Deaf Southern Star: 2011 (Vol. 33, No. 1)

Some of the items featured in the St Dominic’s Catholic Deaf Centre’s ‘Deaf Southern Star’ (Vol. 33, No. 1, 2011) newsletter:

• A large number of Deaf people from Hawkes Bay, Taupo, Wellington, Whanganui, Feilding, Levin, Bunnythorpe and Palmerston North get together to celebrate morning tea with Sr. Gemma who is moving to Oamaru, with a summary of her contributions over the years. In 1981 when the Principal at St. Dominic’s, Sr. Kathleen Thomson, left for overseas study, Sr. Gemma stepped in initially as Acting Principal but ended up being Principal until 1988. This was a period of significant development at St. Dominic’s that Sr. Gemma oversaw covering: the move to integration; the introduction of Total Communication; and finally the closure of the school site outside Feilding and its relocation to St. Joseph’s on Derby Street in Feilding. In September 1988 She left her job as Principal of St. Dominic’s and took up an appointment as Principal at St. Joseph’s. She remained at St. Joseph’s until September 1993 and retired at the end of that year.
• The Catholic Deaf Centre is organising a group of experts over the next 12 months to bring out an official translation of the Missalette into NZSL.
• Ruth Jessep and Tania Reti share their holiday stories travelling around Dubai, Jordan and Italy.
• Sales from the St Dominic’s book have been going so well that there are no longer any hard-cover copies. There are some soft-covers left.