ASL Competition Attended by SFHS Students

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American Sign Language Students 222.95 KB

On April 28th, five students from Mrs. Bond's American Sign Language 1 class went to the ASL Competition at Copper Hill's High School in Salt Lake City. Natalie Boyack, Lauren Maughan, Jeffery Coons, Michael Gardner, and Taft Pace were the representatives for Spanish Fork High School. They left the school at 11:00 AM and picked up students from Provo High. On the way to the competition, they stopped at the Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Salt Lake City. There, they toured the building and learned about the history of the people that made it, about the technology deaf people use to communicate with other deaf people, and hearing people as well. After lunch, the students went to Copper Hill's High School, and from that point on, they were not allowed to speak. Out of respect for the Deaf Culture, no voicing was allowed. Lauren Maughan said, “Never have I been in a room so big, with so many people, and have it be so quiet.” Schools from all over Utah came to compete in Deaf Art, Media, Culture and History, Receptive Comprehension, and Expressive subjects. Michael Gardner, Taft Pace, and Jeffery Coons competed in Deaf Culture and History. They studied hard, and from their work they were able to beat ALA, but had less luck when competing against Salem. Natalie Boyack and Lauren Maughan competed in the Receptive category, where they watched signing videos and answered questions about the videos to test their comprehension. Mrs. Bond, their ASL teacher, said, “I don't care if you win, I just want you to have fun.” And they did! The five students from Spanish Fork High showed their school pride, and learned so much about the Deaf Culture. There was no talking, but there was laughing and communication throughout the entire experience. The team got T-shirts and certificates, and did not get back home until 10:30 PM that night. The deaf Culture is rich and wonderful, and these students got to have a taste of it.

Attributions
Lauren Maughan and Ali Skrabut