Cabot boy wins national competition
Cabot — Alec Lindsey, 17, of Cabot said he was shocked when he learned he'd been named Mr. Deaf Teen America in front of live and internet audiences.
“I was speechless,” Alec said. “I can't say enough how surprised I was. I really felt that I was in a dream.”
Alec and his partner, Megan Majocha of Plum, both juniors at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, were crowned March 30 at the 2014 Mr. & Miss Deaf Teen America Pageant in Riverside, Calif., following a weekend of sun, new friends and pageantry.
The two earned their spots in the national competition by ranking as the top boy and girl in the preliminary in-school pageant at WPSD in Pittsburgh in November 2012. The school community raised funds to send Alec and Megan to California at no cost to them, according to an e-mail from Vicki Cherney, spokesman for WPSD.
During the course of the two-day national pageant, Alec and Megan competed against pairs in grades 8 through 11 from seven other schools for the deaf in talent, formal wear, interview and state spirit categories. Pairs were also judged on overall presentation and communication, Cherney wrote.
Alec said he and Megan spent nearly two months preparing for the competition.
Kate Lindsey, Alec's mother, said Alec and Megan met in a play group for deaf children when they were 18 months old.
“Alec was not born deaf, but he became deaf at 14 months of age,” Lindsey said. “He's from a hearing family, and Megan's from a deaf family, but they both ended up at WPSD.”
Both Alec and Majocha are “mainstreamed,” meaning Alec attends classes at WPSD in the morning and at Knoch High School in the afternoon, while Majocha attends WPSD in the afternoon and a hearing school in the morning.“Two years ago, I decided maybe it would be a good idea if I went to hearing school because it's more of a challenge,” Alec said. “I wanted to experience socializing with hearing people because that's real life. I'll have the best of both worlds.”Kate Lindsey said the Deaf Teen America Pageant provided a way for her son to expand his social circle.“If you think about (the deaf community), it is small,” she said. “All the kids (at Knoch) are very nice to him and go out of their way to talk to him, but they're not deaf. The kids (at WPSD) have been together forever. It's a very small group, so he's had the same friends.”Alec said he plans to maintain long-distance friendships with the other students from the pageant.“This group of people was really easy to talk to and they were really outgoing,” Alec said of his competitors. “It's funny because I'm a shy person most of the time, but when I was in that situation, I wasn't shy because I felt more open and comfortable.”When Alec and Majocha finally received their crowns, it was with the full support of their WPSD family, said Aaron Noschese, WPSD dean of students.“More than half of the school stayed up,” Noschese said, watching a live Internet stream of the competition.“There was a three-hour time difference, but there was still a huge number of people who stayed up late to watch the entire competition.”Noschese said it was “really fantastic” to see his students become Mr. and Miss Deaf Teen America. This is the school's second time placing first in the competition.“They've attended school here for a long time and to see them blossom and to be able to participate on a national stage, to win the whole thing, it's a credit to the parents, to the school,” Noschese said.“For them to represent themselves, their families and the school the way they did out in California is pretty cool.”Alec said he returned from California to celebrations at both WPSD and Knoch.As Mr. Deaf Teen America, Alec is an ambassador for deaf students nationally and will attend the WPSD Leadership Camp in June with Megan.“The experience was winning,” Alec said. “It's hard to say (what my favorite part was) because I liked it all.”
