Queens.
River Dell High School’s American Sign Language Club is an organization where students learn about ASL and Deaf culture. It’s open to anyone, and the club meets on Tuesdays. The club aims to create a fun environment where students can practice signing and make friends.
After noticing that River Dell lacked an ASL program, Maddie Krieger decided to start the club in 2024, alongside club advisor Señora Cachique, who is hard of hearing and wanted to spread awareness and understanding throughout the district.
Board members include Maddie Krieger (president), Maddy Connor (vice president), Grace Love (secretary), John McElroy (treasurer), Clair Babb (social media chair), and Mikayla Fortini (photographer).
Krieger shared that she really wanted “to create an impact on River Dell. Our main goal is to have River Dell become more inclusive by educating the club members on how to communicate with ASL.”
This year, she aims to do more fundraisers and get more involved in the community. “If we teach these ideals to the young, we can help to raise a more accepting generation.”
Last year, the ASL Club worked with the Hawks Café for their “Sip and Sign” coffee fundraiser and visited the middle school to promote the club and raise awareness.
Despite it only being the ASL Club’s second year, the club has currently attracted over a hundred members. After the first introductory meeting on October 23, new members learned about the club’s goals and plans for this year.
Freshman Raye Jeong was drawn in. “I was inspired to join because I want to learn to talk with people who are Deaf or hard of hearing so I can make more friends. I want to take part in fun club events where we only sign so I can practice a lot.”
Jeong hopes the club will help her easily introduce herself and have basic conversations “without needing to speak out loud.”
“We should all have a voice, and that’s what I’m trying to create,” said Krieger.