Antigonish resident Andrew Chacko has been named the Nova Scotia recipient of the National Literacy Award. The award is presented by Canada’s Premiers, also known as the
Andrew Chacko (right) with Andrew Stalker of the Antigonish County Adult Learning Association. Stalker nominated Chacko for the award. (Communications Nova Scotia photo)
Council of the Federation. Chacko is being recognized for his leadership, resilience and dedication to literacy and American Sign Language.
Premier Tim Houston says Chacko’s commitment to not only learn American Sign Language to connect with others but also to be at the forefront of his community’s ASL program is inspiring.
Chacko was born without hearing. He grew up in India and came to Canada in 2008. He knew Indian Sign Language and could read and write short English phrases, but he had difficulty settling into life in Canada and connecting with others because of communication challenges.
He moved to Nova Scotia and settled in Antigonish in 2015, joining the Antigonish County Adult Learning Association to improve his reading and writing skills; quickly reaching an intermediate level with ASL.
In addition to helping run ASL tutorials, Chacko does cleaning, gardening and outdoor maintenance for the Town of Antigonish and local community groups.