Advertisement “I had to use sign language to get it,” Haskey said, taking a bite and slurping as excess juice ran down his chin.
“Water was easy, but melon wasn’t.”
Teacher Debbi Roh taught Haskey and 25 other students enrolled in Sign Language for Hearing Children the sign for watermelon and cracker before snack time during the two-week summer school course offered by the La Crosse School District.
They then were able to ask for their treats silently, using their hands.
“I think I’ll ask for it again that way,” said Sam Anderegg, 7, who had just requested animal crackers by forming his hand into a “C” and putting it to his elbow.
He said it was an easy sign that others probably would understand as well.
Roh said the sign language class teaches children in kindergarten through fourth grade how to sign the manual alphabet, colors, animals and a variety of songs.
“Kids just pick it up so very quickly,” she said.
Kiante Mack, who is in the fourth grade at Southern Bluffs, said he knows a number of signs. He said it’s easy to remember them because he has a “really good memory.”
Mack, 9, and Rachel Sinniger, 7, enrolled in the class for a second time this summer to continue improving their skills.
“It’s just fun to learn another language,” said Sinniger, a second-grade student at Southern Bluffs. “You might be able to talk to someone who can’t speak because of it.”
Seven-year-old Leah Peterson registered for the class after reading a number of sign language books when she was in second grade at Southern Bluffs.
“I thought it would be fun,” she said. “A lot of my friends talk in sign langage and I want to know what they are saying.”
Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424 or agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.
