Silent
Opportunities
Co-Founders
Allie Gray
Hi, I am Allie Gray, I am currently 2024's Miss Ohio's Teen and former Miss Lake Festival's Teen. I attend High School as a senior and am also enrolled in the College Credit Plus program at a local college. I am a two-year inductee into the National Honor Society and was voted to be President of my school's chapter by my peers for my senior year. I am heavily involved with my school as a 4-year Varsity cheerleader for the football team. My community involvement is also important to me as 2024's Miss Ohio's Teen and former Miss Lake Festival's Teen. These titles have given me the opportunity to promote a Community Service Initiative (CSI) dear to my heart of "Being Real, Not Perfect." My goal is to show people that being different, genuine, and real is a powerful tool for my generation to have in their emotional toolbox. My CSI has transformed into a goal to follow a passion of mine and make a difference for the deaf community as well as others. I have been learning sign language since I was in elementary school. I began a recess led sign language club in grade school with my friends taught to us by a special teacher in my life, Mrs. Stoner. This sign language club carried me to where I am today by taking sign language in college and using it as my talent for Miss Ohio's Teen and Miss Lake Festival's Teen pageants. It has created a love for the language in me.
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I want to raise awareness for hearing loss mainly because of my involvement with Sign Language. I have also always wanted to communicate with the deaf community. When I was about ten, I would see an interpreter in my church signing to her son. I was always invested in trying to understand what she was signing to him. She was also an interpreter at the elementary school I went to at the time. I thought I would reach out to her in hopes of learning sign language. Me as well as two other friends talked to her, and she was more than willing to teach us sign language during recess to further our knowledge with the language. She worked with me up until 6th grade. During these years we had performed at talent shows, dedicated our sign songs to people, and even formed our own sign language club which consisted of a handful of new students. During my middle school years, I drifted from sign language. I never used it and didn't know where opportunities were. Starting fresh in high school, I was also a student at a local college. High School requires a foreign language credit, and the only options were Spanish and German. Until I looked further into my college courses, I had noticed (ASL) American Sign Language was an option. I felt this was my opportunity to dive back in again. Through this course I have been able to sign to the deaf community and attend events with them. I want to make a difference in the deaf community, and I want them to feel seen. Learning this language and being able to be a part of such a special community is a gift.
Kale Sudhoff
Hi, I am Kale Sudhoff, and I am currently 19 years old and busy attending college to become an Elementary Education teacher. I work as an Enrichment teacher at a local Preschool and at a golf course. I am a typical teenager hanging out with friends, but in my free time I love to write and illustrate children’s books. I have written and illustrated three children’s books. In the Fall of 2020, when I was a Sophomore in High School, I released my first book, Danny the Duck Heads South, and in the Spring of 2022, when I was a Junior in High School, I released my second book, Danny and Kevin Conquer Camping. Throughout my school years, I have seen kids being excluded for being different or having a disability, so I wanted Danny and Kevin Conquer Camping to raise awareness for Limb Loss and Limb Difference. My latest book, Stewart H. Quills and His Explosive Emotions was released in the Fall of 2023. I am on a mission to inspire children to thrive, regardless of their challenges. I am currently working on my next book to raise awareness for Hearing Loss. A portion of every book sale is donated to The Aktion Club, a local organization for people with disabilities.
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For the past four years I have been writing and illustrating books for children with disabilities and special needs. My current work in progress, Born to Stand Out, seeks to bring awareness for those in the deaf and hearing loss community. My character, Evelyn, is born deaf and has a hard time making friends because of her struggles communicating with others. She would rather play things safe and be in her imagination than put herself out there to try and make friends in the real world. However, some encouraging words from her mom might be just enough to inspire Evelyn to embrace her challenges. “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” I think that hearing loss is very important to write about because it affects many people, and kids are going to have questions. When I was younger, there was a young man named Roman in a few of my classes. He had an interpreter and didn’t talk like other kids. I was curious and a little confused because I had never been exposed to this kind of situation before. I was fascinated by the sign language that he and his interpreter used to communicate. I also grew up with my mom having a chronic illness called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which attacks different parts of her body, including her hearing. I mainly want to get the word out that there are people around us going through these struggles, but that doesn’t mean they should be treated differently or excluded. I believe if kids encounter these situations in a book or on a TV show then they are more likely to be inclusive in real life.
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