Ever seen the American Sign Language posters around the school teaching you about different signs for different words? Have you ever stopped to learn your name? Students Zoe Cameron and Justin Best, sophomores, have started an American Sign Language Honor Society and Ranch Hands: a new American Sign Language club for Falcons. American Sign Language Honor Society is not currently a club and will be started starting next year.
Ranch Hands is designed for all kinds of people. “Ranch Hands was made to get people to learn how to sign more and to try and help spread deaf culture,” said Best, vice president of the club. Anyone can join the club; even if you don’t know sign language.
In the club, people learn how to speak sign language, raise money for the deaf community at HR and at Cresthill Middle School, and different things about the culture, such as how sign language is worded, the different signs you want to know, and how to be polite and respectful when talking to a deaf person. “What we do is, we play games, we do fundraisers, we teach people who don’t know sign how to sign, we just have a metric ton of fun,” Best said.
Jodie Adams-Chevalier is the American Sign Language teacher and advisor of the club. Adams-Chevalier is deaf and helps within the club to teach students about the deaf culture. “The club gives students a chance to learn ASL and about the deaf people in the school, both staff and students, and gives students an opportunity to use the language,” said Adams-Chevalier, who is the staff advisor of the club.
Ranch Hands meet on Tuesdays and Fridays from 3-4:30pm. The meetings alternate days every week. “A bunch of different high schools have an ASL club or a Deaf Honor Society and all these clubs and it was actually Justin who came to me said we should start a club for HR, so we started working on it,” said Cameron.
Ranch Hands help to support deaf culture and spread knowledge of American Sign Language throughout the school. The club helps students understand deaf people and helps students learn to communicate with the deaf people in the Highlands Ranch community.
Caitlyn Tsukamoto, Editor In Chief
