Ever since she learned the alphabet in American Sign Language (ASL) in elementary school, Payton Smith, senior, has been interested in the language. 

Smith said she has always enjoyed learning different languages but finds other language classes, like Spanish, difficult to comprehend.

“With ASL, it’s just another form of English, and it’s visual to where I can clearly see it and learn it as well as process it a lot better in my head,” Smith said.

In ASL 1 and 2, students start by learning the alphabet and numbers and then progress to learn the signs for different kinds of animals, food, families and more.

These classes also focus on grammar, origins of ASL and different aspects of deaf people’s lives.

These introductory topics will be expanded next year to include ASL 3 for the first time. 

“I am so sad that I’m not going to be able to be there, but I think that it’s honestly a great addition to ASL classes,” Smith said. “There’s going to be a lot more challenging stuff on there, and I wish I could be here to experience that.” 

Katy Drissell, ASL teacher, started working on the curriculum for ASL 3 last summer with four other ASL teachers in the district as well as their curriculum coordinator.

“I’ve wanted ASL 3 for many many years. I don’t know what exactly triggered it this time,” Drissell said.

With the addition of a new class, the contents for the other ASL classes will be modified as well, in order to have a full curriculum for each class.

“That’s what has helped write level three a little bit easier because we could shift some things and modify some units, so some of those units went into level three naturally,” Drissell said.

Sydney Bode, junior, took ASL after her older sister recommended it. Bode is taking ASL 3 next year and said she hopes to learn new skills and build on her current skills to become more fluent.

“I like ASL because it’s different than all the other languages and I feel like I’ve seen it in the real world more,” Bode said.