Ohio: Common 'foreign' language not taught in school

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Common 'foreign' language not taught in school

21 hours ago
By PETER GREER

greer at crescent-news.com

HICKSVILLE -- Schoolteachers have introduced students to a number of
foreign languages over the years, but one local woman wants to introduce a
very common "foreign" language that has never been taught in the school at
all. And she's not demonstrating it in the classroom, either. Rather, it's
being "taught" at football and basketball home games, which bring in a
much larger audience than an isolated classroom of 25 or so students.
After English, Spanish and Russian, says Susan Gonwick, the most common
language used in America is sign language.

Gonwick says that sign language is a necessity since "everybody has the
right to communicate." Sign language is used to communicate with the
hearing-impaired, using one's hands to convey words and letters of the
alphabet. The language has been used for centuries and, like Braille, was
brought to America from France. The 1978 Hicksville High School graduate,
who spent a decade living in Washington state, graduated two years ago
from Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, to become a sign language
interpreter. Studying sign language "was something I really wanted to do
(but) I was never in a position to do it until five years or so ago."

As it turned out, sign language turned out to be very common in the
Spokane school where her children attended. "My oldest and youngest girls
each had deaf girls in their classrooms ... fellow students," Gonwick
says. "All the kids in the classes learned sign language." Knowledge of
sign language on the West Coast apparently didn't stop at the school,
either. "I initially thought I would interpret for deaf children,"
Gonwick notes, "but there were too many interpreters there. That's what
brought me back here." Returning to Hicksville a year ago last October,
Gonwick is now employed by Defiance County Job and Family Services, where
she uses her skills. But the job was not enough to satisfy her desire to
help the deaf.

Today, Gonwick is a common sight at local home games, where she signs the
lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem is sung before
the games get underway. "I asked (to do that) last year, but for whatever
reason (high school athletic director David Blue) didn't get in touch with
me right away. I didn't know Dave that well, and I didn't want to just
storm in and ask." Prior to the start of the home football season in fall
2006, Gonwick asked Blue again and was instantly accepted. "I started at
the home football games and it carried into basketball," she says.

The hearing-impaired who attend the games (Gonwick knows of attendees from
Hicksville, Defiance and Paulding) no doubt appreciate Gonwick's efforts,
but she says she is glad for the opportunity to keep practicing. "It's a
way to keep my hands moving," she says. "You have to use it or lose it."
Another benefit of signing, she says, is that provides an opportunity for
mother-daughter bonding. "I was at a game," she says, "and Halie (her
oldest daughter, now 15 1/2) was there, and I said, 'Hey, Halie, you want
to sign with me?' We do it together, it's kind of neat."

Halie has followed in her mom's footsteps in other ways. While in Spokane,
Gonwick taught Bible school songs. Today, she says, Halie signs at the
children's Masses at the Catholic church. For the future, Gonwick hopes to
teach sign language classes and would like to see it offered in area
schools as a foreign language. "It's the fourth-most commonly used
language in the U.S.," she laments, "but they don't offer it in the high
schools."

http://www.crescent-news.com/news/article/1592161

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