{"id":18720,"date":"2012-05-10T14:57:19","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T19:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=18720"},"modified":"2012-05-10T15:35:10","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T20:35:10","slug":"broken-arrow-school-for-the-deaf-struggles-to-pay-its-teachers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/05\/10\/broken-arrow-school-for-the-deaf-struggles-to-pay-its-teachers\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken Arrow School For The Deaf Struggles To Pay Its Teachers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broken Arrow School For The Deaf Struggles To Pay Its Teachers<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 02, 2012<\/p>\n

Lacie Lowry<\/p>\n

BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma – A school for deaf children in Broken Arrow is
\nstruggling to pay its teachers.<\/p>\n

Happy Hands is a Christian non-profit and the director admits – some of
\nthe staff haven’t seen a paycheck in several months – including her.<\/p>\n

Happy Hands started 18 years ago with seven students and one teacher.
\nThe program now has 50 students and 19 teachers, but funding has
\nstalled this year.<\/p>\n

Kendra Stine can’t imagine another career. The Happy Hands teacher is
\nso dedicated to her students, she doesn’t panic when the school’s
\nfunding shortage delays her paychecks.<\/p>\n

“I’m fully committed to the school here,” Stine said. “I
\nwhole-heartedly believe in what we are doing at this school and no
\nmatter what, God has always provided for my needs and my family’s
\nneeds.”<\/p>\n

Happy Hands caters to children with hearing loss or communication
\ndisorders from 6 weeks of age to kindergarten. There’s a waiting list
\nto get in.<\/p>\n

“That’s where it’s difficult,” Happy Hands Director Jan Pride said.
\n“We’re growing very fast in our enrollment. Our funding needs to grow
\nat the same time.”<\/p>\n

Community donations make up 90 percent of the Happy Hands operating
\nbudget. That’s why the school was excited about a $1000 check from the
\ngroup DeafTU with the University of Tulsa.<\/p>\n

Happy Hands never turns a child away because parents can’t pay.<\/p>\n

“That 90 percent of our budget coming from the community directly
\nimpacts what a child can receive here at Happy Hands,” Pride said. “The
\nbuilding is paid off. We still have operational costs, we still have
\nteachers to pay.”<\/p>\n

Just like other non-profits, a bad economy hurts Happy Hands’ budget.
\nBut parents admit they didn’t even know about the funding and paycheck
\nproblems because all the school services, therapy and classroom
\ninstruction have remained the same.<\/p>\n

“My favorite part is at the end of the day when the children run up to
\nme and say, \u2018I love you Miss Kendra. I’ll see you tomorrow,'” Kendra
\nStine said. “How can you not come back to that?”<\/p>\n

Kendra says her reward is so much greater than a paycheck.<\/p>\n

The kids at Happy Hands are holding a fundraiser this Friday called
\n“Happy Feet Fun Run.” They’ll run, walk or be pushed in strollers for
\n30 minutes and you can sponsor a child for $20.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.newson6.com\/story\/18073788\/broken-arrow-school-struggles-to-pay-teachers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Broken Arrow School For The Deaf Struggles To Pay Its Teachers May 02, 2012 Lacie Lowry BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma – A school for deaf children in Broken Arrow is struggling to pay its teachers. Happy Hands is a Christian non-profit…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,13783,127,87,533,13711,35,24,13779,13781,13784,13780,440,1776,13782],"class_list":["post-18720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-broken-arrow","tag-budget","tag-children","tag-christian","tag-communication-disorder","tag-community","tag-deaf","tag-happy-hands","tag-jan-pride","tag-kendra-stine","tag-kindergarten","tag-oklahoma","tag-teachers","tag-university-of-tulsa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-4RW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27466,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/05\/22\/nearly-half-of-third-graders-who-failed-reading-test-are-special-ed-students\/","url_meta":{"origin":18720,"position":0},"title":"Nearly half of third graders who failed reading test are special-ed students","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly half of third graders who failed reading test are special-ed students May 20, 2014 By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer A disproportionate number of the third-graders who scored in the lowest achievement level on Oklahoma\u2019s third-grade reading test are special education students, and many of their parents and teachers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22847,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/04\/29\/happy-hands-education-center-gives-a-voice-to-deaf-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":18720,"position":1},"title":"Happy Hands Education center gives a voice to deaf children","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Hands Education center gives a voice to deaf children April 28, 2013 By Lesa Jones Staff Writer lesaj@baledger.com In 1994, Happy Hands Education Center began with a mission to serve children from birth to age six who are deaf, hard of hearing or have communicative disorders according to Al\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"oklahoma magnet2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/oklahoma-magnet2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15618,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/08\/28\/oklahoma-school-for-the-deaf-names-first-deaf-woman-to-lead\/","url_meta":{"origin":18720,"position":2},"title":"Oklahoma School for the Deaf names first deaf woman to lead","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"August 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Oklahoma School for the Deaf names first deaf woman to lead BY CARRIE COPPERNOLL ccoppernoll@opubco.com August 14, 2011 The Oklahoma School for the Deaf has hired the first deaf female superintendent to lead the school in its 114-year history. 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