Deaf storyteller Peter Cook visited South to give a presentation to second level American Sign Language (ASL) students Feb. 15.
According to ASL teacher Rosemarie Carsello, Cook is an internationally known storyteller and a professor at Columbia College in Chicago. He travels all over the world to give presentations regarding his work.
According to Carsello, she received a grant from the school to use on a special event for her students. Carsello believed hosting a presentation by Cook would be the most beneficial way of using the grant for her students.
“Anyone who’s involved in the deaf community knows who he is,” Carsello said. “He’s just an amazingly talented storyteller, and I thought that my students could learn a lot from him.”
Carsello has been teaching her students about ASL storytelling and believes their storytelling skills will be improved by watching a professional.
According to junior Brittany Holsman, the presentation was more of a workshop because it was very interactive. During the presentation, Cook had students doing different activities that utilized different ASL skill sets. Cook taught ASL fundamentals as well as tips and tricks, and he participated in a question-and-answer session at the end.
Following the presentation, the students involved were satisfied with the experience.
“I liked the fact that he was more like a performer rather than a teacher,” sophomore Yasmeen Mansoorieh said. “I had never met anyone with as much energy or expression as him. He just seemed like a fun, cool person in general. He is definitely one of those people who [have] a great charisma with people.”
Junior Brasalina Sabini enjoyed the presentation for what it represented.
“Peter Cook showed us that being deaf does not mean being stupid, and that nothing has ever stopped him from living a normal life,” Sabini said. “I love that we were all able to see that being deaf is not a bad thing.”
Even though this is the first time Cook has visited South, Carsello hopes it is not the last.
“I would love for him to come back on another occasion and do a follow-up workshop,” Carsello said. For what it represented.
“Peter Cook showed us that being deaf does not mean being stupid and that nothing has ever stopped him from living a normal life,” Sabini said. “I love that we were all able to see that being deaf is not a bad thing.”
Even though this is the first time Cook has visited South, Carsello hopes it is not the last.
“I would love for him to come back on another occasion, and do a follow up workshop,” Carsello said.
