Ocean City's American Sign Language Program Highlighted on Classroom Closeup NJ

The Ocean City High School American Sign Language program was the subject of an episode of Classroom Close-up, NJ that aired on May 10 and was scheduled to be downloaded for viewing online on Monday.

It will also air on June 7 at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Channel 23 (HD 800) for Comcast/Verizon users.

Classroom Close-up, NJ is a half-hour television program that features innovative projects in New Jersey public schools. The 12-time Emmy® award-winning show is in its 21st season and airs on NJTV every Sunday.

Episodes are downloaded at classroomcloseup.org.

More than 100 students at Ocean City High School take American Sign Language, which has been part of the World Language Department for 11 years.

They use inside/outside circles facing each other and doing repetitive sign language, parallel partner lines and interactive surveys.

They conduct face time with people from the deaf community. The students also produced and performed a sign language music video for Anti-bullying Awareness Month. This class gives the students the opportunity to receive a seal of literacy and Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI).

The SLPI’s goal is to assess how well people are able to use sign language for communication.

Linguistic diagnostic testing in the areas of English and American Sign Language was part of the Seal of Biliteracy, which was offered to students for the first time this year. It gave students the opportunity to demonstrate literacy in their native language as well as their second language.

Six out of eight seniors achieved the necessary scores to earn this distinction

It was sponsored by the Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ) and New Jersey Teachers of English as a Second Language/ New Jersey Bilingual Education.

Five seniors will graduate in 2015 and pursue an American Sign Language related career.

Teacher Amy Andersen teaches up to three years of the language and many students have gone on to begin careers as teachers of the deaf, ASL interpreters or speech pathologists.

According to the school district, one student met First Lady Michelle Obama while working as a full-time interpreter in Washington D.C. That student has interpreted at the Pentagon and in the White House. Another student now works at a local elementary school as a full-time interpreter. There are currently seven deaf students at the school.

The ASL program includes an annual show where students create an original musical/ signing production based on chosen themes.

Each year, students also connect with the community in events like Ocean City’s Quiet Festival, and the July 4th flag raising on the boardwalk.

Over the years, students have had the opportunity to visit the NJ School for the Deaf in Trenton and Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., the only liberal arts college for the Deaf in the world.

The local deaf community has hosted many events for the students including ASL socials and silent dinners.