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Metro: Pine Creek High School offers new choice to fill requirement | language, school, sign - Gazette.com
A northeast Colorado Springs high school will teach American Sign Language as a foreign language starting in August.
The class at Pine Creek High School, in Academy School District 20, will count toward students’ one-year foreign language requirement needed for graduation, just like spoken languages such as Spanish, French or German.
Pine Creek appears to be the first school in the Pikes Peak region and one of about a dozen statewide to offer the subject for credit, said Sheryl Muir, the Colorado Department of Education’s principal consultant for deaf and hard-of-hearing services, and officials at other school districts.
Some districts, such as Lewis-Palmer School District 38 and Cheyenne Mountain School District 12, have offered American Sign Language on an informal basis, such as an after-school activity.
The inaugural class is full, and Pine Creek principal Todd Morse said he expects there could be a waiting list once word spreads.
He attributes students’ interest to the unique nature of sign language and the ability to connect with deaf or hard-of-hearing students.
“Kids love to connect, and it’s another opportunity to connect with some peers,” he said.
Muir said sign language opens doors for a career market, too, including interpreter positions or a host of professions that need people who specialize in working with the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Sign language has become increasingly recognized nationally by the hearing community as a foreign language, in part from a push by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community for that recognition. That’s led to the adoption of uniform educational standards.
In 2005, Colorado’s State Board of Education approved American Sign Language teaching standards, and state officials are developing content standards that would guide school districts as they look at programs.
Morse said he received inquiries from students, parents and even a Pine Creek graduate about the possibility of offering sign language. Those inquiries came at a time when he was already thinking of how to improve the school’s foreign-language offerings.
Then came a newly hired English teacher who is also certified to teach American Sign Language.
“There was motivation and opportunity all at the same time,” he said.
Muir thinks other schools will adopt American Sign Language classes as it becomes easier for teachers and programs to earn credentials and recognition from the state.
A northeast Colorado Springs high school will teach American Sign Language as a foreign language starting in August.
The class at Pine Creek High School, in Academy School District 20, will count toward students’ one-year foreign language requirement needed for graduation, just like spoken languages such as Spanish, French or German.
Pine Creek appears to be the first school in the Pikes Peak region and one of about a dozen statewide to offer the subject for credit, said Sheryl Muir, the Colorado Department of Education’s principal consultant for deaf and hard-of-hearing services, and officials at other school districts.
Some districts, such as Lewis-Palmer School District 38 and Cheyenne Mountain School District 12, have offered American Sign Language on an informal basis, such as an after-school activity.
The inaugural class is full, and Pine Creek principal Todd Morse said he expects there could be a waiting list once word spreads.
He attributes students’ interest to the unique nature of sign language and the ability to connect with deaf or hard-of-hearing students.
“Kids love to connect, and it’s another opportunity to connect with some peers,” he said.
Muir said sign language opens doors for a career market, too, including interpreter positions or a host of professions that need people who specialize in working with the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Sign language has become increasingly recognized nationally by the hearing community as a foreign language, in part from a push by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community for that recognition. That’s led to the adoption of uniform educational standards.
In 2005, Colorado’s State Board of Education approved American Sign Language teaching standards, and state officials are developing content standards that would guide school districts as they look at programs.
Morse said he received inquiries from students, parents and even a Pine Creek graduate about the possibility of offering sign language. Those inquiries came at a time when he was already thinking of how to improve the school’s foreign-language offerings.
Then came a newly hired English teacher who is also certified to teach American Sign Language.
“There was motivation and opportunity all at the same time,” he said.
Muir thinks other schools will adopt American Sign Language classes as it becomes easier for teachers and programs to earn credentials and recognition from the state.
