If a student wishes to learn a new language, a variety of options are available. They can choose to study a foreign language with origins halfway around the globe, or if they would prefer to learn something a little more local, American Sign Language (ASL), taught by Elizabeth Ellis, is always an option.

“I was originally a teacher for the deaf because back then, we didn’t teach ASL in high school,” Ellis said. “After eight years of teaching deaf kids, I got married and had children.”

Ellis left work in order to raise her kids and be with her family, but once her youngest child started high school, she decided to go back to work.

“I looked around and there was an opening here,” Ellis said. “I thought that it would be interesting to share sign language with hearing students.”

While some people study ASL to be able to communicate with deaf family members or friends, Ellis chose to learn it for a different reason.

“I was just really fascinated with the language,” Ellis said. “When I saw people signing the first time, it just touched me.”

Some of Ellis’s students learn sign language for the same reason.

“My cousin knows ASL and I thought it was really cool when she signed,” junior Gabrielle Popp said. “I decided to take ASL and I love it.”

Other students hope that learning ASL will enable them to help deaf people in the future as a part of their job.

“I want to be a nurse for children,” senior Amanda Carlough said. “Hopefully I’ll get a deaf patient and then I can help them.”

Popp also plans on joining the medical field and putting her knowledge of sign language to good use.

“I would like to be a doctor,” Popp said. “I think that learning about deaf culture and ASL can help me communicate with deaf patients and the parents of deaf children about how deafness is really okay.”

Knowing sign language can also help people who are planning on a career in any field, not just the medical field.

“People who learn sign language can grow up to work with deaf people,” Ellis said. “Deaf people find out where deaf-friendly people are and they go to them for their services.”

It can be difficult to learn how to communicate with actual deaf people at a school where there are not many deaf-education students, but there are still opportunities available for ASL students to practice their skills.

“Once a month, we encourage the students to go to a thing called Deaf Coffee,” Ellis said. “Deaf people go to the Deaf Coffee and they hang out and sign amongst themselves. We go so that we can mingle and associate with deaf people to improve our sign ability.”

Popp recalls the first time she signed with a deaf person.

“The first time I did it was completely nerve-wracking,” Popp said. “But after that, it’s just become a lot easier and I really enjoy it now. I love to hear their stories about how they grew up and it’s gotten really fun.”

Not only is communicating with deaf people a fun activity, but the class itself is also very enjoyable for students.

“ASL is challenging but it’s still fun,” Carlough said.

Learning sign language is difficult, but after some practice, students get the hang of it.

“My favorite part about teaching the class is watching the kids’ faces light up when they start to get it,” Ellis said. “When they string sign words together and create sentences, you can see that they’re really processing it and thinking it through. I love those moments.”

While learning any language is an asset, ASL has additional benefits.

“Learning sign language is going to help you understand your own language,” Ellis said. “It’s going to expand your brain and your knowledge of culture. There truly is a deaf culture and you learn about it.”

For Popp, the deaf culture is her favorite part.

“When you step into the deaf culture, it’s completely different from hearing culture,” Popp said. “It’s like its own little world.”