We arrived at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, California for a tour on the very last day of classes. It was somewhat of a mistake for us to expect a very good tour when all the kids are running around going to the elementary and middle school graduations, and all the high school kids taking their finals and rehearsing for their own graduation. The Fremont school decided to go ahead and make do and what we got was a very nice welcome by the High School students with a big banner welcoming us to their school. Jed and Kevin were both given a nice welcome since it is their alma mater, graduating there in ‘88. Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, who works in public relations for CSDF, gave us the tour of the school. Bridgetta was one of the four student leaders in DPN and is a wonderful asset to the school with her place in Deaf history.

We watched the early childhood education graduation where cute children crossed a bridge as each of their names was spelled out, symbolizing the entrance of a new era. They acted as growing flowers and showed their growth aesthetically. We then went to the middle school graduation held at the auditorium and watched as the more formal promotion took place. They kicked off with a nice ASL rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and their class song before we were ushered off to finish our tour of the school. We bumped into 13 of the seniors who had gathered outside for a picture. I found out that all 13 of them were headed for Gallaudet in the fall, an extremely large number for one class from a Deaf school. I chatted with all of them who had nothing but great things to say about their school. They boasted their sports program, their education, the strong Deaf atmosphere on campus, and the memories they had through their years.

We were giving a brief tour through the library and its surrounding historical artifacts by Diedre Kennedy, the school curriculum director. We then met with 30-year school superintendent Dr. Hank Klopping in the school museum located in the library. Dr. Klopping is one of, if not the longest tenured superintendent of a Deaf school in the United States, and I don’t know if I have ever seen a more higher praised man than Dr. Klopping. Jed and Kevin both talked about their days with him with the utmost respect, and the faculty and staff who we bumped into all said, “Dr. Klopping is a great man.” Since he was superintendent ever since the school’s Berkeley days, and all through the last 18 years that the school has been in Fremont, he knows plenty about the school’s history. He was the perfect man to explain the things in the one-room museum.

The walls are decorated primarily with art from alumnus. The school boasts a long line of great artists and proves it with the beautiful art it has acquired. Among these are five life-size wax figures of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Laurent Clerc, Dummy Hoy, and two of Alice Cogswell. The bear almost the exact likeness and height as to the best of our knowledge. The wax figures were made by a CSD graduate as well, boasted Dr. Klopping. I then interviewed him and he told me that his greatest pride of the school is that it is a Deaf environment and strongly believes in the bilingual-bicultural philosophy. He also added that “this school prepares our students for the world outside. 40 of our 47 graduates this year are going to school next year, in a college, technical school, or community college and they often come back and contribute to the school.” We enjoyed our time with Dr. Klopping, and went to the vocational building where we hoped to get a glimpse of what they offered. What we eventually saw simply blew me away.

The woodshop was our first stop and the first thing I noticed when I entered was an abundance of what seemed like professionally made things such as cabinets, nameplates, jewelry boxes, chairs, and many more different things. They were all well made and most importantly, student made. We saw Bob Morrison and he showed us around the shop and introduced us to his students and showed us their projects. They were all finishing up since it was the last day of school. Bob has almost 30 years of teaching shop under his belt, and 13 of those at Fremont.

We also saw their web design class which designs the school website. The website is designed and maintained entirely by students and involves no adult participation except for advice and supervision. See