Wisconsin School for the Deaf - The Wisconsin Times Vol. 134 No. 4 Summer 2013 | Page 4

Locks of Love
A new WSD third-grader, Tania Rooker, returned to school one Monday morning with her very long, shiny,
black hair cut into an adorable ‘bob.’ Her teacher chatted with her about her new haircut and learned that she
had donated her hair to Locks of Love. About a month before, Tania learned about cancer from conversations
with her mom who has a cousin dying of cancer. Tania learned about losing hair due to the medicine in
chemotherapy and why special wigs are made for cancer patients. Tania just decided donating her hair was
something she wanted to do. So without any trepidation and a big smile on her face, she went to the salon with
her mom and did a very, very generous thing. She is happy to know that somewhere a little girl will be able to
have a beautiful, shiny black wig that will help her feel better while she ghts cancer. We are so proud of your
brave and sel ess donation, Tania!
Tania was not the only person at WSD who recently donated hair to Locks of Love. Peter Schultz, WSD’s
Psychological Service Assistant/School Counselor, did some thinking about how he could give back to the
community. He thought of Locks of Love. Many people have donated straight hair, but not many have donated
curly hair. Peter’s eight year old daughter shaved his head and then a friend helped nish the job. After it was
done, his eyes lled with tears because of the mixed emotions he experienced. He was happy he could help
someone feel better while battling cancer, but sad because two and a half years of growing out his curly hair had
come to an end. He felt he had done a good deed and is proud of himself for being brave and courageous. Peter
hopes other people will go for it and donate to Locks of Love.

Discovery World
Field trips are a wonderful opportunity to extend learning from the classroom to the outside world. Discovery
World in Milwaukee provided the perfect environment for a follow-up for a fourth grade unit on simple
machines and a fth grade unit on ocean life. Students started their adventure with a virtual 3D tour of the
solar system. Next, everyone stood in line for a chance to ‘drive’ a car obeying traf c lights, speed limits and
following arrows through the streets of a downtown area.
A new exhibit allowed students to explore the world of sound. Students couldn’t pass up the opportunity to
strum a guitar as they watched the sound waves on a computer monitor or a sound table using blocks to create
music with each block recognized as a different instrument. When the blocks were placed on the illuminated
table, the sound of that instrument was heard over the surround sound speakers. In the aquarium, students were
able to pet different sea life, which included a stingray and even a
shark (toothless, of course). The students were able to pretend they
were on a submarine as they looked through a periscope.
The Great Lakes were explored to nd out what types of plant and
animal life are in each of the lakes. A computerized program was
used to change the weather over the lake display from a bright, clear
day to a stormy night with thunder and lightning. The trip concluded
upstairs where there was a large pirate ship. Students enjoyed going
down the stairs to explore the lower deck. They had a great day of
discovery!
Summer 2013 - 4