He couldn't hear the laughter, but the deaf 1957 graduate of Jackson High School said he came to see the students from Jackson Public Schools' special-education program for the hearing impaired at its 26th annual spring picnic.

The picnic brought together about 40 hearing-impaired students from preschool to high school and their teachers, interpreters and alumni of the program, said Nancy Tuckey, director of the Jackson Public Schools student support programs.

Things have come a long way since he was in high school, Everts said. He was the first deaf graduate from Jackson Public Schools 48 years ago, he said.

"There was no signing -- sometimes I'd lip-read, sometimes we'd write notes to each other," he said.

Standing in line to have his face painted like Spider-Man, Sharp Park Elementary School student Michael Moss, 6, said he liked getting to see his friends at the picnic. Five of his friends with whom he can speak through sign language attend a different school, but he got a chance to see them Tuesday.

Jackson High School student Jessica Thomas, 18, sat by with a friend thinking about the fast-approaching graduation and her plans to run for Miss Deaf Michigan, she said. The senior, who plans to attend Jackson Community College for a career in child care, said her platform is about legislation in hearing schools.

"Teachers and principals should know how to sign if there should be no child left behind," she said.

Many students can usually only sign with the few hearing-impaired students in their school, their special-education teachers and their families, said Jonathan Truman, an interpreter for the students.

"It's a time for social interaction, for younger kids to see older role models to see what they can do someday," he said.

By Tina Reed, Citizen Patriot