A sign of things to come

A Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School student wins a $1,500 scholarship in a speech contest for deaf and hard of hearing kids.

By LORRI HELFAND

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 6, 2001

LARGO -- Kristina Ullom, 13, has a way with words. She loves to write stories and deliver speeches.

But you'll rarely hear her utter a phrase. Kristina prefers to speak with her hands.

Earlier this month, Kristina, a seventh-grader at Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School, gave a speech about her dreams for the future. She won first place in the Optimist's Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Gainesville and brought home the grand prize, a $1,500 scholarship and a snazzy aqua Lucite trophy.

Before the district competition in Gainesville, Kristina took first place in a local contest at Morgan Fitzgerald, where she competed with 16 of her peers.

For more than six years, the Optimist Clubs of the North Florida District have conducted the annual Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Kristina was sponsored by the Optimist Club of Tampa Bay and the Breakfast Optimist Club of St. Petersburg.

Competitors had the choice to voice or sign their speech, accompanied by professional interpreters, and the contest was judged by volunteers with extensive backgrounds in American Sign Language.

In many ways, the wavy-haired girl who wears hearing aids is just like her friends. She loves to watch movies, swim and race to class.

But Kristina's a bit different. At 13, she has her future all planned out. So when she learned the contest topic, "We are the Future," she knew what she was going to talk about.

"I want to help deaf kids learn. Most of the kids ask me for help. Now I'm like a small teacher. I say, 'Stop. Stop bothering me.' But they refuse," she said with a grin.

Thirteen-year-old Buddy Forrester said the other kids often turn to her for guidance as well as classroom supplies.

"She helps us out a lot when we don't understand. When Ms. Ruff is not around," he said.

"These two are always depending on her," said Nicholas Pelissier, 12, pointing at Buddy and Marquez Robinson, 13.

"You, too," Buddy chimed back at Nicholas.

According to her deaf education teacher, Vanessa Ruff, academics come easily to Kristina, who is a Dean's List and Honor Roll student.

"She's the model kid in my class," Ruff said.

She is also a mainstream student, which means that the majority of her classes are with her hearing peers. An interpreter accompanies her to class.

Her first class of the day, however, is a resource class that's designed to help her and her deaf classmates keep up with their studies. There they receive extra help, if necessary, and discuss issues and their experiences as members of the deaf community.

Kristina said she plans to go to college and use the $1,500 scholarship toward her tuition.

Ruff said Kristina's classmates responded with a rousing cheer when her achievement was broadcast during the morning announcements.

Her classmates were proud of her, but not surprised.

"I knew she was going to win because her story was really good." Buddy said.

This is not Kristina's first speech competition. In fourth grade, she came in third at Cross Bayou Elementary in a contest sponsored by Tropicana and 4-H. And last year, she came in second at the Optimist's contest at Morgan Fitzgerald.

"This year she was determined that she needed to win. I thought that was a good goal," said her mother, Linda Ullom, who became a speech pathologist after she learned that Kristina was deaf.

But she and her husband didn't want to pressure Kristina, who was competing with both middle and high school students.

"We went over it with her. We just told her that as one of the younger kids, if she won, great. Otherwise, she would have other opportunities in the future."

Deaf education teacher Christina Eisen said she makes all of her students write and perform a speech in class. Afterward, she strongly urges them to compete at the yearly competition.

Eisen believes that the speeches give her students a chance to work on their communication skills. The contest would be especially beneficial, she said, because deaf children don't have as many opportunities to compete as hearing students do.

"This is geared right for them," she said. "I don't let it go because it would be a missed opportunity for them."

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