Students’ hands fly as they sign a No Doubt song and communicate during lunch. Paly’s American Sign Language Club takes a literally hands-on approach to learning.
The American Sign Language (ASL) Club, started two years ago at Paly, meets every Tuesday at lunch in room 408. With a core group of six to seven members and numerous others floating in and out, Paly’s ASL Club, may be small, but it still has much to offer.
According to members, learning goes hand-in-hand with having fun. Lunchtime meetings generally include signing a song, learning new words and phrases, and playing signing games. In addition to songs by No Doubt, members have also signed to songs by Evanescence and Luther Vandross.
"We’re going to teach you, but we’re going to have fun teaching you," senior Derek Manskey, a club member since freshman year, said. "We get people motivated to learn."
Club members decide amongst themselves what they want to learn, ranging from signing the names of favorite animals to everyday slang.
"Anything people want to learn how to sign, we can probably do," senior Iliana Guerrero said.
While new words, simple sentences, and phrases are generally student-taught, the club’s sponsor, Magdalena Rivera, steps in to teach what club members do not know.
As in previous years, this year’s club also plans on attending shows at the San Jose Repertory Theatre. The theater offers ASL-interpreted performances provided by the StageHands of the Bay Area as part of the theater’s ‘Rep Outreach Program.’ Every year, Paly’s ASL Club chooses a new play to see, inviting college-age alum to reconnect with club friends.
In the club’s first year, members attended a showing of William Shakespeare’s classic comedy, "A Midsummer’s Night Dream". This year, the club hopes to hold two trips to the theater, one before winter break and one during second semester. The club generally selects a weekend matinee that is of interest to students and not too serious.
"We usually go for comedies because those are fun to see signed," Guerrero said.
While the club has held bake sales in the past to raise money for theater tickets, recent changes in fundraising policy no longer allow bake sales as a method of fundraising. Therefore, the club plans on using money saved to cover this year’s ticket costs.
Aside from making the club more fun and interactive, the ASL Club also hopes to meet its goal of recruiting new members, as the club is composed primarily of upperclassmen.
"We’re really pushing to get more younger students involved because it’s something we want to see continued," Manskey said. According to Rivera, "[the club is] not only recruiting at Paly, but also at middle schools."
According to club members, there are many reasons to learn ASL.
"I can talk without saying a word," Manskey said. "Because [ASL] is already in English, it makes learning much easier."
Club president senior Caitlin Wolf said, "even if you don’t have a background in ASL, you can still learn a lot."
While no ASL classes exist this year at Paly due to insufficient enrollment, the program has not been cancelled, according to Rivera.
"As long as there’s enough students [signed up], there will always be a class," Guerrero said.
Whether as a member of Paly’s ASL Club or as a student in a future ASL class, "American Sign Language is something that you learn [that] will stick with you," Manskey said.