By: Giordini Grot & Juan Lopez
As another school year ends, it can be safely said that the Braddock community becomes quite nostalgic. In the midst of yearbook signing and tearful goodbyes, we overlook our biggest influencers, our teachers. Teachers who we spend more time with than our families. Teachers who have a sixth sense, who know when something is bothering us, without us having to say anything. Teachers who are not only here to guide us, but also here to inspire us. Teachers who have earned their spotlight.
Nurturer. Mentor. Role Model. All accurate adjectives to describe Mr. Jebian, our ASL teacher here at G. Holmes Braddock. He was born on December 20th, 1966 in Venezuela and his story is nothing short of amazing. At the age of one, he suffered a life-altering accident. While his sister was carrying him as an infant, she dropped him, which caused him to lose his sense of hearing. After the accident, his parents decided to move to the state of California to seek educational resources for their son. Mr. Jebian and his family eventually moved to Miami where he studied at Miami Dade College, then transferred to F.I.U where he later went to Barry University. He was working at Rockway Middle School when he found an opening at Braddock. It was that opening that made him decide to transfer and become an ASL teacher.
During his time here at Braddock, Jebian has become a major advocate for the deaf community. He has single-handedly created an awareness about ASL with his efforts as a teacher at Miami Dade Community College for the Interpreting Program, presenting at workshops, teaching at the Parent Academy on Tuesday nights, and acting as standing President of the Waving Hands Organization. The difference he is making in the community is incredible. Mr. Jebian has also spoken to Superintendent Alberto Carvalho where he mentioned how he is aware of the challenging work and effort Mr. Jebian has shown towards creating an awareness about the deaf community. Carvahlo says that he is very proud of Mr. Jebian and knows he “is trying to improve and make the community better for deaf children.”
Mr. Jebian works with an interpreter and has a very good relationship with her. He says the interpreter “…is his ears for example when the students are talking the interpreter lets me know and helps with the unruly behavior.” Mr. Jebian’s wife was only a Spanish speaker but Mr. Jebian taught her ASL, saying that “sign language had to become the native language of the family”. His children know three languages ASL, Spanish, and English; they speak Spanish with their mother, ASL with their father, and English in school. He also said that he taught his “dog sign language so he can understand me too.”
We had conversations with some of his students and they say they’ve asked him questions like “if you could live your life over again would you still choose to be deaf?” He says “I’m very grateful that my parents decided to move to California to give me a good education but if you think about it, if I wouldn’t have fallen and wouldn’t have hit my head I would’ve maybe still been in Venezuela and with the resources there and everything that’s happening in Venezuela is really awful, so I don’t think I would be a teacher. If I wasn’t deaf I would probably have a different job, so no I don’t think I would change my deafness, I’m happy the way I am.”
We spoke with one of his student’s, Nicole Salazar, who is a freshman here at Braddock. She is very fond of Mr. Jebian and sees him as a significant role model. She says that “he is very funny and doesn’t let not being able to hear change the way he is as person and has such an incredible personality; he is also a very thoughtful person.”
His positive outlook is louder than anything our community has ever heard and is well deserving of our teacher spotlight. Cheers for your you Mr. Jebian!
The Watchdog 