Members of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation engage in conversation with Clarke Philadelphia students and Ashley Mahlstedt Weaver, MED, director of Clarke Philadelphia.
Members of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, Bill Corwin, secretary, Robert A. Krause, CEO and I. King Jordan Jr., disability programs consultant, enjoyed an informational tour at Clarke Philadelphia recently.
Established in 1867, Clarke has been instrumental in equipping thousands of children who are deaf or hard of hearing with the necessary skills to thrive in mainstream schools and beyond. Children served by Clarke use advanced technologies, including cochlear implants and hearing aids, to maximize their access to sound. The Clarke team—including teachers of the deaf, audiologists and speech-language pathologists—works with children and their families from infancy through high school.
During the visit with JSF, Ashley Mahlstedt Weaver, MED, director of Clarke Philadelphia, expressed, “Watching students engage in conversation with new friends is always the best part of hosting visitors. Highlighting their developing listening and spoken language skills is something the whole team takes pride in.”
Caroline Oberweger, Clarke’s director of foundation relations and Nell Rosenberg, MEd, MS, CCC-SLP LSLS Cert AVT, Clarke’s national director of teleservices, meet with the Johnson Scholarship Foundation to discuss the remote Listening and Spoken Language services offered through Clarke’s tVisit® Teleservices Program.
Following the tour, JSF members spoke with Caroline Oberweger, Clarke’s director of foundation relations, and virtually with Nell Rosenberg, MEd, MS, CCC-SLP LSLS Cert AVT, Clarke’s national director of teleservices, to learn more about Clarke’s innovative tVisit® Teleservices.
This virtual service, which Clarke has offered since 2013, provides comprehensive LSL services virtually, tailored to children of all ages and their families. Later, the JSF team ventured to Clarke Philadelphia’s future home at Saint Joseph’s Hawk Hill campus where they were joined by Clarke trustee Michael Straubel, who led a tour of the space alongside Ashley Mahlstedt Weaver. This facility promises expanded avenues for experiential learning and interprofessional programming. The new space will include multiple preschool classrooms, a sensory room, speech therapy spaces, an early intervention suite and outdoor play space.
Ashley Mahlstedt Weaver noted, “We are deeply grateful for our partnership with the Johnson Scholarship Foundation. Their support of Clarke enables us to extend listening and spoken language services to more children with hearing loss.”
