New Jersey Deaf Awareness Week, Inc.
2019 DEAF FEST Entertainers
Calvin Young
Calvin Young, a Deaf traveler, who constantly travel the world since the day he left his start-up business. Calvin founded his show, Seek the World, is to educate, inspire, and encourage the global Deaf community to be connected with others and courage to travel the world!
Through his work, it carries numerous jaw-dropping videos, vibrant photographs, and bridges the communication divide between our colorful Deaf community.
He aims to inspire, educate, and break down barriers to proving the fact Deaf people can do anything as long as they have immeasurable faith in themselves!
Theron Parker
Theron Parker leads a notable career as a performer, instructor and presenter. Theron, who was trained by the legendary actor Bernard Bragg in Visual Vernacular and mime and a 1999 alumnus of the National Theater of the Deaf summer program, is renowned for his ABC stories, has produced four DVDs:
In the Minds of Ed and Theron, Have ASL, Will Travel: Fables from Around the World, Folklore from Around the World, and Little Deaf Spies. He also created Mannequin hand games, ASL tutoring ABC ASL, and ASL Spoon to support ASL creativity and development.
Theron also appeared in ASL Films production, Forget Me Not, and served as an assistant producer for the company. Theron also was part of Illusion of ASL, a deaf theater group, for five years. A certified Baby Signs instructor, he teaches literacy through America Sign Language for his non-profit organization, ABC ASL, working with children and parents. A humor of Deaf history to ASL storytelling. Theron's video can be seen on YouTube.
Theron is also an author who has published his first children book “Friends” and he is looking forward to creating more arts for all to enjoy. For Theron, ASL storytelling is the most beautiful music imaginable, with its natural beauty and expressiveness; he aspires to expose ASL to many generations of deaf children and hearing people as possible.
Ritchie Bryant
Ritchie R. Bryant is a dynamic, native American Sign Language (ASL) user and a culturally Deaf Texan.
Currently working as a staff interpreter at Gallaudet university in Washington, DC. Ritchie has been presenting ASL/Deaf-related workshops for the past twenty years.
Trained as an ASL mentor and ASLPI/SLPI evaluator, he used to train Deaf people to become ASL mentors for signers in the Rochester community under the Community Interpreter Grant.
Ritchie obtained a bachelor’s degree in ASL degree from Gallaudet University and a master’s degree in Deaf education from McDaniel College. He is also a certified Deaf interpreter who has been interpreting in the Deaf community since 2000.
He served on RID board as Deaf Member at Large from 2015-2017 and provided a consultant to various organizations and agencies such as development of Deaf interpreter evaluation to remote ASL mentor program.
His interests include developing African-American storytelling within the Deaf community, and video editing on his computer.
Brett Shaffer
Brett Shaffer is a man of many talents, one of his favorites is being a comedian!
Born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, Brett attended Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) in Pittsburgh. Brett graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with honors at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York, where he also studied filmmaking.
He is currently employed as a software developer for Food Service Enablers and works remotely from home in Canada where he resides. He is happily married and has two beautiful daughters. He met his Canadian wife through Vine.
Growing up, he was inspired by his longtime favorite actor, Jim Carrey, also a Canadian. From a young age, Brett enjoyed making people laugh so he began his show, The Flipside, on Facebook in 2017.
It has been well received and has many followers When he is not glued to his computer, he enjoys doing what he loves and is most proud of being a dad to his daughters.
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