Deares leaves her impact by leading ASL club  

     ASL club was started by senior Hailey Deares when she was a sophomore. This year she is a senior and “looking forward to it being the best year yet.”

     Sign language club is based on what the members want to learn. The meetings begin with a social where everyone can mingle and enjoy snacks. They work from books and Deares shows them the signs. Deares says “I taught myself a lot the summer before sophomore year which is when I started the club and when I was in middle school I watched “switched at birth” and that made me want to learn sign because it was featured a lot in the show,” says Deares. They play kahoots to practice the skills they have learned.  

     The club is directed by what the members request to learn. Deares says “the membership is finally built up; it’s going to be a great year with a steady flow of people coming.” 

    Deares says she is excited to see that there are many freshmen members to continue the club next year when she is gone. She also says there are many seniors that have become members of the club.   

     “My inspiration for the club came from not having a sign language club at our school, and I know there was at C. Milton Wright. It seemed like a fun club to have here,” says Deares. 

      “When people come to the club, they have access to a place where we just aim to have fun and meet new people while learning something new. It brings together students of different groups to learn new things. Obviously, I can’t teach members of the club fluent sign, but I can teach a few useful signs that can be used if you ever encounter a situation with someone hard of hearing or deaf, because being able to use a few signs would probably make them happy. It’s just good to promote learning skills you may not think to learn,” says Deares. 

       Mr. Bill Wardle is the teacher advisor for the club, the meetings are held in his room.  He says, “Deares is such a go getter, I wanted to support the club because I felt like it was a great idea.”

     Deares says “students should join because you get to meet new people and learn some fun signs. I aim to make the club stress free and very relaxed.”