LOCKPORT, N.Y. — American sign language or ASL is gaining momentum in becoming one of the most studied languages in high school and college classrooms. It's also a favorite inside a Lockport elementary school.
Inside John E Pound Elementary School in Lockport, pre-k students are learning how to communicate without words.
ASL allows more students to be included. Learning how to sign can also help students who are hard of hearing, non-verbal and other students communicate.
David Chanin believes students should be able to communicate with everyone, so he started teaching ASL inside classrooms. He normally teaches how to sign during his spare time in the community. Then one of his students asked him to teach her students at this elementary school.
Chanin now volunteers to teach. Students here are learning how to sign for daily life activities. He said students have been able to remember what they learned from the previous class and the progress he's seen so far has been inspiring.
"And it's so easy to learn I am going to teach them today one full sentence, 'Please mom, I want to go outside and play.' Even if I just say, 'Please mom, outside play.' They are communicating and it just brings smiles to their faces," Chanin said.
Even when Chanin is not inside the classroom, teachers are noticing their students are continuing to use ASL. Some parents tell teachers that their kids have also been using it at home to communicate with their grandparents.
Chanin plans to talk to the superintendent of the Lockport School District to make ASL, not an alternative, but an elective for foreign language in middle and high schools.
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