American Sign Language Club at PVCC

Skye Scott, staff writer

The American Sign Language Club (ASLC) is a new club at PVCC and was started by club president, Elizabeth Muir, after she noticed there were clubs for most other languages excluding ASL.

“I took ASL 101 in the Spring and really enjoyed it. PVCC has a Spanish club, and Japan club, a French club, but no ASL club. I thought it would be great if we had one so students who couldn’t take an ASL class could come and be exposed to new things,” Muir said.

Club meetings are beginner friendly, and the members are allowed to speak during meetings to ask for help or clarity. A typical meeting begins with review from the last week’s material and then the members begin to add new signs.

“We go back and forth between review and new material sometimes, building off of what we have learned,” said Muir.

Muir stated that she did not have a very difficult time getting a new club started because Steve McNerney helped get her on the right path. She said the hardest thing has really been learning the signs well enough so that she can teach them at the meetings. However, she said she has received a ton of support from her Vice president, Waqas Al Mulhim, and her SGA representative, Bambi Kowalzik.

The ASLC has a few events planned; a field trip to Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton, and an ASL interpreter coming to the meeting on Wed, Nov. 2.

If you would like more information pertaining to the ASLC, you can follow their Facebook page,  “ASLC at PVCC.”