Hamm is where the Heart is: Amelia's 1st Day-Preschool

The Present-Today was Amelia's first day back at Atlanta Speech School. Last year she was in the toddler program. This year she will be in the preschool program. The hours are longer, but are filled with speech, language,writing, art, music, lunch, nap:). Amelia skipped off to class with her new teachers, Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Bitsy as I went to the parent orientation for Hamm. The Past-This year marks the 75th Anniversary for the Atlanta Speech School. Comer Yates, head of the speech school, gave a history lesson on how the school started. I would like to share a brief version of it: A lady by the name of Katherine gave birth to a deaf son. Her husband died and Katherine, a widow,moved to St. Louis to put her son in a school that was trying to teach deaf kids how to talk. She got married again to Dr. Hamm and they transferred to Atlanta because of his job. When they moved here Katherine Hamm became compelled to start a school that would help others like her son. She became a woman with a vision that started with a few kids and now has impacted the lives of hundreds of kids including my Amelia. She was an advocate for her child and in doing so impacted many others. Her legacy is helping kids find a voice of a lifetime...as Comer said today. The Atlanta Speech School today has extended into other branches including mainstream preschool, learning disabilities and speech programs for kids with no hearing loss, but Hamm is where the heart is...this is where the hard of hearing and deaf kids around Atlanta go to learn to listen and gain language. The perspective-If you ever need perspective in life...if you ever need a good awakening go to a Hamm parent meeting. Many parents today shared their child's summer achievements. Now maybe at a typical school you might hear stories about summer vacations or learning to do a sport, but not at Hamm. You get stories like, my child has just finished chemo and we hope this is going to be a good year. Two sets of parents sat at a table next to each other and shared that they had met a few years ago in NICU and were estatic to just have their children there today alive. Many kids have hearing loss because it is genetic, which is the case of my Amelia, but many of these kids at the school lost their hearing because of cancer or premature birth complications. Sure, not everyday is wonderful, but I just feel so blessed that Amelia has her health even if she does not have her hearing. As I sat there today, I was once again reminded...Hamm is where the heart is. Thank you Katherine Hamm. Scarlett Giles p.s. pictures of first day attached