Round Rock ISD’s Capital Area Regional Day School Program for the Deaf (RDSPD) was awarded the Marty Murrell Excellence in Education award at the 2017 Texas Symposium on DeafBlindess for providing excellent educational programing for a McNeil High School student with Deafblindness.

The Marty Murrell Excellence in Education award is given to an educator or group of educators who have made a long-term commitment to excellence in education for Texas students with Deafblindness.

“Our student who is both deaf and blind has made our team stronger and more diversely equipped. Thanks to her we have developed new instructional strategies benefiting everyone in our program,” Capital Area RDSPD Director Julie Johnston said. “We are honored to have been selected for the Marty Murrell Excellence in Education Award and have a strong commitment to serving students with DeafBlindness.”

In October 2014, the McNeil Deaf Education staff was told they would be getting a new student with no vision, used Braille to read and write and communicated using tactile sign language. As a team, the staff strategized with the student’s family and took immediate action to seek specialized training which transformed the way they delivered instruction and communicated with their student and with each other.

Members of the McNeil Deaf Education staff that were recognized include:

  • Julie Johnston, Capital Area RDSPD director
  • Kelly Brittingham, intervener;
  • Brit Budd, deaf and hard of hearing teacher;
  • Rachael Collins, visual impairments teacher;
  • Christine Corby, deaf and hard of hearing teacher;
  • Chera Cox, deaf and hard of hearing teacher;
  • Marianna Craig, interpreter;
  • Jennifer Groeschen, intervener and deaf and hard of hearing teacher;
  • Erin Hudson, secondary deaf education lead;
  • Kelli McAnally, visual impairments coordinator;
  • Ashley Pickens, deaf and hard of hearing teacher;
  • Tami Rohn, deaf and hard of hearing teacher;
  • Alisand Robinson, orientation and mobility skill teacher;
  • Luz Soto, deaf and hard of hearing teacher and
  • Liz Stropko, deaf and hard of hearing teacher

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