LZ students can join to learn a silent language: ASL or Sign Language.

“I think that [this class] will expose the students to another language, another culture, and another way of thinking,” Tina Guryn, hearing itinerant for the special education department and ASL class sponsor, said. “It’s also fun to learn if you want to learn it, and I think it opens the world to the deaf and hard of hearing because learning ASL helps.”

The first ASL class will take place on October 30 where anyone willing to learn is welcome. Students who are interested in joining this after school class will learn how to have conversations in Sign Language.

“I want to join [this class] so I could further my knowledge [of ASL],” Isabel Lee, sophomore and future attendee to the ASL class, said. “About a year ago I found this interest for ASL and I started looking up certain words to learn. I found this website that teaches you [a variety] of words, [but] I wasn’t able to learn that much.”

Learning ASL can also be beneficial in everyday situations. Guryn’s daughter, who works at Starbucks, has encountered deaf or hard of hearing people while working and was able to assist them because of her experience using Sign Language, Guryn said.

“If you learn ASL it will be easier to communicate with people and accommodate the needs of the deaf community,” Lee said. “I wish ASL was a class like any other language class.”

Although this after school activity is labeled as a class, it meets the requirements of a club like having a sponsor and a place to hold the meetings with enough continuously interested members.  Even with this, the class will be treated as if it was a language class, Guryn said.

“I will be introducing some sign language vocabulary, usually in some sort of fun way like some sort of game. Then we will take the words we just learned and try to have conversations with each other,” Guryn said. “We will be using fun activities to help the students remember the signs.”

Sign Language has become a passion in Guryn’s life so the decision to create an ASL class and run it was a no brainer, she said.

“I love sign language and its in my background however none of my students in the district require me to use it,” Guryn said. “I also see students when I’m walking down the hallway trying to sign, and I think to myself, ‘I could teach you that.’ So I would like to share that knowledge with others if they are interested.”