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OREM -- Parents credit the teachers at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind at Orem Elementary with working wonders for their children. We gave the entire staff a KSL High 5.
All of the children at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in Orem have hearing aids or cochlear implants to hear the world around them. But parents say it's the teachers that make a world of difference.
Joe Beagley nominated the staff for a High 5.
"Without the staff at the school here, and Becky and Lori and all their staff, we wouldn't know what to do," he said. "It would be a tough situation. They perform miracles at this school every day. We wanted to recognize them for that."
Marilyn Madsen is the school's program director.
"We have a love for them, a great deal of love for these kids," she said. "We really care that they progress."
Teacher Becky White said, "I think we feel like a part of their family because it's such an intense work and it's emotional. It's all-encompassing. Our greatest desire is to see them be successful and be competitive with their hearing peers, which is possible today with modern technology."
"The benefits are the wonderful feelings we have when they succeed, like any parents. We are just as delighted as the parents when we see these wonderful things," Madsen said.
For students past and present, the lessons are life-changing. Their parents couldn't be more grateful.
"He's not in the school for the deaf any more. He's with his hearing peers, like any normal kid. It's all of these people who have done so much to help," one parent said.
"Caring," another parent said. "They really go the extra mile. Just amazing, inspiring, incredible, hard working and unbelievable."
It's a labor of love that leaves lasting impressions.
If you'd like to nominate someone for a High 5, follow the link on this page.
Next week we'll be surprising someone with up to $10,000 worth of dental work from Stonehaven Dental. If you know someone deserving of our smile giveaway, we'd love to hear from you.
E-mail: bwalker@ksl.com
