Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Yoder receives national and state awards for ASL interpreting

GOSHEN, Ind. – When Myron Yoder, Goshen College assistant professor of American Sign Language (ASL), reflects on the 2004 year, he’ll find plenty to sign about. Not only does the Goshen College ASL program continue to grow, but he also recently received both a national and a state award for his contribution to the ASL interpreting profession.

During its annual conference and board meeting on Nov. 13, the Indiana Chapter of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (ICRID) presented Yoder with the President’s Award. The award is given to an individual who has benefited ICRID and the profession of interpreters.

 

In October, Yoder received the Mary Stotler Award, which includes a $1,000 cash award, from the two national organizations of the interpreting profession: the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT). The RID has a membership of over 10,000 interpreters and the CIT is made up of program directors, professors/instructors of interpreter training programs across the United States. This national award recognizes significant contributions to the field of interpretation and interpreter education.

During June 2004, Yoder and his son Justin, a senior in high school, rode arm-powered bikes 790 miles from Goshen to the Atlantic Coast in Delaware, to draw support to the program he leads. The two raised almost $14,000 for the increasingly popular ASL interpreting major at Goshen College in this trip they called “Goshen to the Ocean.”

And in late May 2004, Yoder and his wife Sheila, who is also an assistant professor of ASL at Goshen College, led a group of ASL majors to Jamaica for a 10-day trip to learn more about the Jamaican Deaf community’s language and culture.

Although ASL classes have been available at Goshen College for nearly a decade, a four-year degree in American Sign Language Interpreting began in 2002, and the college now offers both a major and minor. This program offers students the opportunity to appreciate the language, culture, contributions and history of the Deaf community in the United States. The four-year degree program is designed to prepare graduates for a professional interpreting career and to use their skills in service to the community and the church. Upon completion of the bachelor’s degree, students will have taken the written portion of the National Registry of Interpreters for Deaf evaluation and have a sound base on which to build their interpreting skills. Goshen is one of only three ASL programs in the state of Indiana and it is the only Mennonite college to offer a four-year degree in ASL Interpreting. For more information about Goshen College’s ASL Interpreting major, visit http://www.goshen.edu/asl.

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit http://www.goshen.edu/.

Editors: For more information, contact News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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