(November 24^th, 2010) The Memphis Oral School for the Deaf has been empowering deaf children to listen, learn and talk for over 50 years. The Germantown-based school recently celebrated its first half-century of miraculous achievements with a series of events designed to honor its past while preparing for the next generation of transformative service to deaf and profoundly hearing-impaired children of the Mid-South. Over the past year, MOSD has hosted the International OPTION Convention of oral deaf education schools. This conference brought legendary leaders in oral deaf education to Memphis from across the world.

Another significant event was the establishment of an MOSD Hall of Fame to recognize outstanding contributions to the mission and ministry of the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf. Five individuals or entities were selected for enshrinement for decades of dedicated service to the school. The Charter members of the MOSD Hall of Fame are The Exchange Club of East Memphis, Barbara Marshall, Subsidium Inc., The Tayloe Family, and The Pickler family.

The Exchange Club of East Memphis joined with The Tayloe family to open the Exchange Club Oral School for the Deaf on September 21, 1959. Over the years, the Exchange Club has offered financial help, advocacy, and volunteer support to MOSD.

Barbara Marshall, former CEO of Welcome Wagon, Inc. has been a long time supporter of the children of MOSD. Her leadership gift of $250,000 to the MOSD Capital Campaign enabled the school to attract a host of donations from Mid-South corporations and foundations leading to the construction of MOSD’s new facility in Germantown.

Subsidium, Inc. has raised over $4.5 million over the past 41 years to provide scholarship assistance to the children of MOSD. Over the years, Subsidium has held rummage sales, home tours, fashion shows, and a host of other events to support the school. However, the ladies of Subsidium are probably best known for the Subsidium Carrousel of Shoppes, which was a Mid-South holiday shopping tradition for over 25 years.

The Tayloe family was truly the founding family of MOSD. Luzane Tayloe sparked the vision of MOSD when she had to make the difficult decision to send her son Sam to St. Louis because there was no school in the Mid-South where her son could learn to listen and talk. The moral and financial support of Luzane’s husband John helped make her dream a reality.

The Pickler family has given graciously of their time, talents and financial resources for many years. As Chairman of the MOSD Capital Campaign, David Pickler created the structure that enabled MOSD to raise the resources necessary to build the school’s state-of-the-art facility in Germantown. Beth Pickler has been a volunteer staff member at MOSD for many years in addition to her years of leadership and support as a member of Subsidium Inc. Each member of the Pickler family has invested deeply in MOSD’s amazing mission to bring the gift of sound and speech to deaf children of the Mid-South.

In addition to the Charter members enshrinement in the MOSD Hall of Fame, the school also honored 20 volunteers as Heroes for Hearing in recognition for their outstanding service.

Memphis Oral School for the Deaf

Hall of Fame

Charter Members

The Exchange Club of East Memphis

Barbara Marshall

Subsidium, Inc.

The Tayloe family

The Pickler family

Memphis Oral School for the Deaf

Heroes for Hearing

Billy Cox                                             Jo Griefield Pratt

Susan Edmonds                                  Teresa Schwartz

The Edwards family                           Deanna Serenco

Exchange Club of East Memphis       The Shea family

Elizabeth Kenworthy Farrar               Betty Sorill-Wilson

Ellen Grisanti                                      Subsidium, Inc.

Kay Healey                                         The Tayloe family

Rosemary Higginbotham                    United Way of the Mid-South

Barbara Marshall                                 Joan Ward

The Pickler family                               Lee Williams