This year the club is excited to announce Noah White as the successful recipient of the 2018 summer camp scholarship. Noah is a sophomore at Colony High School and is on the wrestling team, loves mountain biking, four wheeling, music and anything athletic! Mat Su Sertoma Club covers the cost of the camp session and airfare.
At birth, Noah had normal hearing however he began losing his hearing sometime after his 1st birthday. At three, he was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss – the ski slope form from PPHN (Persistent pulmonary hypertension) after delivery. He is deaf at high frequency but has almost normal hearing at low frequency.
The family moved from Wasilla to St. Louis when Noah was five years old to enroll him in a deaf oral school. There he received direct teaching, language processing training and attended private schools through the 9th grade. The family always wanted to come ‘home’ and moved back to Alaska this fall. Noah is thrilled to be in Alaska and is very active. Music is one of his favorite things and he is self-taught on the piano, guitar and drums.
Noah wrote an essay “What is important about your identity as a deaf or hard of hearing person in a diverse world?” He has a desire to help bring understanding to those around who are not hearing impaired. Through a lack of understanding, people are fearful and only through self-acceptance he has been able overcome challenges he has faced.