HIGH-WIRE ACT: Madeline Quezada, 5, walks the tight rope Friday during the Mountain View Elementary deaf and hard-of-hearing program preschool circus.
HIGH-WIRE ACT: Madeline Quezada, 5, walks the tight rope Friday during the Mountain View Elementary deaf and hard-of-hearing program preschool circus. (David R. Jennings / Broomfield Enterprise)

Once under the big top, preschoolers transformed into little lions, tiny bears and miniature puppies as they paraded through their classroom for a Friday morning circus performance.

The children showed off their circus skills as part of a showcase of their skills that also promoted the school's the deaf and hard-of-hearing program.

All 23 performers in the show have hearing difficulties, but the circus was typical of other preschool recitals. The children used their imaginations while pretending to be acrobats, clowns and hopping frogs.

"Prepare to be amazed by the talented Pretzel Family," said teacher Dianne Goberis, using sign language to address the audience as if she were the circus' ring leader.

The children, ages 3 to 5, wore colorful tutus or rainbow-bright clown costumes as they performed pretzel-like acrobatics and threw construction paper confetti into the audience. At the end of the show, the audience got balloons and popcorn to take home.

The show aims to helps kids with early learning skills, such as coordination and communication. This particular performance, and the deaf and hard-of-hearing program itself, includes specially tailored language skills that involve practicing speaking or using sign language, Goberis said.

Parents in the audience said they sought out Mountain View's program to get the best early education for their children.

One parent, Liesel Thomas, said she visited eight preschool programs around the metro area before choosing Mountain View.

Her family first moved to the area so her daughter, Sophie, who is now 11, could attend the preschool program. Today, Thomas's youngest daughter, Sylvia, also is enrolled. Sylvia is learning sign language and uses a powder-pink hearing aid that matched her tutu.

"This is a really creative show," Thomas said. "They make sure it's something where all the kids are included. She's been talking about this forever and trying to decide what animal she wanted to be."

Shaina Plantz said the program has helped her grandson, Dean Hinton, flourish. The once-painfully shy boy barely spoke a word, but now communicates more fluently and frequently.

"It's increased his confidence a lot. He now knows what's going on in his world and is able to actively participate," she said.

Goberis said the deaf and hard-of-hearing preschool program has been a part of the school for 30 years. She's taught there for 25 of them.

In that time, she is happy to see that the school's culture has integrated hearing and hard-of-hearing students so seamlessly, she said.

Many preschool students go on to kindergarten through fifth grade and sit alongside their typical peers in the classroom, sometimes using an interpreter or other special programs to communicate.

"It's the norm, not the exception, and that makes it inclusive," she said.
