Student found a ‘community’ at Hinds.
Permission to reprint from Hindsight, an Alumni newsletter.
Hinds Community College — Jason D. Boyd (1995), president of the HCC Alumni Chapter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, lost his hearing as young boy. Although deaf, the Brookhaven native grew up “oral,” a member of the speaking and hearing community around him.
When he arrived on the Raymond Campus as a student, he had his first exposure to the deaf and hard of hearing community. He joined the campus Deaf Club, learned American Sign Language and took full advantage of services provided by the Disability Support Services program. He also was active with the college Associated Student Government.
Boyd continued his education at Mississippi State University where, in 1998, he earned his bachelor’s degree in geosciences whith an emphasis in operational meteorology. He has worked for eight years as a Web developer and graphic designer with Telepak Networks, a telecommunication firm.
In his spare time he combined his technical skills with his background in weather forecasting to create a weather forecast portal that provides weather forecasts for the deaf and hard of hearing communities.
In August 2008, Morningdew Communications, Inc., an Internet-based business, was launched with Boyd serving as president, CEO and meteorologist. Using sign language, he releases weather forecasts and alerts over www.deafweather.com to deaf and hard of hearing communities across the country.
Although it is a commercial venture requiring subscriptions, Boyd is committed to providing free video in cases of severe and tropical weather.
“I believe that everyone should be aware of the upcoming severe weather regardless of membership. Safety is our first priority,” Boyd said.
Boyd is working to gain certification for Morningdew Communications, Inc., from the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society, both of which he is a member. His affiliations also include the local, state, national and world federation chapters of the Association of the Deaf, the Alexander Graham Bell Association and the state and regional chapters of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
He has served as a board chairman for the Mississippi Vocational Rehabilitation Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing (2000-2006), and in 2007, he served as a chairman of the 41st biennial conference of the Mississippi Association of the Deaf.
When not working, Boyd enjoys spending time with his Labrador retriever, camping, hiking, traveling to Texas and Colorado and star-gazing.
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