Streamwood's Mark makes herself heard loud and clear

Ryanne Mark has more drive than Detroit.

The 17-year-old Streamwood High senior competed in a mini-triathalon last summer with her athletic mom, Tammi.

She plays year-round in a church volleyball league.

She runs the occasional 5K.

And Ryanne starts at point guard for Streamwood's varsity girls basketball team.

The girl's energy rivals a Miley Cyrus concert.

Essentially, Ryanne Mark is your run-of-the-mill, energetic, happy, active high school senior playing her final season of prep hoops.

And that's exactly the way she likes being described because it means she's blending.

But closer inspection reveals this young woman to be more extraordinary than ordinary.

When bringing the ball upcourt Ryanne takes her signals from the sidelines like every other point guard in high school basketball. The difference is she isn't always getting those signals from coach George Rosner.

Instead, Ryanne often gets her signals relayed through Bridget Gannon, the sign-language interpreter assigned to every Streamwood girls basketball game and practice by Elgin Area School District U-46.

Ryanne has a complete hearing impairment of the left ear and an 85-90-percent loss in her right ear, according to her father, Charles Mark. The family learned of the hearing loss when Ryanne was 3-years old.

If her right ear is facing the speaker, she can pick up most of what is said. If not, she needs a little help, particularly if there is a lot of ambient noise in the background, which is always the case during a high school basketball game.

When it gets too noisy and she can't hear Rosner's instructions, Ryanne turns to Gannon, who also attended all of Streamwood's summer-league games and practices and even joined the team on a road trip to Galesburg.

"It's funny," Rosner remarked. "I'll stand on the sideline and yell and I'll see Bridget standing and signing. The more animated I get, the more animated she gets. I've really learned to appreciate the interpreter's job."

Ryanne is one of 56 hearing-impaired students enrolled in U-46, preschool through high school. Though her family lives in Elgin, she attends Streamwood, which hosts the district's program for hearing-impaired high school students.

She takes one class with other deaf students and four mainstream courses. Another interpreter attends the mainstream classes during the day with Ryanne, who is an accomplished lip-reader, to ensure she doesn't miss anything when lively debates take place in the classroom and sounds get too distorted.

"The interpreter helps a lot," said Ryanne, who spoke to me clearly with only a slight impediment during our interview, though Gannon stood nearby to translate in case the questions grew complicated.

"So many people will be talking and talking and I can't really hear what they're saying, so I focus on the interpreter."

Focus isn't a problem for Ryanne, who played basketball in Elgin park district leagues since fourth grade. Charles Mark was her coach back then, but she wasn't about to stop playing basketball upon reaching Taft Middle School or Streamwood High.

Ryanne just kept playing. The schools adjusted to her.

"I'm competitive," Ryanne said. "Playing basketball is not something I can't do because I'm deaf. I knew I could do it. By the way I'm playing, I'm showing I can."

It takes a discerning eye to notice Ryanne wears a hearing aid, the only on-court physical difference between her and her teammates.

The other girls not only accepted their new point guard when Ryanne was elevated to the varsity as a sophomore, they came to admire her fighting spirit.

"I think it's amazing," said senior Krissy Kunavich. "So many people don't do half of what she does. She doesn't feel sorry for herself and say, 'Oh, I can't play because I don't hear that well.' I think it's amazing that she plays and plays as well as she does."

Rosner said in 27 years of coaching he didn't recall another deaf player on any of the opposing teams Streamwood has faced.

"She's an inspiration for kids, anyone with a physical disability or impairment" Rosner said. "She wanted to play basketball and didn't let this stop her.

"She's a very determined girl. A lot of people wouldn't have attempted to get to this level. I'm very proud of her."

Ryanne started every game as a junior, but ran into bad luck this season at the outset. In the first quarter of the first game of the year against Dundee-Crown, she badly sprained her ankle and missed the next eight games.

She's back in the starting lineup now but is still in the process of working her way back to top condition.

Something tells you she'll persevere. A sprained ankle is minor compared to the obstacle Ryanne has already overcome to play varsity high school basketball.

She'll atttend Harper College next fall with an eye on transferring in a year or two to either Northern Illinois or Illinois State. Ryanne's ultimate goal is to become an elementary school teacher for the deaf or the hearing. She's still undecided.

But as her high school playing days wind to a close, Ryanne offers a final word of advice to younger hearing-impaired students hesitant to follow in her footsteps.

"Don't let anyone else put you down because you're deaf," she said. "Show the people you can play. Just because you're deaf doesn't mean you can't play. Don't let anyone oppress you. Just play your game and don't let anyone get you down.

"You're the same as everyone else."

Well put, Ryanne. The rest of us hear you, loud and clear.