Leisa Duckwall has worked for four years as a food nutrition service worker at the school, serving students breakfast and lunch. But not once had she ever seen a student say “hello”, or “good morning”, or even “thank you”, Duckwall is deaf. But now, the entire school is learning sign language, the students specifically to better communicate with Duckwall. No more point-ing, now, there are words, including “hello”, “good morning”, and “thank you”. When asked how it’s made her feel, Duckwall got straight to the point. “Happy,” she said.

Before spreading to the entire school, it started in Kari Maskelony’s fourth-grade classroom. Maskelony grew up with hard-of-hearing family members. She knows sign language, but throughout her life, she has witnessed her loved ones’ frustrations when people are unable to understand them. “I noticed that all the kids realized that Ms Duckwall couldn’t hear them,” Maskelony said. So she asked her students, “Do you guys want to learn how to sign to Ms Duckwall what you want for lunch instead of pointing?” They said yes. The class started with the basics of what they would need to know for interactions with Duckwall. They started with the main dishes, learning the sign language words for chicken, fish and other typical school cafeteria cuisines.

Next, the students learned to sign letters. It didn’t take long before principal Janet Wright Davis heard about what was going on. “Is it just Ms Maskelony’s class who are doing it? Let’s teach the whole school,” Janet said. “Let’s teach the whole school sign language.”

“Not only is it great for the kids because they can learn a new skill that they can carry with them and actually use with other people that they meet, but I think it is great because equal inclusivity (包容性) and equal access is so important,” Janet said. “It’s just something that we don’t often see.”

The teachers claim their students love sign language. The adults claim the kids think it’s “fun”, and they agree. Every single fourth-grader in Maskelony’s class gave sign language a positive review. And they all liked their collective hard work, if for nothing else, to make Duckwall feel included.

【小题1】What can we know about Leisa Duckwall?

A．She was often misunderstood.

B．She feels sad to be pointed at.

C．She serves students three meals a day.

D．She was unable to interact with students well before.

【小题2】What made Maskelony want to teach students sign language?

A．Her students’ requests.

B．The principal’s suggestion.

C．Her hard-of-hearing families.

D．Leisa Duckwall’s desire.

【小题3】What did Janet do when knowing some students were learning sign letters?

A．She gave a big prize to Maskelony.

B．She decided to promote the practice.

C．She began to learn sign language too.

D．She praised the fourth-grade students.

【小题4】What can we infer from Janet’s words?

A．Sign language benefits students’ study.

B．It’s important for students to learn more skills.

C．Students should communicate more with others.

D．Learning sign language helps students have better values.