Fwd: Indiana: S*gn l*nguage opens holiday tradition to wider audience

[Harold Schiffman]

S*gn language opens holiday tradition to wider audience


January 4, 2009

By Sue Ellen Ross
Post-Tribune correspondent

HIGHLAND -- Enjoying music during the holiday season can be taken for
granted as it airs on radio and television and in shopping malls.
But many hearing-impaired persons don't have the opportunity to enjoy
Christmas favorites. The recent annual holiday program at Highland
High School addressed this situation by offering interpreters. Ten
sign language students from the high school stood in front of the
audience during the program, signing during each musical selection
performed by Highland Middle School students. Professionals Josh and
Rachel Garrett of Griffith interpreted the spoken portion of the
Christmas play.

"It's great that this (performance) can be equal-access," Josh Garrett
said. "There is a large percentage of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons
in northwest Indiana. It's wonderful that (issue) can be addressed
during a show like this."  Parent John Cook, whose daughter, Lynn, was
in the middle school chorus, agrees with Josh. "This shows awareness
and empathy, as it addresses the concern for those hard-of-hearing,"
he said. "It's great that the school system offers the sign language
classes to the high school students." This is the second year that
American Sign Language teacher Eileen Truszkowski has prepared her
students for the annual holiday program.

"The deaf community has long been ignored when it comes to Christmas
performances or performances of any kind," she said. "This type of
message (signing at the performance) is important to the community,
because it shows people that children as young as this, who have a
multitude of activities in their young lives, have the time,
inclination and skill to give back to the community." She added that
those who are hard-of-hearing have had to sit and simply watch mouths
move in the past, not understanding what is happening on the stage.
"That has changed here at Highland, and we are proud and humbled to be
able to provide this for the community," Truszkowski said. "We hope to
expand to include other performances as well."

Truszkowski and Highland Middle School music director Donald Thompson
worked in collaboration to bring this idea to fruition. Approximately
100 students are enrolled in the four levels of sign language classes
at the high school. The students who volunteered for this year's
presentation were more than happy to give of their time. Sam Wogan,
17, has taken the sign language classes for three years. A junior, she
said she has learned quite a bit in many areas. "It's interesting to
learn this, but it's also hard to pick up every little detail (to
sign)," she said. "And everyone is different in the way they sign --
there are different speeds, different mechanics." Senior Sami
DeWinter, 18, has two friends who are deaf.

"I wanted to be able to communicate with them," she said of her
decision to take sign language classes for the past four years. "Once
I learned sign language, it made me feel more relaxed that I could do
that." Truszkowski also feels there are many benefits as well. "The
students are learning, on a personal level," she said, "that they have
a right and a responsibility to give back to the community as their
skills allow."

http://www.post-trib.com/news/neighbors/1359828,signconcert.article

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-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************