As a senior at Seymour High School, she is active in many clubs, organizations and service work. But perhaps her most important and rewarding accomplishment is her involvement in HEAR, an organization she helped start in Jackson County last year with other hearing-impaired students. She now serves as president of the organization.

HEAR stands for Hearing Loss Education Access Resource, and its members do exactly that, provide resources for parents, teachers and students who are affected by hearing loss.

“I found out there were other students my age that were having some of the same problems I was,” said Smoljo, who has only about 20 to 25 percent hearing capability in her left ear because of a case of childhood viral meningitis.

“A lot of times we have to ask people to repeat things or in some cases, write them down, but that doesn’t mean we are disabled and that we should be treated differently,” Smoljo said. When she was younger, Smoljo said, she was often picked on and ridiculed for wearing a hearing aid, and that is what fueled her interest in starting the club, which now boasts 13 members from SHS, Crothersville High School and Trinity Lutheran High School. Not all the members, however, are hearing-impaired.

“Kids don’t understand that hearing loss is not a disability, and parents and teachers often don’t know how to handle it,” Smoljo said. “HEAR gives everyone an opportunity to come together to learn about hearing loss and find ways to make it better for those students who have it.”

With some guidance from Jay Cherry, a former audiologist who now works at Bartholomew Special Services Cooperative as a consultant for hearing-impaired children, Smoljo and the other founding members came up with a list of goals for the club.

“One of the first things we decided to do was create a newsletter for families, teachers and all who are connected with children with hearing loss,” Cherry said. “That way people knew who we were and what we were doing.”

That goal was accomplished right away, and the club continues to produce a newsletter three to four times a year, Cherry said.

HEAR’s second goal was to offer a professional workshop for parents, teachers, speech language pathologists and other professionals interested in the success of children with hearing loss. Last year’s event drew nearly 60 people. This year’s program will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the SHS cafeteria. Presenters, hearing health professionals and Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation counselors will be available to answer questions and provide information on all aspects of hearing loss.

Another goal the students came up with was to start a hearing aid fund, which would help families purchase hearing aids for their school-age children.

“A good hearing aid can cost up to $2,000,” Smoljo said. “And that’s just for one. There are a lot of families out there that can’t afford it. So we thought a hearing aid fund would be a good way to help them, because no child that needs a hearing aid should go without one.”

The organization’s final goal consisted of starting a mentor program, where HEAR members visit younger hearing-impaired students at their schools. Each mentor visits the student once a week to help them with reading skills and other academic work. Mentors are also encouraged to talk with the students to help them with any problems they may be having at school related to their hearing impairment.

Senior Amanda Boger said she has really enjoyed the two years she has spent visiting 10-year-old Hannah Burke at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School.

“I’ve seen a real improvement in her self-esteem since I first started coming to see her,” Boger said. “I think it gives them more confidence in themselves to have someone older to talk to. I just think it’s important to treat her like I would treat anyone else.”

“I like that she reads with me,” Burke said. “And I know I can talk to her and she will help me.”

Ashley Guinn, another SHS mentor, said she enjoys the program because it makes her feel good to help others.

“I just love to see her smile when I walk through the door,” Guinn said of the young girl she mentors. “You can tell they really enjoy having us there.”

Other student mentors this year were Rachel Whipker, Lauren Fife, Laura Kilpatrick, Allison Swaney, Morgan Otte, Teddy Henkle, Becky Curtis, Emily Judd, Kayse Cockerham and Karissa Glenn.

By January Wetzel
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