Maryland School for the Deaf and Gallaudet University

The East Central ESC has a program of seven American Sign Language (ASL) teachers who are in person or teach through Interactive Video Distance Learning (IVDL) all over the state of Ohio. For the 2025–2026 school year, we are in nine different schools with almost 900 registered ASL students at levels 1–4.

For the last three years, we have perfected our Deaf Immersion trip to the Washington, DC, area. Our first year, we were not sure what to expect. We allowed the tour company to lead and added the Deaf events that we wanted to their plans. That was rough—we walked our legs off!  

When we set the standard high for our students, they will reach for it! We required the students to be voice-off at any time they were off the bus. The adults were so shocked at how well the students strived to remain voice-off. We learned a lot from that first year.

This past March, we took our third group on this adventure. We were able to design the trip to be more Deaf-friendly with many opportunities to grow in their language. The trip was amazing!

Three schools joined the adventure this year, including two that participated for the first time. We met at a central pickup location early on a Wednesday morning. It was a quiet ride to DC since teens don’t like waking up early. 

Our first stop was the Deaf-owned Signing Starbucks. Each student was able to interact with the Deaf workers and order their own items. This is always one of our favorite stops. The staff is incredibly patient with our learners. Even with a huge group, they let the students try to sign their order. This experience is so valuable for our students to see. They get to see people with Deafness run and operate a business successfully. There are small things that our students take for granted in their everyday lives. When they watch the workers here, they see how the workers overcome many obstacles. They finally have the “lightbulb” moment that their teachers have been waiting for! They get to see firsthand what they have been learning in class.

Next, we toured the Gallaudet University campus with the Athletic Director. Gallaudet is the only four-year liberal arts college in the United States for the Deaf. It is a bustling campus with students from all over the world, and our students are able to interact with so many different people. After the tour, we joined the college students in the dining hall, which is one of my favorite experiences. Once the college students see all of us, they normally come over and start up conversations with our students. This all happens so naturally. This year, before we knew it, our students were standing in a big circle signing away! 

As a teacher, the pride that wells up is incredible. We fight the urge to join in because we want our students to have this amazing experience on their own. Our students walk away from this with natural pride in themselves and a love for the Deaf community. This year, it was 90 degrees that day, and our students were so well behaved, even though we were all “dying” in the heat.  

That night was a breeze. One of the perks of being a chaperone on this trip is that students are mentally exhausted by the end of the day. They are only used to being voice-off for class at school. We are not super strict with this policy, but the students are. We have many who never use their voice. Their eyes and minds are so tired by the end of the day.  

The next day, we toured the Mayor’s Office of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing in Washington, DC. The staff there is amazing. They share what they do for the Deaf community and allow the students to ask questions about their journeys. This time is such an experience for the students.

Students are allowed to sign or voice during this visit because there are interpreters there. This allows students to experience what it is like to have an interpreter voicing their thoughts. They are also able to see how Deaf people interact with several different interpreters. At times, there are several people signing and talking, and it is so cool to see how smoothly it all runs. 

Then we headed to the Maryland School for the Deaf. This year, we interacted with a large group of resident students. Our students played games and socialized with peers of their own age in the target language. The resident students were kind and patient with our students. The group had dinner together, and after dinner, we attended a dress rehearsal of the middle school play, “The Day the Internet Died.” This was another one of my favorite activities. Our students finally saw why facial expressions were so important in ASL. They saw firsthand the expressions of the middle school students and how vital they were. SO MUCH FUN!

Our last day was a different tour of the Gallaudet campus and a competitive game of scavenger hunt. Let’s just say there were many steps and running registered that day! This old lady was able to keep up. We were sad, but that afternoon it was time to head home.
 
If you are interested in joining us for this adventure, please feel free to reach out to me at jane.sevacko@ecoesc.org! You won’t regret it! April 8–10, 2027!