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‘Signing for Haiti’ a success at OCHS | General
Sign language students let their fingers do the talking
Featuring colorful costumes and more than 30 eager participants, the fourth annual American Sign Language performance “Signing for Haiti” was a huge success.
With the theme of the television show “Glee,” the Ocean City High School sign language performers did more than just use their hands to communicate; they sang, danced and acted each of the 14 melodies, bringing sign language to life.
“I’m extremely proud of these students,” said ASL teacher Amy Anderson.
Sign language is not communicated totally through the hands. Facial expressions affect the meaning of the signed words; adding choreographed dance and acting tells an exciting story, even when the audience can’t hear the music.
“Facial expressions are very important,” said Anderson. “You really have to act it out. You can’t show your emotion through your voice so you have to use facial expressions and body motion.”
Several students in the program are long-time dancers, so they choreographed the numbers as though they were producing a music video.
“They sang, danced and acted to the music,” she said. “Someone who can hear is easily entertained; someone who can’t needs a lot more. In one of the numbers, ‘Misery’ by Maroon Five, which has a very slow beat, the students performed a skit. There were two students acting in the background. A young girl found another girls’ message on a cell phone and they had an argument. They did a phenomenal job.”
Ninety students participated in the ASL program this year. The performance was open to all of them.
“Translating is difficult, you have to think what is behind the lyrics, it’s like interpreting poetry,” she said. “You have to play around, stretch it to fit with the beat of the music. It has to be more artistic, rather than conversational.”
Emily DuBrille, a former student who is now studying at Bloomsburg University, returned to help Anderson as assistant director. The students added their own touches to the performance.
“One student is an accomplished artist, so she designed T-shirts,” she said. “They all contributed things based on their talents.”
A children’s number included six year-old Delaney Ringer of Upper Township, seven year-old Jordan Severino, Anderson’s son, and several of his friends who know ASL.
Anderson said her students really “studied” their parts.
“They actually have to sit at home in front of a mirror, it’s not what just comes naturally,” she said. “They have to make changes, be very dramatic. You are using a second language to communicate, and it’s very different.
“ASL is processed on a different side of the brain,” she said. “It’s very hands-on, very conversational. The students move around. We don’t talk in class, we sign. They learn so much more than just sign language.”
ASL is a complex visual-spatial language that is used by the deaf community in the United States and English-speaking parts of Canada. It is a linguistically complete, natural language. It is often the native language of many deaf men and women, as well as some hearing children born into deaf families.
Students learn a whole new culture and way of looking at the world through ASL.
“They learn about diversity and accepting differences,” Anderson said. “It broadens their minds. They stop and think about things a lot differently when they realize how different things are for deaf people.
“Some think this is an easy class, it’s not,” she said. “They work hard in here. By November they have learned over 1,000 signs. It’s enjoyable, fun and exciting, and often it leads to a career.”
The sky is the limit for future jobs; medical and theatrical interpreting, deaf education and court interpreting are in huge demand.
“There is such a need for deaf education,” she said. “They develop a passion and they can get a job.”
The ASL program came to OCHS in 2004 at the behest of former Ocean City school board President Barbara Kichline, An Atlantic City guidance counselor, Kichline said the program was very popular and she thought OCHS students would benefit.
Anderson was hired the next year.
A Middle Township High School grad, Anderson taught in Boston for eight years before coming to Ocean City.
“I wanted to come home, and Ocean City started the program,” she said. “It was meant to be. I was seven when I became interested in signing. My mother was a teacher and she had a student who was deaf and wanted to learn to sign so I went to classes with her. I loved it.”
An Indiana University graduate, she combined education and performance arts with ASL and started teaching.
“I found my niche,” she said. “I would come home in the summer and help with Cape May County special services, I loved it. I got my master’s in deaf education.”
The show raised more than $2,800 for the Institut Monfort, a school for the deaf destroyed by the earth quake in Haiti, and to provide scholarships for graduating students who plan to use ASL in a deaf-related field.
Two scholarships were awarded. Catherine Willett, headed to Towson University for deaf education and Molly Ensminger, headed to Kent State University for elementary education with ASL and a minor in deaf studies received $750 each.
Sign language students let their fingers do the talking
Featuring colorful costumes and more than 30 eager participants, the fourth annual American Sign Language performance “Signing for Haiti” was a huge success.
With the theme of the television show “Glee,” the Ocean City High School sign language performers did more than just use their hands to communicate; they sang, danced and acted each of the 14 melodies, bringing sign language to life.
“I’m extremely proud of these students,” said ASL teacher Amy Anderson.
Sign language is not communicated totally through the hands. Facial expressions affect the meaning of the signed words; adding choreographed dance and acting tells an exciting story, even when the audience can’t hear the music.
“Facial expressions are very important,” said Anderson. “You really have to act it out. You can’t show your emotion through your voice so you have to use facial expressions and body motion.”
Several students in the program are long-time dancers, so they choreographed the numbers as though they were producing a music video.
“They sang, danced and acted to the music,” she said. “Someone who can hear is easily entertained; someone who can’t needs a lot more. In one of the numbers, ‘Misery’ by Maroon Five, which has a very slow beat, the students performed a skit. There were two students acting in the background. A young girl found another girls’ message on a cell phone and they had an argument. They did a phenomenal job.”
Ninety students participated in the ASL program this year. The performance was open to all of them.
“Translating is difficult, you have to think what is behind the lyrics, it’s like interpreting poetry,” she said. “You have to play around, stretch it to fit with the beat of the music. It has to be more artistic, rather than conversational.”
Emily DuBrille, a former student who is now studying at Bloomsburg University, returned to help Anderson as assistant director. The students added their own touches to the performance.
“One student is an accomplished artist, so she designed T-shirts,” she said. “They all contributed things based on their talents.”
A children’s number included six year-old Delaney Ringer of Upper Township, seven year-old Jordan Severino, Anderson’s son, and several of his friends who know ASL.
Anderson said her students really “studied” their parts.
“They actually have to sit at home in front of a mirror, it’s not what just comes naturally,” she said. “They have to make changes, be very dramatic. You are using a second language to communicate, and it’s very different.
“ASL is processed on a different side of the brain,” she said. “It’s very hands-on, very conversational. The students move around. We don’t talk in class, we sign. They learn so much more than just sign language.”
ASL is a complex visual-spatial language that is used by the deaf community in the United States and English-speaking parts of Canada. It is a linguistically complete, natural language. It is often the native language of many deaf men and women, as well as some hearing children born into deaf families.
Students learn a whole new culture and way of looking at the world through ASL.
“They learn about diversity and accepting differences,” Anderson said. “It broadens their minds. They stop and think about things a lot differently when they realize how different things are for deaf people.
“Some think this is an easy class, it’s not,” she said. “They work hard in here. By November they have learned over 1,000 signs. It’s enjoyable, fun and exciting, and often it leads to a career.”
The sky is the limit for future jobs; medical and theatrical interpreting, deaf education and court interpreting are in huge demand.
“There is such a need for deaf education,” she said. “They develop a passion and they can get a job.”
The ASL program came to OCHS in 2004 at the behest of former Ocean City school board President Barbara Kichline, An Atlantic City guidance counselor, Kichline said the program was very popular and she thought OCHS students would benefit.
Anderson was hired the next year.
A Middle Township High School grad, Anderson taught in Boston for eight years before coming to Ocean City.
“I wanted to come home, and Ocean City started the program,” she said. “It was meant to be. I was seven when I became interested in signing. My mother was a teacher and she had a student who was deaf and wanted to learn to sign so I went to classes with her. I loved it.”
An Indiana University graduate, she combined education and performance arts with ASL and started teaching.
“I found my niche,” she said. “I would come home in the summer and help with Cape May County special services, I loved it. I got my master’s in deaf education.”
The show raised more than $2,800 for the Institut Monfort, a school for the deaf destroyed by the earth quake in Haiti, and to provide scholarships for graduating students who plan to use ASL in a deaf-related field.
Two scholarships were awarded. Catherine Willett, headed to Towson University for deaf education and Molly Ensminger, headed to Kent State University for elementary education with ASL and a minor in deaf studies received $750 each.