Fremantle Primary School student sole WA representative at World Federation of the Deaf children’s camp

A Fremantle Primary School student will be one of four from Australia and the only one from WA at an international camp for deaf children. Isla Scarvaci, of White Gum Valley, will be travelling to Canada for the World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section children’s camp in Canada from August 22. Students were selected for the camp based on their leadership qualities and their passion to support other deaf children. Isla is a Year 5 student at Fremantle PS. She is a deputy councillor and helped arrange a free dress day and maths competition as fundraisers. Soroptimist International Fremantle also donated $1500 towards Isla’s camp costs after she wrote to the organisation. The letter was inspired by Isla’s mother Josie Hodgetts, who is also deaf. Ms Hodgetts received a bursary from a Tasmanian Soroptimist club when she was in Year 12 to travel to America, a trip she has always remembered. She went on to attend Galluadet University in Washington, DC, the only university for deaf students, and hopes Isla will think about furthering her education at this specialist university, too. Auslan is the first language in Isla’s house. Her grandparents, her parents and two siblings are also deaf. “I am really excited about the camp, and I know I will learn so much from the leaders and other children there,” Isla said. “This international youth leadership camp will give me the skills to maintain my pride in being a strong deaf individual. “I am looking forward to contributing to building connections worldwide, bringing back skills to advance our society, working cohesively with the local community, to create an authentic inclusive environment for deaf and hard of hearing people now and into the future.” Ms Hodgetts said after the camp she and Isla would visit Gallaudet University and California School for the Deaf Riverside, which is her alma mater. “These experiences are important for her to see that while resources for the deaf community in Australia are limited, opportunities and possibilities expand greatly when you connect with a worldwide network,” she said. “Living in Perth, geographically isolated from the rest of Australia, means she doesn’t have many similar-aged deaf peers locally that have Auslan as their language. “That makes these opportunities to connect nationally and internationally all the more crucial.”