Hearing issues severely impact many people’s life, and dealing with it can be a heinous process for many. Luckily their are numerous ways for those suffering to get help and support, this is exactly what Soundcheck hopes to achieve.

Soundcheck is a BBCHS club founded by (now) college freshman Ian Lilienthal, someone who suffers from a hearing disability himself ,with the goal of creating a support system for the hearing impaired. The club was founded in 2016, and continues to thrive in the 2017 school year with two main programs. These include Soundcheck Jr. and Soundcheck Sr., the former for kids ranging from teens to small children while the latter is for senior citizens.

When talking to Lilienthal concerning his reasons for starting the club, he replied, “I had such great support throughout the entire process of learning to deal with my hearing disability, I wanted other kids to learn how to deal with their disability too.” One of the club’s leaders, sophomore Dawson Rockert, talked about what he likes most, saying, “hanging out with little kids and having a good time, I also like the fact that it’s for small kids and even senior citizens… we just sit and have talks.” Soundcheck is a lesser known club at BBCHS, yet  Rockert believes the work they do is very important, “I want to connect the regular community to that of the deaf, because the deaf community is (somewhat) hidden to the world.” Besides the events, Soundcheck holds meetings where the members can hang out, discuss hearing disabilities, or just have fun. In fact, Rockert says they have plans for the summer, “we might plan a big event or just go some place… but that’s still under development.” Wrapping up the interview Rockert was asked; what is one thing people should know about the deaf/hearing impaired community, he replied “It’s not just about sign language it’s also about being good with people and understanding how to handle different situations, but yes it is learning about the deaf and being social.”