Week 4 Blog Prompt

Week 4 Blog Prompt: Last week we talked about how a mission statement, in a way, is a thesis statement. A thesis is an opinion presented as a statement that needs evidence to support it. For your blog post, relate a single statement that serves to "manage change" as your primary thesis in your mission statement. What problems might a reader have with it? How will you mitigate those problems?

The organization for which I am writing is the Texas Chapter of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Texas AG Bell). As an organization, the mission is “Advocating Independence through Listening and Talking!” More specifically, the national office of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing says they help families, health care providers and education professionals understand childhood hearing loss and the importance of early diagnosis and intervention. Through advocacy, education, research and financial aid, AG Bell helps to ensure that every child and adult with hearing loss has the opportunity to listen, talk and thrive in mainstream society. The Texas Chapter strives to follow this mission in its actions throughout the state.

Through advocacy, education…these two terms are important in seeking out grants because the particular workshop I’m seeking to fund is to provide education to educators of students with hearing loss. In a way this education is also an act of advocacy. 

For Texas, the mission statement is simply “Advocating Independence thorough Listening and Talking.” How can they advocate? Advocating does not have to be legalistic, but rather done through actions, words. To advocate, the Chapter can begin by providing workshops that are geared toward educating educators about hearing loss, how to work with students with hearing loss, what their legal responsibilities are as educators, and provide resources of information about hearing loss, services throughout the region/state. The purpose of these workshops is to effect positive change among educators who are not knowledgeable about hearing loss, especially in students who do not use sign language as a mode of communication. Workshops can be developed for all levels of audiences (new teachers, experienced teachers, education professionals, etc).

The Chapter is small so likely the grand fund manager would be me, as past President. I would imagine there would be a team to provide oversight that may consist of the Treasurer who is well versed on financial documentation, the new President to provide ongoing support and assist with recruiting of volunteers to help organize local workshop logistics, and the Secretary who may provide assistance in ensuring records are appropriate and complete for the grant. The biggest obstacle will be the fact the organization focuses on spoken language but I think that the best workaround is to ensure the biggest chunk of information is an overview of hearing loss, how to adapt, legal responsibilities which are topics that are not typically readily available in teacher trainings.