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Writer's pictureSandra Driscoll

“Watch2Listen” Coming to Minarets This Spring

Updated: May 21, 2020


Each year, seniors choose their Senior Legacy Experience (SLE) based on their personal interests or organizations they are passionate about. Senior Madalynn Rocha is no different. Rocha seeks to bring awareness and knowledge of American Sign Language / Deaf culture to the masses beginning with Minarets High School.

Rocha wants to bring awareness of the Deaf community because ASL has been a passion of hers since the summer before 5th grade. She taught herself to sign over the internet after the show ‘Switched at Birth’ debuted and and thought it was the coolest thing ever. After seeing how into sign language she was getting, her mom disclosed that she has a cousin that was adopted from Taiwan and brought to America, who is deaf. Since then, she has spent most of her summers with her cousin to really immerse herself into the Deaf community as much as she could.

“I wouldn’t call myself an expert because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to learn enough of ASL, but I definitely consider myself someone that is very interested and invested in the deaf community/culture/language. I think sign is such a hidden language that I’d love to bring it out of the shadows in my community as much as possible!!” said senior MadaLynn Rocha.

Rocha is currently offering an ASL class every other Thursday, which started September 20. The class meets in room 611, in Mrs. West’s class during lunch, in which Rocha helps to teach sign language basics, as well as “lines” for her upcoming play, “Watch2Listen.”

Watch2Listen is planned for the second semester and she is choosing to do a play with the help of the theater department, which she has also been involved with this year.

We at Minarets Press look forward to learning more and will be updating everyone with dates and times of the upcoming play. To learn more about American Sign Language visit https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign-language


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