PORTSMOUTH- Dylynn Timberlake, Miss Stem Academy, is pursuing the crown of Miss River Days 2024 with a platform that she wants to bring awareness to, as she takes to the library branches of Scioto County to educate the public on the importance of understanding basic American Sign Language (ASL). “OK, Hear Me Out” is Timberlake’s platform.

“I am a deaf/ hard of hearing candidate and my entire platform is built around deaf culture and ASL education for children,” Timberlake explained. “There isn’t a lot of representation for people with hearing loss in mainstream media. I want this to serve as a stepping stone towards me being a voice for others.”

Timberlake booked a busy month of June, where she has visited and will visit many local library branches to educate kids on ASL, teach them several signs, and read a book about hearing loss.

Timberlake has already visited several locations, but still has a Wheelersburg visit on June 18 at 11:30 a.m. and a Portsmouth visit on June 25 at 11:30 a.m.

There will be no fundraising or collection of materials at her events.

“I don’t want anyone seeing this as a way of using my disability to raise money, even if for a good cause.” Timberlake explained. “I want this to be purely about education, so that kids can learn about ASL and hearing loss.”

Timberlake is passionate about educating the public on hearing loss, deaf culture, and ASL. In fact, outside of her platform events, she also hosts a weekly social media live video event called “Signs on Saturday.”

“I go live on social media and each Saturday is a new topic. We talk a lot about barriers and IEPS. A lot of people are scared to talk about IEPs and 504 plans— those are things that are tough for a parent to hear— but something they need to know. If a parent suspects their child has a disability, they need to know these things,” Timberlake explained. “My mom and I have helped so many families navigate getting IEPS, because I’m nearly out of high school now and we have been through all of that. So, we try to share that information and make other people feel supported.”

Timberlake had some experience with pageants, but nothing quite like this. She was Miss Wee River Days in 2009, at only three. She recently tried participating in Pitt’s Promise for Foster Youth pageants, which are fundraisers organized by Miss Annabelle Pitts to assist local foster youth.

“My mom knew I was interested in River Days, so she asked if I wanted to try a Pitt’s Promise Pageant recently,” Timberlake explained. “I learned a lot of new skills like building on community service and getting donations from people; it helped me out a lot and I’ve really enjoyed myself.”

Timberlake has been loving her time navigating pageants, working a platform and now looks forward to the Miss River Days 2024 Pageant.

“I am so excited. I’ve wanted this ever since I was very young. I knew having a platform like this would be a stepping stone for me getting closer to finding my own voice,” Timberlake said. “One of the things I love about this journey is that, win or lose, I know I’ve already helped some people along the way.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.