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Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio —
Master Sgt. Medical Technician Michelle Lee welcomes new members to the 445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron every month, acting as a bridge between the technical training school and the Air Force mission. Long before she joined the Air Force Reserve, however, she served as a bridge to other communities.
She was first exposed to American Sign Language in the fourth grade. Later, she enrolled in Introduction to Deaf Cultural Studies at Sinclair Community College.
“That class opened my eyes to the culture, the people, all the nuances and levels of it,” she says. “I realized there’s a lot more to the deaf community than just some signs.”
In the year In the spring of 2004, as a freshman at Sinclair, Lee joined the Disney College Program – a three-month internship at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Still a teenager and unsure of what she wanted to major in, she completed only general education courses and was assigned to work in the merchandise department at an amusement park.
Shortly into practice, Lee witnessed an event that she credits with changing the direction of her life.
“I’ll never forget that,” she recalls. “I was at one of the Lion King shows at Disney, and a little girl in a Minnie Mouse costume was signing signs with the interpreter at the show.”
Lee was pacing the girl up and down, her gaze locked on the movement of the sign language interpreter.
“Seeing that this kid doesn’t shy away from something so magical — that’s when I decided to become an interpreter,” Lee said.
After graduation, she returned to Ohio to complete her degree program at Sinclair.
After graduating and confident about her next step, she immediately moved to Orlando and joined the Walt Disney World team, where she became one of approximately 15 theater-trained ASL interpreters. She explains that the rigorous Disney training includes exercises to control muscle movements, refine the fine details of each gesture, and perfect facial expressions.
“Music is poetry, but English poetry and Sign Language poetry are two different things,” says the nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter.
During her tenure at Disney, Lee interpreted for many musicals, Disney on Ice shows, and various concerts throughout the eastern United States. Her cumulative performing experience includes performances with Eminem, Blake Shelton, and New Kids on the Block with Boyz II Boys and Paula Abdul.
“I trained for theater translation. When you interpret a play or a performance, you must embrace their character and personality traits and portray the character through your movements. “It’s like dancing.” Throughout the show, Lee said she constantly monitors her posture, facial expressions and body language. “All these little details make a difference,” she explained.
For nine years, Lee lived in Orlando and worked as an ASL interpreter for vacation guests at Disney, as well as on various cruise lines. Her services not only enabled those individuals to participate in recreational activities available to everyone, but also provided a critical safety function in the event of an emergency on board the cruise ship.
After returning to Ohio, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Sign Language Interpreting from the University of Cincinnati and is currently in her final semester of a Master of Arts in Capella University’s Adult Education program.
In the year In 2019, she joined the faculty of Fairborn High School, her alma mater. While still on faculty there, she oversees the ASL program, now in its fourth year.
“The program is growing,” she said. “We have hired a second teacher and we still have reservations.”
The high school now offers ASL levels one, two, three and four, and College Credit Plus, Ohio’s dual enrollment program for college credit.
Their grade three and four honors classes, which Lee teaches, include community outreach events with DWAVE, Ohio Charities and local elementary schools. High school students learn to sing the national anthem at sporting events and other public events.
“Being able to pilot an ASL program there [at Fairborn High School] It’s come full circle for me,” she said.
While teaching high school or community college classes or serving in the 445th ASTS, Lee will be working as an interpreter for live musicals in Ohio, such as “Hamilton” in February 2022 at the Schuster Center.
As a medical technician in the Air Force Reserve, Lee is American Heart Association certified to provide CPR training to teams. She has used this certification to provide CPR training to the deaf community, which provides a direct line of communication between the instructor and the trainees taking the course, rather than secondary education through an interpreter relaying information from the trainer.
“My goal as an interpreter is to make sure things are accessible to the whole community,” Lee said. “I want to do them justice.”
(No federal funding provided)
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