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Hello, Deaf North Carolinians
I am NCAD’s newly elected president. Some of you may not know who I am. I will share a little about myself. I was born deaf in New York. I have attended public school most of my life. However, for two of my twelve years in school, I attended Dutch Broadway School for the deaf in Elmont, NY. Upon graduating high school, I enrolled at the National Technical Institute of Technology (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York, and majored in social work. At the same time, I studied history. After I graduated from NTID/RIT, I attended the University of Rochester to pursue my master’s in Deaf Education. I worked at Rochester School for the Deaf, then moved to Devils Lake, ND, to teach social studies at North Dakota School for the Deaf. One day, I saw a social studies middle school teacher vacancy at Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf. I immediately applied and interviewed for the position. From there, I worked and lived in Wilson, NC, for the next several years. Sometime later, I saw a new opportunity at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, as an ASL teacher. I worked there for about eight years before working as a rehabilitation counselor for the Deaf. During this period, I obtained my master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling. One day, someone encouraged me to return to teaching deaf children and suggested a position as a teacher for the Deaf with the Department of Defense at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC. After several years there, the population of deaf students was declining. I then took on a temporary position as a teacher for the deaf with Central Consolidated School District in Farmington, New Mexico. At the same time, I enrolled in graduate school to study teaching second languages at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU). After my contract ended, I moved back to North Carolina but continued to finish my graduate studies at ENMU remotely and accepted a position with Pender County Schools. I moved to Hampstead, NC, in 2011 and have lived there ever since. I am currently a teacher for the Deaf in New Hanover County Schools, serving elementary deaf students full-time in the classroom. I serve on the North Carolina Counsel for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Mental Health Advisory Board, and work for Language First, educating professionals and parents worldwide on the importance of American Sign Language and other world sign languages as a first language for deaf children.
I am happy to serve and represent Deaf North Carolinians. As the NCAD board, we are working collaboratively to advocate for your rights and educate others about our community. In the meantime, I plan to visit parts of North Carolina to introduce myself, get to know you, and become familiar with our needs in the deaf community. Check in for future messages from me periodically. Thank you for allowing me to serve!
Mike Lupo
NCAD, President
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