Students learn skills from basketball team

Kristen Medrano, kindergarten student, holds on to the rim after dunking with the help of Midland College basketball player Melvin Tabb Friday at San Jacinto Elementary.

Albert Cesare|Odessa American

By Caylor Ballinger
The Odessa American

Joshua Mata, 13, didn’t miss a beat as he learned new basketball passing techniques while signing rapidly to a friend nearby. “It’s fun to play,” Mata said.

The eighth-grader at Ector Junior High was one of about 30 hearing-impaired students at San Jacinto Elementary on Friday participating in the second annual basketball camp taught by the men’s Midland College basketball team. The students ranged from pre-school to high school seniors.

Mata signed to his friend Nicholas Rincones, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Ector Junior High, as players taught them basketball skills. “It’s fun to watch the guys dunk,” Rincones said through an interpreter.

The Regional Day School Program for the Deaf within the Ector County Independent School District is in San Jacinto, Ector Junior High and Odessa High with about 49 total students in the program.

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