ASL teacher Lindsey Graney remembers participating in the “Deaf for a Day” program when she was learning sign language and saw it as an amazing experience to learn more about the importance of ASL.

“I thought it was a really good opportunity to see the impact of hearing loss in the classroom, and how cool ASL is for the access to language,” Graney said. 

This year Graney shared this experience with her ASL class and had them participate in “Deaf for a Day” on Wednesday.

“I think it gives awareness to the impact that hearing loss has,” Graney said.

The students wore hearing protection throughout the school day during their free periods and one core class. The students also wore stickers on their shirts to show that they were participating in the event. 

Junior Matthew Colwell said that it was very difficult hearing what other people were saying throughout the day, and because of this he had to use other methods to understand what people were saying.

“All sounds were muffled, and the only clear voice I could hear was my own inside my head,” Colwell said. 

The event helped Colwell further understand the importance of ASL and the impact it has on people who are hard of hearing.

“It identifies everyday individuals who communicate through something that is not spoken,” Colwell said.

Junior Julianna Lang said that she decided to take the ASL class because it opened up more opportunities to connect with different groups of people.

“It’s an amazing language that gives me the opportunity to communicate with an entirely different community and culture of my own,” Lang said

Lang said the experience helped her understand how people who are hard of hearing experience everyday life and helped her further understand the importance of ASL.

“I saw how difficult it was to live without hearing, and ASL makes language visual, and so much easier to pick up on with bad hearing,” Lang said.

Graney said that she hoped the students learn a lot from their participation in “Deaf for a Day.”

“I hope they take away a really cool experience from this day,” Graney said.