Famous Deaf People       Deaf People's Talents

Last Update: March 16, 2017



KaAnn Varner
Age: (Unknown)
Profession: First Female Superintendent
Birthplace: (Unknown)
Location: (Unknown)

KaAnn Varner is the first deaf woman ever named as superintendent of the Oklahoma School for the Deaf, which was founded in Indian Territory in 1897.

Varner is also the first deaf leader in the top position since former superintendent Ralph White, who served from 1981 to 1990.

 “I feel very honored to have been selected to work with DRS to ensure OSD continues to provide a quality education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in the state of Oklahoma,” Varner said.

 The School for the Deaf provides educational services to residential, commuter and outreach students at no charge. The school is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

 Varner has worked at OSD since 1998 as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal before assuming the superintendent position. She earned a master’s in administration from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany.

 “I believe strongly that we must advocate for Deaf students in the community and with employers to ensure that they have the same opportunities for success in life as other students in Oklahoma,” Varner said.

An Ardmore, Ala. native, Varner is the daughter of the late Calvin Shannon and the late Judy Shannon.

She is a 1986 graduate of Ardmore High School.  After completing two years of college at Calhoun Community College, she graduated from the University of Montevallo located in the Ala. city with same name. Varner earned a bachelor’s of science in educating the Deaf and hard of hearing.

She then worked at the Alabama School for the Deaf in Talladega and the EPIC School in Birmingham, before accepting a job at the Arkansas School for the Deaf in Little Rock. There, she met and married Tommy Varner, an Oklahoma native.

 The two accepted jobs at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf. Tommy Varner was hired as a football, basketball, and track coach and is currently the football coach and athletic director.

 Last year, he led the OSD Indians to second place in the nation in the Schools for the Deaf League. He was awarded the National Deaf Interscholastic Athletic Association’s eight-man team coach of the year.

KaAnn and Tommy are parents of two children, Caleb, age 13, and Shannon, 10.

 The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is fully accredited and teaches specialized skills that help students live independently, as well as all state mandated education requirements. The 2010 graduation rate was 100 percent.

 Last year, 141 students lived at the OSD during the week or commuted from home and 70 attended summer school. Thirty students attended OSD’s two satellite preschool programs located at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond and the University of Arts and Sciences of Oklahoma in Chickasha.

OSD provided outreach services to public school students attending local schools, their families, local educators and organizations, including 66,031 direct services, 3,301 consultations and evaluations, 28,705 services to families, 28,749 services to schools and 5,274 services to organizations. 

The school operates the only National Accessible Learning Center in the U.S., which annually ships thousands of captioned educational videos for deaf students and videos with audio descriptions of on screen action for students who are blind.

References + Suggested Readings
The Ada News












                 Proudly powered by Deaf Newspaper, LLC - All Rights Reserved