JUDD WEIL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A local Hutchinson woman is bringing her passion for American Sign Language to her community, with a sign language study group on Jan. 7.
“I usually try to host them twice a month and I recently just started doing it,” Sarah Dunbar, the sign language group instructor, said. “It hasn't been going on for a long time, it's something that I kind of just caught an interest in because I know some people who wanted to learn sign. I was like sure, it's a great way to make some friends and teach people sign language, so I recently just started doing it like within the last month.”
Dunbar, a sign language interpreter at Morgan Elementary School in Hutchinson, discovered her passion for sign language while in high school.
“I took all four years of sign language in high school and since then it's always been my dream to be an interpreter, and so this year, I actually got offered the position for interpreter for deaf children at Morgan Elementary,” Dunbar said. “I attended a church that had a few deaf people in it, so I've seen the language for a long time, and so when I got in high school it started out as an extracurricular that they offer. Then after the first year I was in it, I was like, ‘this is a beautiful language.’ It really is and it connects you with people that you never thought you would connect with.”
Some of what Dunbar does as a sign language interpreter, includes checking hearing aids and signing for students in the classroom.
Dunbar expressed more schools should have American Sign Language as an elective.
“Even now at 27 years-old, I never forgot about the language so it does stick with you,” Dunbar said. “There's a lot of people that want to learn new languages and I feel like sign language isn't at the top of the list, and now since I’ve become an interpreter, I have seen that more and more people are like, ‘I've always wanted to learn that,’ so I dare think it is beneficial for it to be in schools.”
Dunbar believes knowing sign language helps people build friendships and understanding with the deaf community.
“I know deaf people who I only see once or twice a year and they still remember me,” Dunbar said. “They don't forget who you are because it's such an unlearned language, that it takes a lot of practice and it takes a lot of time. I think that it would benefit the community because more people would realize how great of a community it actually is.”
Dunbar’s sign language group used to operate on a closed lesson basis, but in order to reach more people and because she wants to see how large her group can get, she has been hosting open lessons.
“There's nothing in Hutchinson that I'm aware of that has signed groups for free, or just people that get together and want to learn a new language unless you go to college for it,” Dunbar said. “I just thought maybe this would be a great way to hopefully get a big class of people to learn about this community.”
Due to how small it is, Dunbar currently holds her sign group at her home. However, she hopes in the future it will grow big enough to rent a building somewhere in Hutchinson to host larger groups.
People interested in joining Sarah Dunbar’s American Sign Language study group can reach out to her on Facebook either through the event page or her personal account.
Dunbar said she is still workshopping on how to improve her sign language group, but her aspirations are to hopefully see more people helping the deaf people in the community, while inspiring people to take the time to learn American Sign Language.
Sarah Dunbar’s sign language group is on Saturday, Jan. 7 and will run from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
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