WPSD Alumni Association

Category: News

  • WPSD Class Reunion 1977 & 1978 Photo

    In the photo, first row: Mark Tarno, Thomas Hattaway, John Noschese, Rosemary (Rolewitz) Noschese. Second row: Robin Shay, Andrew Friday, Catherine (Stauffer) Friday, Robert Andrascik, Mary Ann (Hines) Carter, Susan (Eash) Laino, Barbara (Frank) Kite, Joan (Schellman) Cody. Third row: Raymond Gwizdak, John Stahl, Mark Kite, Merrill Cargo, Wes Hawkins. Fourth row: Jay McLaughlin, David…

  • Jocelyn Demme is starting to feel the HEAT

    There’s one thing you need to understand about Cranberry volunteer firefighter Jocelyn Demme: It’s that she does NOT consider herself to be hearing impaired. Nor does she identify as being hard of hearing. She is deaf. She can’t hear you, and that, in turn, has limited her own ability to speak. Deafness from birth has…

  • 2018 graduates high-5 their way to commencement

    2018 graduates high-5 their way to commencement

     The 2018 graduates of Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf high-fived teachers and students while marching through the halls of their school on Thursday. The event is an annual tradition for WPSD, located in Edgewood. Established in 1869, the non-profit, tuition-free school provides academic and extracurricular programs to deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth…

  • WPSD Alumni Auction & Gala Photo Gallery

    WPSD Alumni Auction & Gala met their goal to reach $5,000 and it was successful! All of those donation will go to the expansion will offer additional space for new classroom, new opportunities for creative learning, and gather the WPSD Children’s Center’s programs and staff under one roof, creating a comprehensive, early education resource for…

  • WPSD students get greeting with the Pirates

    Dozens of students from the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf got some hands-on baseball and softball training Monday during the eighth-annual “It’s Your Perfect Pitch” event at PNC Park. Students from grades 7-12 visited the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ballpark for warmups and hitting, pitching and fielding instruction from volunteers, college coaches and players and former…

  • 2018 Alumni Night Group Pictures

  • Heinz archivists share expertise with WPSD

    Sierra Green and Emily Ruby of the Heinz History Center recently met with Aaron and Chris Noschese at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf to discuss preservation. Green, Ruby, and Chris Noschese are members of the Consortium steering committee. The school has an extensive collection of original items that reflects its history, including photographs, yearbooks, correspondence, newsletters, film, athletic uniforms, desks, and…

  • Consortium members visit WPSD Alumni museum

    In 1868, young Henry Bell came to Third United Presbyterian Church’s Mission Academy School. Henry was African American and deaf. The pastor solicited Pittsburgher William Drum, who was also deaf and a graduate of the Pennsylvania Institution in Philadelphia, to teach him. This effort quickly expanded, and a school opened in September 1869.It was the first day…

  • A battle beneath the rainbows

    A battle beneath the rainbows

    BY STEPH CHAMBERS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette In Focus. In sports, there’s nothing more inspirational than a comeback win. Ok, throw in a double rainbow. Then there really is nothing more dramatic. Though Plants and Pillars Homeschool Co-op scored first and dominated most of the game, The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf scored with four minutes…