A Springfield teacher received an award through the Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission for his leadership in Ohio’s Deaf community.
Arlon Nash is a Deaf teacher at Springfield High School.
He’s been an educator for more than 20 years and founded the school’s American Sign Language program once he became a faculty member. Over 2,200 students have gone through the program.
“Through the oppression and the barriers, now I feel like I've done everything that I could. I'm teaching people around me. I'm representing the community."
Nash said his students have been able to use their ASL skills outside the classroom.
“It helps them build their confidence in themselves and creates more access in the world,” he said.
Over the years he’s received several other accolades, including Clark County Teacher of the Year and Teacher of the Year three times from the National American Sign Language Teachers Association.
He also serves on the organizing committee for the Ohio Deaf Festival and is currently board president of the Deaf Community Resource Center in Dayton.
The MLK commission honored him Thursday with the Individual award. Awardees are those embodying King’s vision of inclusivity and service, according to a state press release.
“The Individual Award recognizes those who have made significant contributions toward building a sense of unity among Ohio citizens,” the commission wrote in a statement.
Fellow Springfield teacher Patricia Blair nominated him for the award. She said he’s added a lot of value not just in her life, but in the lives around him.
“Now I am clumsily trying to learn sign language because not only do I want to be able to communicate with my friend and coworker, but I want other people in the community to see how valuable that is. And I would not have known that if it wasn't for Arlon,” Blair said.
Nash was born and raised in Springfield.
“When I went through school here, I had a lot of barriers and oppression that I had to go through,” he said. “I knew that I could do the same as everyone else around me. But a lot of the time, the people around me were the ones telling me I couldn't because they couldn't fully communicate with me.”
Being the first Deaf person to receive this award is especially meaningful to him.
“Through the oppression and the barriers, now I feel like I've done everything that I could. I'm teaching people around me. I'm representing the community. There are less barriers for the Deaf community now. So that's the goal; for there to be less and less barriers.”
