Sign Language Class A Popular Course At Pinole Valley High School

It's not often one of the most popular classes at a high school is one where students have to be silent most of the time.

However, that's the case at Pinole Valley High.

Michele Lamons teaches five American Sign Language classes, along with her AP Literature course, and all of them are filled.

"Michelle has this dedication to what she's doing," said Principal Kibby Kleiman. "It's nothing short of a miracle."

The accolades for Lamons have been around for awhile now. In 2010, she was named Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year. In 2007, she was awarded $10,000 as one of three annual recipients in the Warren W. Eukel Teacher Trust awards.

But Lamons doesn't seem to rest on her laurels.

She shows the same energy, passion and dedication this fall as she has in her previous 12 years at Pinole Valley High.

"This is a visual language," said Lamons. "It's great for students who are visual learners."

Students can get world language credits for taking Lamons' course. She now teaches ASL I, ASL II and ASL III. There are now students who take all three years.

In one recent ASL II class, 30 students were participating in a series of games to help them memorize and quickly display their sign language skills.

They went through the alphabet rapidly as a class. They played the familiar "concentration" game using sign language.

They played a game pretending they were deaf and blind, part of the time with the classroom lights off.

They did a counting game in a circle and they participated in a drawing game with special education assistant William Scales, who works in Lamons' classes.

Lamons also teaches her students about the culture and history of deaf people. Last year, her class also took a field trip to the School for the Deaf in Fremont.

"The class can dispel a lot of stereotypes," said Lamons.

Senior Katherine Toyoz is taking her second year of American Sign Language. She finds the classes fun but also instructional.

"It's really unique," she said. "It's a language people can learn, but it also makes you see things differently."

Toyoz plans to attend community college, then transfer to San Francisco State. She will be taking some sign language classes in college and hopes to use that knowledge in a career.

Toyoz is typical of the students who go through Lamons' classes.

"What Michele does is unique," said Kleiman. "It gives you hope. It lets you see what's possible."