For Ashley Domek, the most rewarding part of working at Ohio Valley Voices is witnessing her students’ language growth. Many children have little to no verbal skills upon entering the program but are able to become excellent communicators within a few short years.
What accounts for this near-miraculous transformation? The answer: the unwavering dedication of OVV’s teachers and Listening and Spoken Language Providers (LSLPs), including Ashley herself.
Ashley, a Michigan native, received her undergraduate degree in Early School Education from Valparaiso University before earning a master’s in Deaf Education from Vanderbilt University. While in graduate school, she was placed for a practicum at an oral education program—her first exposure to the unique teaching methodology that allows children with hearing loss to speak as well as their hearing peers.
Ashley was so taken by the oral education approach that she decided to enter the field professionally. When a teaching position opened at OVV in 2014, she jumped at the opportunity.
Ashley began her time at Ohio Valley Voices as an academic teacher in the Discovery Center, then transitioned into the role of Listening and Spoken Language Provider. She is now an LSLP in the Learning Center—a position she has held for six consecutive years.
In the Learning Center, Ashley provides students with instruction in vocabulary, syntax, auditory training, and speech. She also teaches reading to OVV’s kindergarteners and first graders. These responsibilities grant Ashley an up close vantage of her student’s step-by-step development as listeners, readers, and speakers. Its’s a remarkable process to behold. She elaborates:
“The most rewarding part of my job is watching the language progress that my students make. My students work so hard, and I am always so proud of them. I also really enjoy teaching reading. It is amazing to watch a child learn to read because it opens up a whole new world for them.”
The hard work and perseverance of Ohio Valley Voices’ students and teachers culminate with the annual graduation ceremony, which has provided Ashley with some of her favorite OVV memories.
“I love graduation,” she says. “It is wonderful to see our students’ growth during their time at OVV. To see them go from being toddlers in the Family Center to crossing the stage at graduation is simply amazing.”
Outside of work, Ashley likes to read, go hiking, ride her bike, and hang with family and friends. An avid traveler, she has been to Europe on several occasions and hopes to visit England this summer. She also makes regular trips to Aspen, Colorado to spend time with her brother, nephew, and niece.
Ashley returns from each of these worldly adventures ready to share her experiences with her students, and she sees her classroom work as the foundation of what will be, for every child enrolled at OVV, a lifetime of learning and self-discovery.
“Ohio Valley Voices is a special place because it is a community,” Ashley says. “And I love that I get to be a part of a community that makes such a huge difference in children’s lives.”