By Kristin Sommers (May 13, 2003)

Twenty four students from Mason’s three sign language classes participated in a shadowing activity at Maryland Secondary School of the Deaf (MSSD) last Monday. Each student was paired with a junior at the high school, which is on the same campus as the largely deaf-serving Gallaudet University.
 

This was one of the few times in the MSSD’s history that hearing students participated in activities and attended classes at the school, and the field trip proved to be a learning experience for both deaf and hearing students alike. Senior Caitlin Wright says she participated because "it’s something I don’t normally experience." Junior Kory Lloyd agreed and said, "I wanted to learn about deaf culture and to see how deaf students learn in school, to see if it's different from how we learn." ASL teacher Kris DaCosta says that this is one of the main objectives that she wanted to accomplish on the trip.

George Mason ASL students enjoy lunch with the students they  shadowed at Maryland Secondary School for the Deaf.

"I wanted [the students] to gain a sense of attending a deaf school, and discover how information is communicated in the classroom," said DaCosta.  In general, DaCosta hoped for GM students to feel the contrast between being the majority at GM and being the minority at MSSD. DaCosta also said that the shadowing was done "to give ASL students an opportunity to go to classes in the shoes of a deaf student…also [it gives] an opportunity for both hearing ASL students and deaf students to interact with each other and meet their high school peers."

Senior Jenny Davis says that she "enjoyed the experience but it was also different, it was so quiet and it was strange not to talk." This is one of several field trips the sign language classes go on throughout the school year to learn firsthand about deaf culture and daily life. For example, the classes have also attended a performance by the deaf dance the "Wild Zappers."