Editorial

Editorial EXCELLENCE Developing in deaf youth a genuine commitment to excellence, with the associated willingness to pay the price of achievement, is not easy. Sometimes professionals and parents trying to do this get discouraged to the point of saying it is impossible. Tom Clayton demonstrated clearly that deaf youth do want to excel and that they will pay the price. Mr. Clayton was wrestling coach at Gallaudet College during the fifties. Under his tutelage Gallaudet won conference championships , had individual champions, and in general , proved that deaf youth can be at the top in competition with hearing peers. Of equal importance, Tom Clayton's wrestlers worked. They ran many miles every day, they suffered austere diets, and they went through the endless repetitive drills and lessons required to make one a successful wrestler. Their commitment to the work of preparation led to victories and to confidence in themselves as human beings. The men who wrestled under Tom Clayton have never forgotten him or the lessons he taught. They have achieved in life at a rate far higher than most GaUaudet graduates. Ironically, while Clayton's wrestling teams continually had winning records, Gallaudet's other athletic programs floundered miserably as they have, for the most part, ever since. During the two decades since Clayton left there have been an entire parade of coaches and administrators at Gallaudet who blamed failure on their athletes' deafness, on poor attitudes, and on almost every other excuse imaginable. Tom Clayton demonstrated the basic professional and human qualities of any great teacher. In addition to knowing his subject matter thoroughly , he was unbelievably demanding of his athletes and himself. At age 50 he could still wrestle his varsity squad members. His wrestlers were held to the highest standards—made to pay a grueling price in hours of practice, strict discipline, and continuous maximum effort. In addition to winning, the young athletes under Clayton earned a lifelong pride and belief in themselves and their ability to compete that many had never had before. Tom Clayton died recently, an old man forgotten by almost all but the few former wrestlers to whose lives he contributed so much. Even among them, many took and applied many of his values in life, but never bothered to show the appreciation that would have meant so much to him in his last years. For all of us who work with deaf youth, the lessons Tom Clayton taught are there. If we know the subject matter or skill we are teaching, if we demand the absolute best of which our students are capable, and if we ourselves plan and organize the lessons thoroughly and appropriately , a significant number of deaf youth will excel. It is not easy to do this. Tom Clayton was one of the few who did. McCoy Vernon, Ph.D. Editor 444 A.A.O. I August 1983 ...