A majority of students here at Sunlake High take a language course as one of their electives, whether that be Spanish, French, or the more underappreciated American Sign Language (ASL). One of our newest clubs aims to promote the usage of ASL among students. “The ASL Club meets the second Tuesday of every month,” says Mia Fackler, “and we’re here to promote Deaf culture, create a space for signing, and make ASL have a big impact on our school! We play games, learn signs, and spend time with other people interested in ASL.”
Mia, a junior at Sunlake, is the secretary of the club. “I wanted to hold this role,” she says, “because I would be able to be involved in the club and find an outlet to work hard in. I love working with our group of officers and creating ideas for our meetings, organizing, and reaching out to our community about our club.”
While there hasn’t been an official meeting for the club yet, Mia plans on incorporating fun activities to get people engaged. “I want to make our meetings exciting to go to, something that people look forward to! I would also love for people to be able to get volunteer hours from our club, and to create events and opportunities where they can promote Deaf culture, and do so in a way that serves their community and impacts their own life.”
She continued, “I try and tell everyone I can about ASL Club in hopes that they’ll want to join us once a month. We are really making something special here at Sunlake, and want as much people as possible to be a part of it.” Mia specifies that people interested in the club don’t need to know ASL beforehand. Everyone is welcome to join if they desire to!
At the end of the day, Mia hopes that the ASL club will allow students to appreciate and enjoy the language as much as she does. “Not many people know about how much ASL has to offer outside of the language credit, and I want them to know that opportunities to explore ASL are open to them. I love signing and learning more about American Sign Language, so getting the chance to bring people into something that is so special to me really makes it worth all of the hard work!”
