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Wapakoneta Daily News - Sign language students visit School for Deaf
Students taking an American Sign Language course at Wapakoneta High School recently spent a day partnered with students from the Ohio School for the Deaf.
Recent graduate Meghan Kremer said the experience gave them a chance to try out what they learned in the “real world” and improve their skills, but more importantly provided them with an opportunity for them to better understand the culture of the deaf.
Students, who live at the school during the week, are close no matter what their age, Kremer said.
“They have so many common barriers,” the daughter of Pam and Marvin Kremer said.
She said while her signs may have been a little off, she could communicate fairly well with them and they helped her figure it out, because they wanted to communicate, too.
“We could always walk through it,” Kremer said.
Often they would help with finger spelling and gestures.
“It was neat to be immersed in signing all day, to be there and experience it,” Kremer said.
She marveled at how fast students at the school could sign and how quiet it was.
With the six Wapakoneta students taking the course online, Kremer said it also was neat to meet their teacher and students from three other schools who also are in their class for the first time.
During the 12-hour day, students and their partners toured campus, went on a scavenger hunt, played games, ate meals, asked questions and just talked.
“It was a really good experience that makes me want to learn more about it,” Kremer said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
For Kremer, who plans to be a speech pathologist, the day encouraged her more about her decision, as she said that sign language is something she plans to continue in college.
Courtney Nuding, a sophomore last school year and who is considering becoming an interpreter after high school, said she first starting learning sign language because her aunt knew it, but the experience of being around it all day and not being able to talk to people to communicate was different.
“There were signs we didn’t know and they explained them to us,” Nuding said. “Watching how they talk to each other, how they sign backwards, it was really fun.”
Class of 2012 member Sarah Sawmiller said sitting in sign language class in front of a TV monitor at the school, the silence can be awkward, but there, even though it’s silent, there are so many conversations going on all around.
Tasha Helmstetter, who was a freshman during the class, said it was interesting how differently they interact or interpret how the Wapakoneta students were acting.
“What we think is rude is how they act to get someone’s attention,” Helmstetter said. “To them it’s not rude.”
They stomp their feet, scream and yell to show their emotion, said Sawmiller, who wanted to take the course after her mother used sign language to talk with an autistic student.
Helmstetter, who took the class because her cousins are taking sign language in college, thought it would be another way to interact, now she’s interested in becoming a social worker who deals specifically with deaf children.
Students at the high school may take sign language from the time they are freshmen until they are seniors, and may take it continuously through the years. Helmstetter said doing it via the Internet is the hardest part because it would be a lot easier to have a teacher right there to ask questions.
“Most of it is pretty clear though,” Sawmiller said. “It’s a fun, different way to learn.
“It’s gotten a lot better since the beginning when it was very awkward and there were a lot of giggles and laughs,” she said.
Students taking an American Sign Language course at Wapakoneta High School recently spent a day partnered with students from the Ohio School for the Deaf.
Recent graduate Meghan Kremer said the experience gave them a chance to try out what they learned in the “real world” and improve their skills, but more importantly provided them with an opportunity for them to better understand the culture of the deaf.
Students, who live at the school during the week, are close no matter what their age, Kremer said.
“They have so many common barriers,” the daughter of Pam and Marvin Kremer said.
She said while her signs may have been a little off, she could communicate fairly well with them and they helped her figure it out, because they wanted to communicate, too.
“We could always walk through it,” Kremer said.
Often they would help with finger spelling and gestures.
“It was neat to be immersed in signing all day, to be there and experience it,” Kremer said.
She marveled at how fast students at the school could sign and how quiet it was.
With the six Wapakoneta students taking the course online, Kremer said it also was neat to meet their teacher and students from three other schools who also are in their class for the first time.
During the 12-hour day, students and their partners toured campus, went on a scavenger hunt, played games, ate meals, asked questions and just talked.
“It was a really good experience that makes me want to learn more about it,” Kremer said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
For Kremer, who plans to be a speech pathologist, the day encouraged her more about her decision, as she said that sign language is something she plans to continue in college.
Courtney Nuding, a sophomore last school year and who is considering becoming an interpreter after high school, said she first starting learning sign language because her aunt knew it, but the experience of being around it all day and not being able to talk to people to communicate was different.
“There were signs we didn’t know and they explained them to us,” Nuding said. “Watching how they talk to each other, how they sign backwards, it was really fun.”
Class of 2012 member Sarah Sawmiller said sitting in sign language class in front of a TV monitor at the school, the silence can be awkward, but there, even though it’s silent, there are so many conversations going on all around.
Tasha Helmstetter, who was a freshman during the class, said it was interesting how differently they interact or interpret how the Wapakoneta students were acting.
“What we think is rude is how they act to get someone’s attention,” Helmstetter said. “To them it’s not rude.”
They stomp their feet, scream and yell to show their emotion, said Sawmiller, who wanted to take the course after her mother used sign language to talk with an autistic student.
Helmstetter, who took the class because her cousins are taking sign language in college, thought it would be another way to interact, now she’s interested in becoming a social worker who deals specifically with deaf children.
Students at the high school may take sign language from the time they are freshmen until they are seniors, and may take it continuously through the years. Helmstetter said doing it via the Internet is the hardest part because it would be a lot easier to have a teacher right there to ask questions.
“Most of it is pretty clear though,” Sawmiller said. “It’s a fun, different way to learn.
“It’s gotten a lot better since the beginning when it was very awkward and there were a lot of giggles and laughs,” she said.