LeeAnne Valentine ASSISTANT EDITOR Editor@DeafRochesterNews.org LeeAnne Valentine was born in Rochester, New York in 1974. She did not become deaf until the age of 3. She attended Rochester School for the Deaf from 1976 until she graduated from there in 1994. She went on to Gallaudet University to major in Mass Media and Journalism in hope of becoming the first deaf black female reporter. Eventually, she transferred to Rochester Institute of Technology where she pursued the same dream as a Journalist. However, she changed her major to Culinary Arts where she could enjoy cooking gourmet and foreign food. Today, she is still a professional chef and a mother. She has a 6 year-old son, and is currently engaged to Weston Andrews. LeeAnne's hobbies are reading, writing, and doing crafts with her son. LeeAnne is the Assistant Editor and Fundraising Chairperson for Deaf Rochester News. She also is a Columnist for Deaf Rochester News, in which she writes a monthly mini-series novella, entitled The Whispering.