‘Let’s teach the whole school’: Suffolk students learn sign language to communicate with cafeteria worker

Students who attend Nansemond Parkway Elementary School are learning the power of pleasantries.

They’ve already learned the simplest of small courtesies — “Hello,” “Good morning,” “Thank you” — can, over time, generate profound effects.

Leisa Duckwall had worked for four years as a food nutrition service worker at the school, serving students breakfast and lunch.

But not once had she ever seen a student say “Hello” or “Good morning” or even “Thank you.” Not once had she ever seen a student say what they wanted to eat. If they wanted chicken, they’d point at the chicken.

Duckwall, who is deaf, hadn’t ever seen a student say anything to her — until this year.

Now, the entire school is learning sign language, the students specifically to better communicate with Duckwall.

No more pointing, now, there are words, including “Hello,” “Good morning,” and “Thank you.”

When asked how it’s made her feel, Duckwall got straight to the point.

“Happy,” she said.

Before spreading to the entire school, it started in Kari Maskelony’s fourth grade classroom.

Maskelony grew up with hearing impaired family members. Many of her friends are deaf. She knows sign language, but throughout her life, has witnessed her loved ones’ frustrations when people were unable to be understand them.

“I noticed that all the kids realized that Ms. Duckwall couldn’t hear them,” Maskelony said. “But they were all pointing to what they wanted, and then, she would have to point and have them say yes or no.”

One day in the cafeteria, Maskelony struck up a conversation with Duckwall while waiting for her fourth graders to finish lunch. The two casually signed back and forth until the teacher looked over her shoulder.

“And the kids were all watching us,” Maskelony said.

The next day, Maskelony asked her students, “Do you guys want to learn how to sign to her what you want for lunch instead of pointing?”

They said yes.

The class started with the basics of what they would need to know for interactions with Duckwall. They started with the main dishes, learning the sign language words for chicken, fish and other typical school cafeteria cuisines.

Next, the students learned to sign letters. If a student wanted a side of rice, they would sign the letter “R.” If they had a preference for carrots, they’d sign “C.”

“And they just wanted to learn more. So I was like, ‘OK, let’s keep going,’” Maskelony said.

It didn’t take long before principal Janet Wright-Davis heard about what was going on.

“I thought, ‘You know what? Is it just Ms. Maskelony’s class who are doing it. Let’s teach the whole school,’” Wright-Davis recalled. “‘Let’s teach the whole school sign language.’”

Morning announcements at Nansemond Parkway Elementary arrive via video monitors in classrooms. A portion are now dedicated to learning sign language. One new word is taught every week.

“Not only is it great for the kids because they can learn a new skill that they can carry with them and actually use with other people that they meet, but I think it (is) great because equal inclusivity and equal access is so important,” Duckwall said, with the assistance of a interpreter. “It’s just something that we don’t often see.”

To have this happen in her school because of something that she worked on with a teacher, Duckwall said “is really important” to her.

“Hopefully it will inspire some other schools to do the same,” she added.

Students can be seen walking down the Nansemond Parkway hallways signing “Good morning” to each other.

The teachers claim their students love sign language.

The adults claim the kids think it’s “fun,” and they agree.

Every single fourth grader in Maskelony’s class gave sign language a positive review.

Dylan Gustafson, 9, said he practices his sign language skills at night before falling asleep.

And Demond King Hopkins, 10, views sign language as a useful skill that’ll potentially come in handy later in life.

“If you have a girlfriend that’s deaf ...,” King Hopkins said.

Isis Baker, 9, said her favorite sign is the word for chicken “because I love chicken” which she often selects in the cafeteria “but not barbeque (chicken),” she explained, “because barbeque just tastes nasty.”

Liam Wine, 9, said the sign for “Good morning” has been the hardest to learn so far because it requires a linear progression of four separate gestures. But he added the feeling of accomplishment once he’d mastered the word made it all worth it.

And they all thought their collective hard work was worth it, if for nothing else, to make Duckwall feel included.