Kicking off the school year with their first meeting, Hingham High School’s American Sign Language (ASL) Club is back with their first meeting held this Wednesday (9/18). As a Co-president I am so excited to welcome in our new members and our new advisor Mrs. Jope who has been kind enough to fill the role as we lost our past advisor at the end of last year.
The first meeting began with a brief introduction to the club and its leaders, me and my Co-President Maddie Cusack. Afterward, we watched a brief video on the history and origins of ASL which, coincidentally, began right here in Massachusetts on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. We then learned simple greetings in signs such as “Hello” and “Nice to meet you,” followed by an introduction to the alphabet. The club members were then taught how to say, “My name is” and were instructed to find the letters in their own name and sign them in sequence to a neighbor. Finally, the club ended with a brief Kahoot on the letters of the alphabet we had just gone over with a prize awarded to the top three.
Mrs. Jope’s kindness and instruction allowed the meeting to run smoothly and Maddie and I are very thankful for her stepping when we lost our advisor. According to Mrs. Jope she “Thought the meeting was wonderful! [We] had a classroom full of good-spirited and engaged participants who all left the meeting with an introductory lesson on the history of ASL and the practical skills of a polite greeting and name introduction in ASL. The meeting was full of laughs and learning – a huge success!”
Maddie and I were very happy to see all the returning and new members and hope that our numbers only grow. Maddie stated, “It was a great first start, attendance was at an all-time high, [ASL is] such an important skill to have, and I’m so happy to see interest.” One of the returning, senior members, Elena May further voiced, “During the first ASL club meeting of the school year, [she] had the best time learning how to introduce myself and spell [her] name. It perfectly combines learning letters and greetings while still having fun!” With one meeting under our belts, both the members and leaders alike are excited for a year full of fun learning and gaining a better understanding of such an interesting and dynamic language.
