Region IV Report

https://youtu.be/BSVsGKRdp5g

Region IV Report: Deborah Martinez, Region IV Representative

Deborah Martinez, MA, CI and

CT, NIC Advanced, SC:L Region IV Representative

Greetings from Region IV! This past summer has been different, to say the least, and depending on where we all are in the region, we are starting to enjoy some cooler weather . These last few months have been a time of adjusting and working with each other to ensure we are able to stay on track and maintain our connection to our members. We have seen our Affiliate Chapters (AC) run business meetings, state conferences, and town halls online. All sessions were run with great success, and I look forward to seeing what will come of the new use of technology as well.

With that said, we are looking at starting the planning phase for a regional conference in 2022. We missed the 2020 conference, as did other regions. We are looking forward to strategically planning a great event. We will keep everyone posted on that endeavor.

Below are a few of the AC updates. We hope to have more information coming soon.

Montana We have had some mid-term board position changes. These changes include bringing on our first Deaf board member in many years. Turnover at MRID has mostly been related to personal needs, and filling replacement positions has been easier than anticipated. Our annual board work retreat was successful. We connected as a group, accomplished a lot, and developed good plans for moving forward. At our retreat we began our strategic planning process, and voted to explore hosting the 2022 Region IV conference in Montana.

neRID decided to postpone our conference. The decision was made in the interest of all parties involved for safety and preference to presentation. We hosted our annual business meeting on Friday October 23 at 6:30-8:30 pm. Nebraska now has a task force in place to work on developing and implementing an apprentice license for interpreters entering the field in an effort to bridge the gap from grad to certification. The Nebraska Legislature passed LB965, a combined bill which acknowledges ASL as an official language, as well as incorporates meaningful language assessment for Deaf or Hard of Hearing students in the K-12 education system.

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