Bemidji Lions Club Donates $500 to High School ASL Students

Five Bemidji High School students studying American Sign Language are headed to the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in Faribault after the Bemidji Lions Club presented their class with $500, funding a visit to the state's oldest continuously operating Deaf education campus.

Lions President Ethan Larson presented the check to second-year ASL students Jadyn Kelly, Wyatt Carrington, Haley Ambuehl, Saige Gjovik, and Morgan Webb after the group guest-spoke at a recent club meeting. It was not the first such exchange: in a separate instance, First Vice President Robert Sandbo presented $500 to BHS students Thaddeus Variance and Brooklyn Sjostrom after they addressed the same group, pointing to a lasting relationship between the Lions and the BHS sign language program.

The recurring donations carry weight well beyond the classroom. A Minnesota Registry of Interpreters survey found that 39% of the state's ASL interpreters are leaving or reducing their workloads, with rural areas taking the shortage the hardest as they lack interpreting training programs. Beltrami County falls within Region 1 of the state's interpreter services network, a stretch that includes Clearwater, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau counties. For Deaf and Hard of Hearing residents navigating medical appointments, county public hearings, or emergency situations in Bemidji, a qualified interpreter is not always available.

MSAD, where the $500 will help send Kelly and her classmates, provides a free educational and residential experience for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind students from birth through age 22. Established by the Minnesota Legislature in 1863, the school teaches through ASL, spoken English, and Protactile, the tactile method used with DeafBlind students.

The Bemidji Lions Club, chartered March 31, 1939, directs all fundraising proceeds to community organizations it supports and centers its philanthropy on four pillars: Sight, Hearing, Diabetes, and Youth.

Beltrami County residents or organizations that need a certified ASL interpreter for a medical visit, public meeting, or emergency situation can search for regional providers through the Minnesota Department of Human Services' Deaf and Hard of Hearing services portal at mn.gov/deaf-hard-of-hearing.