An American Sign Language (ASL) club is creating a more inclusive environment at Steinbach Regional Secondary School.

Grade 9 teacher Jessica Jones says she's not sure when Tracy Sawatzky lost her hearing and she began learning English and ASL when she was 9-years old, as her family speaks another language at home. 

"With the help of Sandy Toews, her interpreter in class, she's doing great. It's just a little trickier as a teacher who speaks English and doesn't know ASL, just making sure all her needs are taken care of."

She notes Sawatzky in is Grade 9 and joined the school this year. Jones adds they found students were not fully acknowledging or engaging in conversation with her because they weren't sure how.

"[The ASL club] was implemented in early October by Wayne Davies, our vice-principal. The instructor of the course, Brenda Dyck, and Sandy Toews, the interpreter for Tracy, we meet every second week for an hour. The group was quite large, lots of keen students wanting to learn ASL."

Grade nine students Bella Reimer and Bethany Oude Voshaar are both in ASL club. Reimer says being in the club and learning sign language has made it easier to communicate with Sawatzky and has created a better friendship.

Reimer says, "I wanted to learn ASL because I wanted to be able to talk to Tracy and that was the one language she actually knew how to talk to me with. So, it was really important."

She adds the most challenging part of learning sign language was remembering the signs for each word instead of fingerspelling each word.

Reimer says she thinks knowing sign language is an important skill to have because if you do interact with someone who is hearing impaired, it makes it much easier to communicate.

Oude Voshaar adds she has been friends with Sawatzky since Grade 4 and joined the ASL club because she wanted to learn more and be able to communicate more effectively in sign language.

"For me, it's been closer with me and Tracy because she's been teaching me more sign words instead of fingerspelling. So, it's better between us. I used to have to write everything or type things for her to read, now I can just sign."

She says it's unfortunate to see some classmates make fun of the way Sawatzky talks because her voice sounds different. Oude Voshaar notes learning sign language takes time and patience and appreciates the ASL teachers who have taken their time to teach the students wanting to learn.

Jones adds having Sawatzky in her class has helped her grow as a facilitator.

"It was frustrating [at first] because as someone who speaks English, when I'm speaking to another student who speaks English, I can clearly assess what they know and what I'm asking them. I tried a lot of strategies until I was comfortable. Then once Tracy and I built a relationship, she's great, she has so much personality. Even though the ASL I do know, I don't know much, we communicate very well together, even though we're not communicating with ASL."

She says the students currently in the ASL club will start to mentor teachers so Sawatzky's Grade 10,11, and 12 teachers will be able to more effectively and efficiently communicate with her in the years to come.