Building Canoes, Shaping Lives

When Dick Hancock teaches students at the Tennessee School for the Deaf how to build canoes, he also teaches them about building their lives.

Students at a workbench cut strips of sandy brown cedar, sending minute particles of sawdust fluttering through the air. A table saw buzzes away, while a handful of kids scramble about trying to figure out how to use a staple gun. At first glance, this seems like any other high school wood shop class, but students signing messages to each other soon reveal that this classroom is different. This is the daily setting for Dick Hancock, woodcraft teacher at the Tennessee School for the Deaf (TSD) in Knoxville, Tennessee. Using sign language instruction, Dick shows deaf and special-needs students how to build full-size canoes and full-size lives.

Follow the Signs

Working with deaf students fits in tandem with Dick's life story. His mother was deaf, but because she didn't use sign language, he didn't realize it until about age 10. "She'd come in our rooms to talk to us at night, and she'd turn on the lights so she could read our lips," he recalls.

While attending The University of Tennessee to get certified in deaf education, he discovered the Tennessee School for the Deaf (TSD). Dick's first job at TSD was in the dorms as a resident director. Later, he accepted a position in the PE department. "I fell in love with the kids," he says. "I knew this was where I wanted to be."

Testing the Waters

One day while sitting in the school's gym, Dick came up with the notion to reopen the school's wood shop, which hadn't been used since the former shop teacher's reassignment. After getting the go-ahead from the school and the state, he joined with fellow teacher Richard Davis and together they taught the first year of canoe crafting.

The pride Dick takes in his own work easily rubs off on his students. "That's my baby," he says, pointing to a paddle he built and used while canoeing on the Mississippi River. To further sharpen his skills, Dick built two canoes of his own.

Thanks to Dick's classes, six new canoes enhance the recreation department's supply. But his work doesn't stop there-he also teaches a summer class in canoe crafting for adults and coaches girls' basketball. Furthermore, he's a proud member of the National Guard. He has no complaints. In fact, he says he can't imagine doing anything else. "It's been a fun ride," he says, "as long as we're upright."

Maiden Voyage

When a canoe is ready for christening, students load in a van and trail down to the Tennessee River. Dick signs to the group, "We now christen this, the 'R-i-v-e-r V-i-k-i-n-g.' " They toss water onto the sides of the canoe, then excitedly strap on their life jackets to take the vessel out on its first trip.

When the canoe splashes for the first time into the river, they experience the culmination of a grand dream. "You talk about rewards," says Dick, watching the beaming students paddling from the dock, "this is the reward." ALLISON BARNES

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2005
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