Most people think of cookies and badges when they hear “Girl Scouts” but the Girl Scout mission is much more powerful.  As an ambassador Girl Scout, I decided to complete my Gold Award Project, the highest award in Girl Scouting.  My project is called “It’s A Sign” because it exemplifies the many possibilities sign language withholds.  Signing seems like an intimidating subject, one that only the exclusive deaf community or interpreters should be allowed to use, but it holds a world of other benefits. 

            Many of you have probably heard of Baby Sign Language which helps infants to communicate with loved ones even before language develops;  but what about after infancy?  Many toddlers and young children are shy and timid socially and have a hard time expressing themselves in new situations such as early schooling.  I believe signing is an invaluable tool to teach young children;  not that they need to be fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), but simple terms like 'eat' or 'bathroom' or 'mom' and 'dad' can open new doors for young ones with difficulty articulating their wants and needs.  Sign language can even stimulate young minds and make them better thinkers while being fun.

            My project goal was to express these ideas in a way that could show the educational community sign language’s great potential.  I spent hours observing the speech/occupational therapy of a young friend to gain some credibility for my ideas.  Further, I decided to work with the toddlers at the Early Head Start Program, a nonprofit preschooling service, to put my plan into action.  I created posters with pictures of the alphabet and each respective sign, as well as posters with the signs to the song “Make New Friends.”  I visited the kiddos on two different occasions, one to introduce some ASL letters to them, and the other to teach them the signs of the song.  I got to sit right on the brightly colored carpet next to the kids and interact with them through sign language.  I could see the toddlers thinking really hard about how to manipulate their hands to mimic my signs.  Many of them were deep in thought and were all smiles when they’d done it correctly.  They began breaking out of their little shells before my eyes. 

            The sessions’ success was verified by the teachers at Early Head Start.  They all agreed the children benefitted from the mini lessons and enjoyed my time there.  One teacher stated that although all of the children enjoyed it, she could really see the older ones (three year olds) gaining a lot from the experience.   This observation solidified my idea that as children get older, sign language is still a great tool.

            A major part of the Gold Award process is sustaining the project’s influence.  I made each of the youngster mini booklets of the ASL alphabet for each of them to keep.  I also created a book composed of all the letter signs and song signs along with pictures of all the kids I worked with posing for the different letters and signs,. A copy of this book was donated to the Early Head Start Program to be enjoyed for many kids to come.  Early Head Start also plans on buying more of my books for their library. Also, I plan to get a group of my peers together to visit other kids and teach them some signing basics, to spark there interest, give them a new way to express themselves, and gain new perspectives of the signing community.  I hope those reading this article will do a quick Google search or simply talk to their colleagues about the possibilities sign language withholds.

            I have gained precious knowledge from this experience and truly hope that the community has benefitted from my project as much as I have.  I have become even more passionate about working with young kids, especially to give them the power to express themselves to the best of their abilities.  My aspirations to become a speech pathologist were heightened by the great satisfaction I felt throughout my project.  I strongly believe that kids deserve every opportunity to reach their full potential and that ASL may be the key to unlocking the future of many young minds.