So You Think You Can Sign is not only a place to bring together competitive American Sign language competitors, but also a place for the coming together of two cultures, the hearing and deaf. It is an enjoyable event filled with joyful, funny, and deep entertainers signing along to popular songs. It is one of three ASL events held at Heritage, along with Signing Idol, and Sign and Out.
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The night started out slow, will schools from across the country going on stage and rehearsing their songs. It was oddly quiet due to the use of Sign Language over English, making a very surreal scene as the only sound heard was a piano being played backstage. Students felt the competition bubbling up, which only fed nervous ticks.
The night kicked off with Heritage’s own ASL teacher Bethany “Buffy” Hummel signing to the crowd as ASL teacher,Mrs. Cayton, interpreted. Cayton and Hummel started the night with a touching tribute by having students perform “Colors” to the audience and received a certificate of achievement. The night continued with many great performances, including small groups, duets, large groups, and solos.
WORDS and PHOTOS by Marcus Hendrickson