COUNCIL BLUFFS — The School of the Deaf is filled with a festive atmosphere this week. The football team is preparing to host their nemesis from Kansas on Friday, a game that marks the school’s annual Homecoming.
While students gear up for various festivities including a parade and dance, school officials are occupied with the Iowa Board of Regents meeting taking place at the school, located in Council Bluffs, this week.
Along with directing the usual activities that go along with homecoming — building floats, planning the dance and making posters — officials are also promoting a in-progress new science center at the school.
Leaders for the school began investigating the prospect of building a new science center more than three years ago. On Wednesday, regents toured a site on the school’s campus where development for the lab has already begun.
Roughly $300,000 has been spent preparing the school’s old swimming pool facility for the center.
“We’re hoping to start building in November,” said Cindy Angeroth, Iowa School for the Deaf outreach coordinator. “We’d like to have it finished by the start of the next school year.”
The current science lab is on an upper level, so students in wheelchairs or struggling with mobility can’t attend class there. The new center will offer handicapped-accessible amenities, enabling every student to have access to educational opportunities.
More than $1.2 million is already pledged and donated to the “Loud and Clear” campaign, which will provide funds for the new center. Officials from the school are hoping to gain about $250,000 more through the same program in order to complete the total cost of the project.
Regents weren’t available for comment after the tour on Wednesday. The board spent the day conducting closed-session performance reviews of institutional heads, including UI President Sally Mason.
Meanwhile, students on campus geared up for what they feel is important this week — the football game.
With only 110 total students — ranging in age from 18 months to 21 years old — the athletics department has to downsize in order to compete. Iowa School for the Deaf plays 8-man football as opposed to the normal 11-man prototype.
Because of its size, the Bobcat football team is limited to playing other hearing-impaired schools from out-of-state, or private and Christian schools who also have a limited number of students. Some teams have to travel long distances to compete; some schools for the deaf that are scheduled to play the Iowa team are located in Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Colorado.
The Bobcats’ assistant football coach Dave Borgaila is concerned with the history his team has with its opponents from Kansas this week.
“The past few years, the home team has lost,” he said. “We’re hoping to change that this year.”
The regents will meet again today in open session. Check dailyiowan.com for updates from the meeting.
—by Shane Ersland
