Spotlight on our ASL Teacher

Our ODE families have been asking for ASL ever since the days of Mrs. York, and her fantastic ASL classes. It proved to be a big challenge to find someone, and we pursued many avenues only to hit a dead end. But last year, we were so delighted to find Mrs. Calix, and found she had so many connections to our ODE families! Her class last year was so popular that we had to add a second class to accommodate all the students. The students learned and communicated in ASL at a blinding speed – we were stunned! They all worked so hard, and discovered a whole new world. We are so grateful for Mrs. Calix and everything she brings to ODE! 

Here is a little bit about the amazing Mrs. Calix.

I have been married for 5 years. My husband is from Honduras and I am from Mexico. I have 2 sons, Mateo who is 2 years old and Adriel who is 7 months old. I love being a mom and raising two sweet little boys. In our free time we love to ride bikes, explore the city, and hang out with friends. Our favorite dessert is warm brownies with ice cream and whipped cream. Someday I hope to go on a cruise with my family. One surprising thing about me is that I love heights! I went skydiving 30,000 feet and I was given oxygen beforehand! I could see the curve of the earth!

I have been serving in some capacity with Child Evangelism Fellowship, a children’s ministry, for 14 years. Five of those years have been here in Chicago. I came to Chicago for school and graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a Ministry to Women and Bible degree. In my free time I love to create and make things. I started a Christian inspired apparel online shop in 2020. Through that shop I am able to connect with people all over the states and make shirts with Christian designs. This has led me to also sell some things on Amazon. 

I learned ASL at Moody and have been able to teach my kids and husband. We love to have conversations in ASL as it is such a beautiful and expressive language. I really enjoyed teaching ASL last year for the first time and seeing all these kids learn so fast and be able to communicate with each other so quickly compared to so many other languages.