Rochester has one of the highest per capita deaf populations in the country. One reason Rochester's deaf population is so large is the presence of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, with over 1,000 students and staff who are deaf or hard of hearing during the time of the study. 

As a result, NTID returned with Partners in Deaf Education for its annual conference for the first time since 2019.

Motivational speaker Karen Putz has always had a passion for water skiing.

"I was born with normal hearing,” Putz said. “And in high school I discovered the sport of barefoot water skiing. And I love the sport.”

But at 19 years old, little did she know it would soon silence Putz’s world.

“One day I took a hard fall,” Putz said. “So when I climbed into the boat, I became deaf and it just changed the path of my life.”

The deafness had taken a toll on Putz.

“Becoming deaf was like a dark time in my life,” Putz said. “I really struggled because I struggled growing up hard of hearing and now I was deaf. And then just one day I decided I'm going to do it differently and I decided to embrace being deaf and I start learning sign.”

Putz turned to writing as an outlet, sharing her journey and staying motivated through what she says was her passion.

"Passion is what gave me the motivation to keep going and to live life,” Putz said. “It's a gift within and you have to unwrap it to find it.”

Becoming a life coach and educator, Putz shared her story as a guest speaker for Partners in Deaf Education 2023 conference.

“Karen is here to help us find our passion, to bring back that passion and that joy into the classroom,” president of Partners in Deaf Education Carolyn Parker said. “When we're working with our students, we want them to find passion in learning. And bring that passion back into the classroom, back to their families, back to their coworkers.”

Engaging in discussions surrounding the deaf community, educators come together to share resources and strategies used within classroom and everyday settings.

“We are discussing different hearing technologies and what we are seeing in the schools, in the classrooms and what will we be seeing,” Parker said. “The impact of deaf adolescents, educational settings and preferred communication models on their sense of school belonging.”

Striving for the success of their students, organizers of the event hope the biggest takeaway is the passion placed into their learning.

“They have a gift to give this world and we have a responsibility to foster that passion within children,” Putz said. “Embrace who you are and celebrate the gift and the journey of being deaf and hard, or being blind, celebrate that journey.”