UC High strives to promote an environment where inclusivity is valued, and the UC High American Sign Language (ASL) Club aims to assist with that, meeting twice a month on Mondays in Room 441 to unite students with this common goal.

   The club was established by Senior Jenna Huynh, who said, “I started this club to introduce and educate the UC students about ASL culture and the language. I learned ASL when I was in elementary school, and I was blown away by it. So ASL has always been in my interest but unfortunately never came across a situation where I had to use it outside of school. But by creating this club, I can relearn ASL while teaching others and create an environment where people can communicate with each other without any barriers and feel inclusive.”

   The club is working towards expanding its sphere of influence. Huynh said, “There has been a lot of interest in the club since I started, so I’m constantly on the lookout for any events having to do with ASL in San Diego and trying to plan how I can involve our club in them.”

   Huynh said, “Each meeting is like a small lesson. After teaching members phrases in ASL, we take some time to practice what they’ve learned with other members. Someone brave then practices their learning in front of the club, and most of the time it ends up as a conversation in ASL.”

   “About eleven million people are deaf or hard of hearing in the United States so you never know when you could use ASL to help someone. It may be a small community but the people are so determined to learn new things and to become more involved in their community,” said Huynh.