FULTON (AP) – The Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton has its first deaf superintendent.

The Fulton Sun reports that Ernest Garrett III has been selected to lead the school effective July 1 by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The school was established by state lawmakers in 1851.

Garrett is a St. Louis native who now works as executive director of the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

In an email to the newspaper, Garrett said his appointment gives him the opportunity to be an example to the school’s deaf and hard-of-hearing students and show them that they can aspire to leadership positions.