On a sunny Tuesday morning, Jurupa Valley High School students turned their desks to face one another to begin an assignment. Not one word is spoken, yet the room is full of conversation. Heads nod, palms are raised, and fingers sweep in various positions as they practice American Sign Language (ASL).
Students at JVHS can enroll in ASL classes, taught by Ms. Brooke Crump.
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“I took ASL for four years in high school… and I absolutely fell in love with it. I decided I wanted to continue learning it in college, and I always had an interest in teaching. “ Ms. Crump said.
ASL has been offered at Jurupa Valley High School for seven years, six of which have been taught by Ms. Crump.
“(In) ASL I, we start building on all the foundational things; the alphabet, numbers, colors, all of the basic needs.” Ms. Crump said. “ (In) ASL II, we start digging in more. We use more classifiers, which are part of ASL grammar (handshapes that represent nouns that are used to describe objects aside from naming them). At the end of ASL, they’re able to have a conversation with someone.”
After completing ASL I and II, the students can decide to test for their State Seal of Biliteracy, which has been offered for ASL since 2021.In addition to ASL, Jurupa Unified School District offers French and Spanish. If students want to pursue ASL further, they can dual-enroll at Norco Community College and earn college credits.
Students have also earned a State Seal of Biliteracy in Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Russian, and Vietnamese.
“Knowing another language offers a deeper understanding of other people. It’s knowing how they feel, how they think, and being able to problem solve. Which are all essential as we live and work together,” said Ilsa Crocker, Coordinator of Multilingual Education.
Last year, 20 Riverside County students earned State Seal of Biliteracy honors in two languages in addition to English. Among the 20, eight were JUSD students.
“We were the top district in Riverside County that had the most students who earned the state seal of biliteracy for more than one language.” Ms. Crocker said.
Students see the value in learning ASL because of the opportunity to connect with a community that is often overlooked or misunderstood.
“It did make me realize that there’s so much we don’t know about the deaf community and so much we could do to help them,” Isabel Sanchez said, a sophomore at JVHS. “It opened a new little world.”
As students progress through the classes, they develop confidence in communicating with the deaf community in real-world situations.
“It feels good because if I see a deaf person try to communicate with a hearing person who doesn’t know ASL, I can step in to help,” Rosalina Rodarte said, a sophomore at JVHS.
The classes offer students an opportunity to explore other career paths as they think about what to do beyond high school.
“I have yet to decide what I want to do, but I have been looking into being an interpreter, so if I do want to do that, I already know most of the basics.” Isabel Sanchez said.
