The “Classroom Close-up, NJ” show will feature the Ocean City High School American Sign Language program in a show airing at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Comcast/Verizon Channel 23 (HD 800).
It will be available on-line for download on May 11. It will also air on June 7 at the same times on the same channel.
“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.
More than 100 students at Ocean City High School take American Sign Language, and some have turned their passion for sign language into a career. The students 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, giving the students an opportunity for authentic communication.
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 goal of the SLPI is to assess how well people are able to use sign language for communication.
American Sign Language has been part of the World Language Department for the past 11 years. High School 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.
One student is a full time interpreter now in Washington D.C. and has interpreted at the Pentagon and in the White House where she met Michelle Obama. Another student is now a full-time interpreter working at the local elementary school where there are currently seven deaf elementary students.
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 Ocean City 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. Our local Deaf community is extremely supportive and has hosted many events for the students including ASL socials and silent dinners.
For the first time this year, the Seal of Biliteracy was offered as an opportunity for students to demonstrate literacy in their native language as well as their second language. This 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. The process involved linguistic diagnostic testing in the areas of English and American Sign Language. Six out of eight seniors achieved the necessary scores to earn this distinction!
There are five graduating seniors in the Class of 2015 who will be pursuing an American Sign Language-related career.
— News release from Ocean City High School
