GREENSBORO, N.C. — If you walk into one Grimsley High School classroom, you will barely hear a sound... but there is still much being said.
“Prior to 2019, I was a sign language interpreter, and I was working at that time at a middle school. During that time, we had some students interested in taking ASL classes, but we didn't have a program set up at that time. So, we started a club and then the pandemic," laughed Angie Brown, the high school's ASL instructor.
As the originator of the program, Brown noticed a hunger among the Grimsley students from the get-go, pandemic or otherwise.
“And to my surprise, many students registered for the class, and they were motivated and showed up every day," recalled Brown.
A few motivated students, seniors Alex Mize and Raven Enoch, have been with the program since the beginning.
“I saw that Grimsley had an ASL program, and it was new, and I was like, okay, I don't know. It's new. I'm going to be like a guinea pig. Like, I don't know. But then I took that chance, and I was really happy that I did," recounted Enoch.
“We started online on Zoom, and then that was my first year just online on the computer, just signing. And then it just kept on rolling along. I love the language," said Mize.
Now, they’ll just chat in ASL, never uttering a word but still saying so much.
“ASL is just a language that everyone should know. And so, I feel like my experience is just like a testament that like you can do it," Enoch said.
"The program has grown and grown over the years. And so, it's been a wonderful experience to see how many people want to learn sign language," said Mize.
And for Angie, the program was always about inclusion.
“I had no knowledge, was clueless about ASL, didn't know one sign, and I met this kid. It was actually at my church. And so, she's there, and I'm trying to figure out how to have a conversation with the kid, and so I decided that day, I'd never wanted to feel that way where I couldn't have that dialogue," Brown said.
Now, with Grimsley expanding the program to a 4th year in the fall, Brown is proud of where the program has come from and, especially, where it’s going.
“My students make this program, it's everything. They have a love for ASL and the deaf community, just like myself," said Brown.