Richard Dirst Scholarship
EIE Educational Interpreter Evaluation

The Richard Dirst Scholarship was developed to commemorate an individual who made an amazing contribution to the fields of deaf education and interpreting. The following describes a little of why this man was so special:

In 1965, Richard began his career in education as a teacher of the deaf and later principal of the high school department at the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. At the age of 25 he became the Dean of Students at the school. He later became the first superintendent of the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf and oversaw the design and construction of its campus. He worked in that capacity for seven years, from 1972-1979, supervising a staff of 120. Never content with just one position, Richard also worked as an adjunct professor at both Georgia State and Emory Universities, teaching courses in special education to prepare future teachers of the deaf. In 1979 Richard became Executive Director of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Among his accomplishments: membership rose from 2,200 to over 5,000, and financial resources increased from $48,000 to $317,000. While working for RID, Richard was deeply involved in the development and improvement of the National Certification System which contributed significantly to the development of interpreting as a respected profession. In 1983 Richard moved to Miami and became Executive Director of Deaf Service bureau, the oldest such agency in the state. He was employed in that capacity until his death in 1987 at the age of 44.

Again, never content with just one position, Richard helped to establish the Sign Language Interpreter Training program at Miami Dade community College. While serving as an adjunct instructor at the college, he co-authored a federal grant for interpreter training, which the college subsequently received. As part of the grant, funds were provided to the Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf for the development of an evaluation system for educational interpreters in the state. This has become the Educational Interpreter Evaluation (EIE). Richard participated in the initial development and piloting of the test and traveled extensively throughout Florida conducting workshops.

Truly, Richard had many gifts. He was a tremendous interpreter who mastered the language purely by effort and dedication, having no deaf family members. He had awesome organizational and leadership skills and was able to rally supporters to whatever cause he chose to focus upon. Richard Dirst was admired by all who knew him. He would have surely encouraged and supported educational interpreters to achieve to their full potential.

CRITERIA

1. Be a FRID member in good standing.

2. Submit a letter of reference from a nationally certified interpreter, QA III interpreter, EIE III interpreter or a deaf interpreter.

3. Document participation in one or more of the following: FRID, a local FRID affiliate, a Deaf Service Center, and/or interpreting related workshops/college courses.

4. Submit a copy of high school diploma or GED certificate.

5. Be currently involved in the field of deafness and/or interpreting, or a student currently in the USF BA degree program for educational interpreting, or an interpreting training program.

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