Father and son will bike 790 miles to raise money for ASL major

 

GOSHEN, Ind. – Myron Yoder’s hands are usually engaged in conversation with students in the American Sign Language (ASL) classes he teaches at Goshen College. This summer, Yoder’s hands will be primarily used to power a bicycle more than 700 miles to a beach in Delaware, in support of the program he leads.

On June 5, Yoder, Assistant Professor of American Sign Language, and his son, Justin, will begin a 790-mile bicycle ride they are calling “Goshen to the Ocean” through the Allegheny Mountains to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. They have been accepting donations from family, friends and community members that will go towards funding the increasingly popular ASL interpreting major at Goshen College; their goal is to raise $10,000.

The bike trip will allow Yoder and his youngest son to spend time together before the teenager begins his senior year at Bethany Christian High School. Justin was born with spina bifida, a condition that has left him paralyzed from the waist down; he regularly depends on a wheelchair. At an early age he accepted his limitations, but still wanted to be active and excel in a sport. He overcame adversity and went on to become a Soap Box Derby champion and the inspiration behind the Disney movie, “Miracle in Lane 2.” For Justin to complete a trip will give him a great sense of accomplishment, said Yoder.

Yoder originally planned to ride a leg-powered bike, but decided against it when he realized that “Justin’s experience and my experience would be totally different.”

The ASL faculty will soon grow, as the program enters what Yoder calls its “second phase” – the third and fourth years. Two more professors will join Yoder this coming fall.

Although ASL classes have been available at Goshen College for nearly a decade, a degree in ASL interpreting began several years ago. Launched in the fall of 2002, the ASL interpreting major has successfully completed its first two years of existence, with eight more students that the projected ten having declared an ASL major.

“Now we need to look ahead,” said Yoder. He hopes that by the end of the fourth year, 30 to 40 students will be enrolled as ASL majors. “I’m really excited about the response from prospective students,” he said.

Yoder sees the ASL major as a distinctive for Goshen College and a real draw for prospective students, as Goshen is one of only three ASL programs in the state of Indiana. Yoder said a majority of the current 18 ASL majors came to Goshen College specifically for the program. “Colleges and universities need new innovative program development,” he said. “The end goal is to provide more quality ASL interpreters to work in our churches.”

Goshen College is the only Mennonite college to offer a four-year degree in ASL Interpreting.

“Our uniqueness is Goshen’s international studies emphasis,” said Yoder. Students of ASL are introduced to another language and to the role of language in society, as well as to a minority community. Events such as the ASL Coffeehouse, Yoder continued, “bring Deaf people from the local community into contact with students wanting to learn about the Deaf community ‘out’ of the classroom.”

 

As his spring term classes followed his syllabi, Yoder has carefully planned out every aspect of the bike trip, including where he and his son will spend nights (at hotels and with friends) and what they will eat (“a lot of McDonald’s!”). The ride will be completely “self-contained,” he said, with both cyclists carrying their own clothing and personal items.

During the three-week trip, Yoder expects that he and Justin will bike an average of eight to 12 hours a day. Their longest day will see them cover 67 miles and their shortest day, through the hills of Pennsylvania, will be 42.

Yoder and Justin have been preparing for this trip for over a year. They do daily exercises to strengthen their arm muscles and last summer they rode 273 miles across southern Iowa to see what an extensive bike ride would be like. “It showed us how difficult this will be,” said Yoder.

Despite the physical challenges he will face, Yoder’s excitement level is high. He noted, however, that Justin is most looking forward to the sense of accomplishment he will feel when it’s all over.

Along the way, the Yoders will post pictures and journal entries online at https://www.goshen.edu/asl, where they will also continue welcoming donations until their return on June 27. The first $3,000 raised will be matched dollar for dollar by the Anabaptist Deaf Ministries.

Plans for the donated money include the purchase of new DVD equipment and the funding of workshops and guest speakers. Some of the activities that occurred during the last year that Yoder would like to continue include ASL Coffeehouses and the biannual “Feed Your Eyes, Mind and Spirit” seminar for Deaf people, ASL majors and interpreters.

 

– by Melanie Histand

 

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” Kaplan’s “Most Interesting Colleges” guide and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit https://www.goshen.edu/.

Editors: For more information, contact News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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