ASL should be TCHS course

In the absence of a German class at TCHS, it would be beneficial to add American Sign Language in its place.
In a predominantly Asian community, it would be in the best interest of the students who already know Mandarin or Cantonese to learn a new language instead of taking Chinese.
Likewise, having Spanish speakers enroll in Spanish defeats the purpose of taking the class to learn a new language. I believe that reducing the amount of native speakers taking Chinese and Spanish classes would increase enrollment in ASL classes.
As with any other language, ASL can be a beneficial tool for students who want to increase their chances of employment. By having students, especially those who are bilingual, take a new language, they can boost their resumes to future employers as someone who can speak three languages. Although Japanese is also a popular world language to learn in high school, learning ASL will help students stand apart from others. In fact, ASL is the fifth most used language in the U.S. according to Healthy Hearing, which also says about two million people use ASL.
Adding this class to our school’s curriculum is easy enough, but actually filling out the class is a possible issue. Students should be vocal about the classes they want on campus, so if the majority of students want ASL or another world language, students must directly talk to the administration.
Even though our school doesn’t have hearing-impaired students because the Special Education Local Plan Area sends TCHS only visually-impaired students, the benefits of taking ASL go beyond giving students a new tool for communication, such as raising awareness about the deaf community. Learning ASL creates a connection between people who are hearing impaired and those who are not. Students should advocate for more world language options to grow their skills.