Special to the DM
More than 30 Lafayette County first- and second-graders got the chance to learn how to sign their favorite colors and animals when the Ole Miss Hand Band taught a lesson during Wednesday’s Leap Frog program.
Leap Frog, a non-profit after-school tutoring and mentoring program, serves many at-risk first, second and third graders from Oxford city and Lafayette County schools. These students are paired with a mentor for the entire semester and many of the volunteers are UM students.
Hand Band Vice President Martha Gauriglia said the Leap Frog students were excited to learn the language.
“The children really got into the lesson,” Gauriglia said. “They were jumping up and down and they were asking about the signs for all the different animals.”
Students like seven-year-old Brandon said he liked learning the signs for the animals, while nine-year-old Alexis said she thought it was neat that she could use sign language to talk to people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment.
Hand Band treasurer Taylor Gurley said she has found children to be very receptive to learning sign language.
“Kids are always moving around,” Gurley said. “So sign language gives them something to do with their hands.”
Hand Band president Jordan Price said she creates the lessons to include the students’ interests.
“I always find that when I’m teaching sign language to kids, I have to make sure that we learn something that they are interested in. Their name, their favorite color,” Price said. “I think they are definitely more interested in learning about something that they like.”
Sophomore psychology major Mia Martinson has been a Leap Frog volunteer for two years. Martinson said she thinks activities like this are great for the kids because it exposes them to out-of-the-ordinary activities.
“I think they really enjoyed it because it was a lot different than what they usually do during Leap Frog,” Martinson said. “It was really well organized and grabbed the kids attention, so it was fun.”
Leap Frog director Teresa Adams said she hoped to get University organizations involved with Leap Frog, so she reached out to the Hand Band.
“We are really trying to increase our enrichment activities, and, since the University is right there and there are so many amazing groups, I figured surely we could get a few to help us out,” Adams said.
Ole Miss Hand Band is a student organization that exists to promote the awareness of the deaf community in Oxford and on campus. They also promote interaction between the hearing and deaf population. Working with Leap Frog is just one of the many activities in which Hand Band participates around the community.
“The kids really enjoyed it,” Adams said.
