CID RECEIVES $5,000 GRANT FROM BUILD-A-BEAR
WORKSHOP BEAR HUGS FOUNDATION

For more information, contact Kim Readmond, 314/977-0243, kreadmond@cid.edu

ST. LOUIS, January 25, 2008: CID - Central Institute for the Deaf has received a $5,000 grant from the Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation to help support the school’s early literacy program.  

               “Early literacy skills are crucial for students who are deaf and hard of hearing,” said CID preschool-kindergarten coordinator and co-principal Lynda Berkowitz, MS, CED. “Teaching them how to listen and talk is the first part of the equation. Learning to read – and reading well, fluently and at grade level – is linked to being able to hear and speak a language. The sooner a child can learn to read, the faster he or she will read to learn all subjects.”

               Technological advances in hearing aids and cochlear implants are helping CID preschool students develop language skills faster than before, and they are therefore able to benefit from early literacy instruction. Without using sign language, CID teachers work with children who are mildly to profoundly deaf to teach them the hearing, listening, speech and reading skills they need to succeed in a predominately hearing society.                                                                                        

              “Integrating early literacy into the pre-k department is of the utmost importance. We see results in our students’ improved test scores as well as in their readiness to advance academically,” said CID executive director Robin Feder, MS, CFRE. “Thanks to help from Build-A-Bear Workshop, we can fund the staff required to develop curriculum, prepare materials and take advantage of professional development opportunities in early literacy instruction.”

               During the past two years, 100% of CID returning pre-k students increased their pre-reading skills by one year or more on the TERA3 (Test of Early Reading Ability). Returning pre-k students’ scores went from an average of 82.5 in 2006 to 90.75 in 2007. The average for 2007 is within the average range as compared to the early literacy skills of preschool-kindergarten children with normal hearing.                                

                Matt Oldani, manager of the Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation, welcomed the opportunity to continue the company’s partnership with CID. “We believe that education is crucial to every child’s success in life and we are proud to be able to help CID provide that essential base for the children in their program,” he said.

About Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation
The Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation is committed to making life more bearable for children, families and pets in need of a helping paw. With the sale of each Read Teddy^® – a special furry friend available in all Build-A-Bear Workshop stores – one dollar is donated to First Book and other literacy programs throughout the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.buildabear.com

About CID
Founded in 1914 by Max Goldstein, MD, CID is a fully accredited auditory-oral school where children who are deaf and hard of hearing learn to listen, talk, read and succeed. We specialize in excellence in auditory-oral deaf education for children birth to 12. Generous private support makes CID affordable for families of children with hearing loss who qualify, regardless of ability to pay. 

             CID supports a full-time pediatric audiology staff who are cochlear implant and hearing aid specialists and a full-time staff of certified speech-language pathologists, with an occupational therapist, school counselor and school nurse on premises. Our experienced teachers have master's degrees in deaf education and specializations in early childhood special education and related fields. They benefit from an ongoing commitment to professional development in the CID school, and they meet the certification requirements of the national Council on Education of the Deaf (CED).

            CID teachers incorporate speech and language into mainstream academics and offer art, physical education, music, computer instruction and a variety of special activities (science and literacy fairs, tennis, photography, etc.) Every CID classroom in preschool-kindergarten through primary has a state-of-the-art SMARTBoard and teachers who are trained to use them. 

             CID classrooms serve as practicum sites for local universities and CID teachers and audiologists serve as faculty in the Washington University School of Medicine Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS), offering advanced graduate degrees in deaf education, audiology and speech and hearing sciences. CID professional education workshops are attended by audiologists, speech-language pathologists and educators from around the world.

             The CID school has enjoyed a longstanding affiliation with Washington University, starting in 1931 when the CID teacher of the deaf training program became the first program of its kind to offer university degrees. CID has a strong history of research in hearing, deafness and education of hearing-impaired children, including contributions to the science of audiology, infant hearing assessment, digital hearing aids and educational methods. CID at Washington University School of Medicine programs, many begun or developed at CID, are affiliated with, but financially separate from Central Institute for the Deaf (CID).

 “Early literacy skills are crucial for students who are deaf and hard of hearing,” said CID preschool-kindergarten coordinator and co-principal Lynda Berkowitz, MS, CED. “Teaching them how to listen and talk is the first part of the equation. Learning to read – and reading well, fluently and at grade level – is linked to being able to hear and speak a language. The sooner a child can learn to read, the faster he or she will read to learn all subjects.”