Students sign with Santa
Published 10:38 pm Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Ethan Whitworth, of Suffolk, signs with Santa Claus during MacArthur Center’s Signing Santa event on Tuesday.
Christmas carols, gifts, fake snow and a visit from Santa all were part of a special party at Norfolk’s MacArthur Center on Tuesday.
What made this party different from many Christmas parties is that the dozens of children from around Hampton Roads who attended were deaf or hard of hearing.
Ethan Whitworth, left, and Jackson Winslow, both Florence Bowser Elementary School students, smile for the camera while meeting Santa at the Signing Santa event at MacArthur Center on Tuesday.
The American Sign Language Club from Lakeland High School rendered the Christmas carols in sign language for the children. Some signed along and waved their hands — the deaf culture’s version of applause — at the end.
“I like the experience, because you get to see all the kids’ faces,” said Meaghan O’Brien, a member of the club.
Laura Hickman agreed.
“They don’t get this experience a lot,” she said. “A lot of kids don’t sit there and have a group of people signing for them.”
Following the carols, Santa arrived, and children and their parents lined up to tell him their Christmas wish lists. Santa communicated with each child in sign language, took pictures with them and gave them a plate marked “Cookies for Santa,” perhaps in hope of a little reward on Christmas Eve.
“Look at the kids,” said Karen Husselbee, marketing director for MacArthur Center. “That’s why we do it. They get to share their wish list with Santa in the language they speak. It’s a highlight of the year.”
Anita Fisher, a sign-language teacher at Lakeland High School, said the event is important to the children who speak sign language.
“Too many times we forget about people with disabilities, and we do things for those who are hearing,” she said.
Arielle Mohr, of the Lakeland ASL club, was new to the event.
“I wanted to have the experience everyone has been talking about,” she said.
Meaghan O’Brien, Lauren Hickman, Jayla Walker and Troy Stubenrauch of the Lakeland High School ASL Club sign for local deaf and hard of hearing students at MacArthur Center’s Signing Santa event on Tuesday.
Dixie Seitz participated last year, which was Lakeland’s first official year participating. The year before, a group of Lakeland graduates who had been Fisher’s ASL students went.
“It’s always fun,” Seitz said. “I’m planning on going into deaf education, so this is good background for my future.”
Beth Whitworth and Jenny Winslow, both mothers of deaf or hard of hearing children at Florence Bowser Elementary School, brought their children Ethan and Jackson, respectively, to visit Santa.
“He understands what they’re saying,” Winslow said.
