Growing interest in Thomas Jefferson HS ASL class a sign of the times

American Sign Language (ASL) ranks as the third-most utilized language in the United States, following English and Spanish. However, few high schools offer the language as a credit course. As a result, ASL knowledge among most individuals is confined to the ASL alphabet learned in middle school and signs-circulating friend groups from those who have a background in the language.

The deaf and hard-of-hearing community in the United States encompasses more than 11.5 million individuals, and 86% of deaf students are in mainstream education. Opportunity for not only education, but inclusion, lies in the hallways of our schools. The sparsity of knowledge of ASL is not for a lack of interest or motivation to teach — those are abundant — but rather the fact that there are few outlets for students to explore sign language and deaf culture.

However, with a plethora of excited students and the initiative of some staff, students at Thomas Jefferson High School (TJHS) in West Jefferson Hills School District now can expand their knowledge and grow their vocabulary so that sign language can go from a fun pastime between friends to a skill they can use in the real world.

Last fall, Angela McSwain, who serves as an interpreter for Lucyanna Heemstra, one of TJHS’s deaf students, teamed up with teacher Michele Stoicovy to offer American Sign Language classes during the school’s daily Personalized Learning Time (PLT).

“I’ve worked in a lot of different districts, and this is the first district that ever had something like that where it gave kids the freedom to do things,” McSwain said of the district’s PLT program. “Mrs. Stoicovy approached me about it and…it seemed like a no-brainer once we knew we had that time built into the schedule.”

With ideas for an ASL class stemming back years, Heemstra jumped at the opportunity to help kickstart the PLT course. “I’ve always thought doing a sign class would be really cool. In middle school, I came up with the idea, but we couldn’t figure out how to get it started. And then [McSwain] came along, and it made it a lot easier to actually start it with PLT,” she elaborated.

Once generally promoted, an interest quickly rose, just as McSwain had expected. “There genuinely is a natural interest in [ASL],” she commented. Once some initial students realized that American Sign Language was far more than matching a word to a sign, a few stepped away. McSwain and the students weren’t upset though; this meant that the still abundant number that remained were truly eager to learn.

One of those students was sophomore Peyton Oeler, who joined the class at its inception last fall. Like many others, she was motivated to join not only for the unique opportunity it offered, but so that she could foster deaf connections she had outside of the classroom. “I think it was great to have the opportunity to learn something that most schools wouldn’t have,” she commented. “I had a few friends who had taught me about American Sign Language, one had a deaf aunt, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to learn.”

For McSwain, the first obstacle was figuring out how best to teach them. The best method? A little bit of everything!

“There’s some really good online sources, like LifePrint, and a couple good YouTube channels with good demos,” McSwain explained of some outside teaching methods. “Sometimes I’ll have the students record…or I’ll record myself. I don’t have one specific course. It depends on what we’re learning that week. Just practicing the most instead of watching and learning, like, actually using it in a conversation.”

Oeler recalled fingerspelling websites, and “when we started to understand more signs,” group activities like bingo. However, in an answer nearly identical to McSwain, she noted that one of the most helpful tools was immersion. “I would say just practicing…actually using it in a conversation.”

“For me, I’d say them facing me so I can read their lips,” Heemstra said of what resource in the class has helped her most. For the hearing students, she’s observed several carefully selected YouTube videos and “breaking them down and rearranging the words so they make sense,” has been an influential tool.

Of course, the atmosphere created by McSwain and the other students helped to excite their efforts. “It was really positive,” commented Oeler. “We would learn some signs, and then we would voice off and get to use them to communicate with our friends, which is really cool, being able to communicate with people without using your voice…And I liked the way [McSwain] set it up so that it was friendly to people who were more advanced and who were beginners.”

Originally offered at only a beginner level, the class broke into two groups in late 2021, when some students began to showcase a more advanced understanding of the language. “A couple of months in, I started to see the kids that had more experience,” McSwain commented. “Some of the kids knew a little bit of sign coming in and had a little bit of a foundation, so they were able to move ahead faster.”

Like any typical class, the advanced group learned what was mostly an extension of what the regular class was exploring. Many advanced students, like Oeler, still frequented both leveled sessions. “The more advanced group, we will do more voice off,” McSwain elaborated. Voice-off communication not only significantly improves signing ability, but works as an immersive skill to push learners to expand their vocabulary and comprehension. “It’s a lot of trying to get more signing and practice their receptive skills by…challenging themselves a little bit more.”

Introducing students to sign language didn’t end with high school PLT sessions. When contacted by Gill Hall’s Parent-Teacher Association for Read Across America Week, better known as Dr. Seuss week, the class jumped at the opportunity to do a story in ASL for the kids. In fact, McSwain pushed further, and the group covered two Dr. Seuss books: The Best Nest and Oh, The Places You’ll Go. “You have to be careful with what books you pick, because Dr. Seuss does so much playing with words and language, and words that aren’t real words that don’t necessarily translate.”

The advanced class collaborated on a few videos that would be played to the elementary students. “Everybody had a couple of pages, so it wasn’t one person signing a whole book…then with some clever editing…we were able to pull it together…It was a whole day down there recording it.” McSwain, along with a few students, took a trip to Gill Hall to premiere the video — a roaring success!

When asked why she agreed to participate, McSwain spoke of her wish to spread the language. “I mean, you want people to learn sign language. Deaf people as a community are usually very encouraging and embracing of hearing people wanting to learn, and how do you do that? By bringing awareness, especially to kids.”

But that’s not where the class’s outreach ended. They also did a bake sale at the high school last spring. The bake sale raised donations for SignUp Captions, a google extension compatible with both Disney+ and Netflix that allows users to display an interpreter on screen. “How do deaf kids watch The Little Mermaid if they can’t read? Captions aren’t the fix all,” McSwain, who also works for the company, said of the motivation that propelled both the company’s beginning and McSwain’s own eagerness to get the kids involved.

Throughout a series of PLTs, the students aided in the planning, finalization of details and baking for the sale, which included desserts from ‘I Love You’ sign-shaped cookies to brownies to gluten free options. “[The preparation] took a little while,” added Oeler, “we got to just bake, and sign, and talk, and…it was a really positive experience.”

The ASL class expressed hopes to put on more events, either through the other schools in the district or another fundraiser, if the opportunity were to arise. “I’m always open to projects, and adventures, and trying new things,” says McSwain. “If the interest is there…I’m game. Will it be Dr. Seuss? I don’t know, but I’m always open to suggestions.”

While the class wouldn’t back down from putting on another event, McSwain says they are also happy with where they are. “I think we’re in a good spot where we are to keep the interest going because of the nature of my job. My time here is generally temporary.”

While the class might not be permanent, the resources have so far been available and students have already seen great progress in their signing abilities. Oeler commented, “Whenever I started the class, I knew the alphabet and that was it, and now I can hold a whole conversation with someone who uses ASL.”

To McSwain, those improvements were the most important part. “If I can have some people walk away learning a little bit, or maybe I piqued the interest for somebody, or helped somebody improve the skills they already had, I call that a win.”

When asked if she would recommend the class to other students who wanted to learn about American Sign Language, Oeler exclaimed, “Definitely! It’s such a great experience!” Heemstra hopes the students take away the idea that, despite the misconceptions, “sign language is an actual language, and it’s a separate language from English, even though we do use English words in it.”

For any student interested in American Sign Language and deaf culture, McSwain and her students are cultivating the perfect environment to grow that knowledge and bring ASL not only to Thomas Jefferson High School, but to the entire district, and beyond.

Written by Camryn Dailey, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School.