Deaf Santa event at Parker Ranch Center Thursday morning.
The children are enrolled in the deaf and hard-of-hearing programs at the schools. Deaf Santa events have been held on Oahu for 25 years. Angela Nagata, a Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) for Waimea Elementary School, started the holiday event in Waimea in 2013.
“They used to fly over students every year to the (Oahu) event but the funding was cut, so we decided to do it ourselves and build our community. We wanted to get them together so they could use their America sign language,” she said. “The first year we held the event at Waimea Elementary, last year at Thelma Parker Memorial Library and this year we wanted to a bigger space to add other schools.”
Although not hard of hearing herself, Nagata has communicated with deaf children since a young age.
“I had a childhood friend that I met when I was eight years old and that’s when I started to learn to sign,” she said. “I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and never associated that with the deaf, but later when I came to college I continued having deaf friends so I decided to go to the deaf school and did some volunteer work. I’ve been teaching for about 18 years now.”
Linda Sykoia, president of the Big Island Association of the Deaf, also sits on the board of Aloha State Association of the Deaf (ASAD Hawaii) – one of the event’s sponsors. She herself is hearing-impaired and attended the event, greeting students and signing them stories, much to their delight.
“It gets better every year,” she said. “I helped last year and had to do it again.”
Storytelling was also led by Ann Pease, the TOD at Keaau Elementary.
Parents watched proudly, as their children made new friends at the event.
“Mable is four years old and we came last year,” said her mother, Ofa Talofi. “Here, she’s able to interact with other kids that are also hearing-impaired. It’s really nice and I see how much it makes her happy.”
To make the experience authentic, even the event’s Santa, David Bond from Pahoa, is deaf.
Tammy Fulcher brought her daughter, Cindy, to the gathering. Both are hearing impaired.
“I have 30 percent of my hearing and my daughter has about 50 percent. This is our first year to the event,” she said. “They didn’t have this when I was a kid. I feel this is very important for my daughter to socialize and be a part of something. Before she went to Keaau she was very withdrawn and wasn’t talking. Once she started, my daughter flourished. Not only is she talking but she’s signing and reading and is only three. Susy Rivera her teacher has been amazing.”
Toys for Tots provided free toys for children 12 and under, and Domino’s donated pizzas for the event. Parker Ranch Center offered the location free of charge.