Dea f Ad ul t S erv ice s: I n t erp ret ing T ra i ni ng Pr epa ra t io n Pro g ra m
CONGRATULATIONS
A Sign
Language
Journey
Ed Glass
Born and raised in the
culturally diverse AdamsMorgan district in Northwest
Washington, D.C., Ed was
exposed to sign language at
an early age through a
neighborhood playmate who
attended Model Secondary
School for the Deaf.
Ed Glass
Katie Ragione
Krista Gutzman
Sarah Candelaria
Ashley Evans
Linda Christiano
Stacey Pecoraro
Tracye Johnson
Angela Boyle
Lynne Kerr
Diane
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After his friend graduated
and moved away, their
friendship was the seed of
Ed’s interest in sign language
lay dormant during the many
years that followed.
Enlisted into the U.S. Air
Force, Ed looks back on his
military experience with
fondness and often
reminisces of his travels,
which include extensive tours
on-and-off-duty in Germany,
France, the UK, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Italy and
Turkey. His hope to one day
travel to South America, Asia
and Africa.
Two years ago, while visiting
the Southern Tier region of
Upstate NY, Ed met and
subsequently befriended
many Deaf people from the
Rochester, New York region.
where he became involved
with many classes and
programs available.
Inspired, supported, and
encouraged by friends and
acquaintances in Western
New York, Ed aspires to
become an interpreter for the
Deaf and will soon enroll in
DAS’ Interpreter Training
Program.
It was his friends who
rekindled his interest in ASL
when Ed sought formal
training in ASL, which led
him to Deaf Adult Services
Katie Ragione
Back in 2008, I started pursuing the dream of becoming fluent in ASL, not as a
career choice but as a hobby and a skill to pick up. Suddenly, I realized the
interpreting field was something I wanted to be a part of my everyday life.
Ultimately, I would like to become a certified interpreter.
I have completed the ITPP and look forward to entering the Interpreter Training
Program (ITP). I am currently a waitress, a Recreational Aide at St. Mary’s School
for the Deaf and a volunteer at Deaf Adult Services. I enjoy being involved with the
Deaf community and communicating the language we love.
If I’m not at work or in class, I enjoy sports and the outdoors where I’m currently
on a softball team. I like to swim, walk, play tennis, rollerblade, camp and hike, and
a huge animal lover. I enjoy spending time, caring for and playing with my pets or
going to the zoo. Although I don’t have time or money, I’d love to travel and see
the world. I’m working hard to go where I would like to be and would not change
anything for a minute.
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Krista Gutzman
“As our friendship
grew, my interest in
receiving a formal
training in ASL grew
stronger.”
“I was first introduced to
ASL in 2005 upon meeting
a Deaf coworker. As our
friendship grew, my
interest in receiving a
formal training in ASL
grew stronger.
I have been taking
classes through Deaf
Adult Services for the
past three years and
completed the ITPP. I
look forward becoming
more involved in the Deaf
community as I work
towards becoming a
certified interpreter.
I graduated from Buffalo
State College in 2001 with
a Bachelors of Science in
Speech Language
Pathology. At times, I
surprise people with my
education and experience,
and I’m still very
passionate about ASL and
the Deaf community.
spending time with my
family!
I work full time at the
Park School of Buffalo and
reside in Cheektowaga
with my husband,
Howard. I love movies,
Mexican food, and
Sarah Candelaria
“Sign
Language was
truly
something I
wanted to tie
my studies
into a career.”
“As a McKinley High
School (Hamburg, NY)
Class of 2006, I
graduated with a diploma
in Horticulture. I started
my education in physical
therapy and was taking
ASL 1 and 2 classes.
Quickly, they became a
favorite classes because
the language and culture
had pulled me into the
direction of working with
the Deaf community.
Sign language was truly
something I wanted to tie
my studies into a career.
When my daughter was
born in the fall of 2008, I
took a break from college
and started working part
time for the Buffalo Wild
Wings Restaurant (BWW)
on Elmwood, it was then
when I met many Deaf
people.
A thank you goes out to
the ITPP team for a great
year.
My experience allowed me
to communicate more in
ASL and it was then when
my B.W.W. store saw how
involved I was and
decided to sponsor a Deaf
softball team. I truly
want to continue my
interpreting training and
continue onto ITP.
Ashley Evans
“As I started to
explore my niche,
I knew my interest
in Deaf culture”
“All my life I knew I
would be able to work in
the Human Service field.
I love being around all
kinds of people and
personalities. Graduating
with an education degree,
I felt something was
missing and started to
explore my niche. Deaf
culture and ASL has
always been my interest
before I decided to
pursue a career in
interpreting after
experiences meeting Deaf
people and taking part of
Deaf camps. I then knew
a sign language
interpreting career was
what I meant to be.
Enrolling at DAS, I was
privileged to join the ITPP
and have never looked
back.”
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Linda Christiano
“I graduated from college
with a BS degree in Human
Resources Management, I
worked for an international
dental company in their HR
department.
It was not long before
starting a family and began
to raise my children when I
quit my job and started doing
volunteer work. When my
first child was 2, I opened a
“Weekender Casual Wear”
as a fashion coordinator and
continued with this direct
marketing company for 7
years enjoying the challenges
and rewards. The corporation
was closed down and I decided
to open a new company, Partylite
Gifts which was just as extremely
rewarding.
When I first met an interpreter,
Caleigh McKenna in May 2009,
my sign language journey had
begun. Caleigh spent time
sharing her passion for the
language, the love for Deaf
people, the culture, the friends
she made, her interpreting career
and the challenges that the Deaf
community faces. Having
caught her passion, I saw ASL in
a whole new way and quit my
Partylite business realizing
that a new journey has just
begun.
ITPP’s educators helped me
to go beyond learning the
language and culture to
relate to the Deaf
community. I hope to one
day become an interpreter
and make friendships from
the experience and sharing
laughs. ITPP teachers’ saw
how much I want to succeed
and have been a great
encouragement to persevere.
I want to continue with my
education with opportunities
for an everyday exposure to
the Deaf community. For
this reason, I work part time
at Deaf Adult Services and
learning more about the
obstacles and discrimination
experienced by the
community. I’m always
asking, what can I do to
make a difference and to
answer the self-imposed
question, I will continue
pressing on and continue this
learning journey.
“Having caught her
passion, I saw ASL in a
whole new way.”
Stacey Fisher-Pecoraro
“I was born in Buffalo, New
York and have 2 sisters and 1
brother. My husband and I
recently had our wedding and
purchased our first home
together in hopes to start a
family of our own. I currently
work for the New York State
Department of Corrections for
the past 10 ½ years.
With ASL classes through DAS
before completing ITPP, I
hope to continue my studies
and advance into the
interpreter training program.
I hope to make myself more
visible in the Deaf community
whenever possible.
My interest became stronger
when I became a counselor and
started working with Deaf
inmates.
Ever since, it has been my goal
become a certified sign
language interpreter. Even
though I found ITPP very
challenging, my mind is set on
continuing my studies.”
“My interest
became stronger
when I became a
counselor and
started working
with Deaf inmates.”
Tracye Johnson
“My name is Tracye M.
Johnson. I am a Special
Education Itinerant Teacher
by private contract through
ECMC and Therapeutic Link
for Children. I work in the
Early Intervention Program
with children from birth
through 5. My job requires
much traveling between
homes, daycare centers and
other preschool
environments.
The experience is very
rewarding in ways that I
have the opportunity to
work with families of
different cultures and
many other disciplines
such as occupational and
physical therapists,
speech language
pathologist and others.
I especially enjoy working
with children one on one
and teaming to help their
overall development. I am
grateful to take part of ITPP
because I had learned a lot
and met some great people.
Through tutoring and
encouragement helped me
to continue my sign
language experience.
Eventually, I would like to
work as an interpreter in
the ministry and one day
teach a basic sign language
class to staff at day care
centers.”
“The experience is very
rewarding in ways that I
have the opportunity to
work with families of
different cultures…”
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Angela Boyle
“…learning ASL
started as a young
child communicating
with my Deaf aunt.”
“I am happy to complete the
ITPP program at DAS. It has
been a blessing to have
opened my world to such a
beautiful and expressive
language.
My interest in learning ASL
started as a young child
communicating with my Deaf
aunt, Susan B. Anthony and
with amazement, I could
always understand her
without the use of voice.
As I grew up and graduated
“...hope to continue my
studies to become an
interpreter for the Deaf
in the healthcare field.”
I work in Special Education in
the Lancaster School District
where I used to work with a
first Blind student enrolled
into the district’s program. I
was able to learn and
demonstrate Braille.
Resurrection Catholic Church
during their Deaf mass.
I very much want to continue
to learn about ASL as a
priority to continue my
education and become an
interpreter of the Deaf.
I enjoy meeting the Deaf
community through
Lynne Kerr
“My name is Lynne Kerr
and I’ve had an interest
in sign language for a
long time. I started
learning 13 years ago
with my two year old
daughters and after
spending most of those
years at home raising my
children and working on
our horse farm in East
Aurora.
I decided to pursue my
interest in sign language
and took ASL classes at
ECC and University at
Buffalo, which presently
“I realized communication
was a big part of
education.”
from college, I became a
pre-school teacher and met a
Deaf student who brought
back a big part of my
childhood memory.
I’ve completed the ITPP
at DAS. I’ve had the
opportunity to interact
with the Deaf community
through Deaf events and
through the Resurrection
Catholic Church in
Cheektowaga.
interpreter for the Deaf in the
Healthcare field.
I love raising my two teenaged
daughters and working on our
farm with lots of gardening,
knitting and reading.
Recently, I was hired to
work at St. Mary’s School
for the Deaf as a
substitute school nurse.
I plan to continue with
ASL and hope to continue
my studies to become an
Diane Diminuco
“Education has always
been important in my life.
I grew up knowing that I
was destined to be a
teacher. Teaching
children how to read and
write became a goal I
always knew I could
achieve. As a result, I
found myself expanding
on that goal. Throughout
my years in elementary
school, I would often take
extra work papers and
buy workbooks, this way I
could “teach” anyone who
would want to play school
at recess or at home. I
worked hard to learn all
that I could about the
teaching profession.
I decided to attend SUNY
at Geneseo to obtain a
teaching degree and
found many avenues of
education. I realized that
education meant much
more than reading,
writing and arithmetic and
with the encouragement
of friends and
professionals, I realized
communication was a big
part of education.”