Club promotes ASL awareness

By Rina Kamilova

KONK LIFE STUDENT WRITER

Key West High School hosts many clubs that feature fun activities, education, and teamwork. One of them, the American Sign Language (ASL) Club, is all about teaching students sign language and raising deaf awareness.

President of the ASL Club Brianna Delph explains how the club spreads compassion and enlightenment, “The purpose of the ASL Club is to provide opportunities to learn about the deaf community.” Each day, members of the club learn something new. “From vocabulary, to converting modern-day songs into sign language and communicating with one another, we learn weekly,” Delph adds.

It is an issue when students struggle with learning another language, or deaf students cannot communicate with a hearing individual. This is one of the main benefits of the ASL Club: to bring everyone together.

According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s SIPP, there are fewer than one in twenty Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing. Nearly 10,000,000 people are hard of hearing and close to 1,000,000 are functionally deaf.

Delph articulates, “My hopes are to further expand the hearing and deaf culture together. We are for the compassion and unity of the students here at Key West High.” The members of the club are looking forward to doing fundraisers and other activities that promote deaf awareness.

“I think the ASL Club is definitely helpful,” affirms Erin Agbisit, a member of the club. “Nowadays, a lot of people barely know a second language besides their native tongue. ASL doesn’t require speaking, but instead we use our facial expressions and emotions into signing.”

The ASL Club, hosted by Key West High School teacher Kristen Bowen, is held every Friday, at 2:35 p.m. in room 2101-G. Delph encourages any level of signer to come, whether beginners or intermediate. “Everyone is certainly welcome and accepted,” Delph adds.

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