American Sign Language

Grades: 1 to 8

Program Leader: Varshini Peddinti

Program Description: YAPA Kids American Sign Language (ASL) is an introductory program to the world of Sign that requires no previous experience. In the program, we will go over basic greetings, the ASL alphabet, simple and friendly Q and As, and more. We will also discuss the importance of Disability Awareness and how to act when approaching someone with a hearing disability. Overall, the program will be fun and engaging with lots of hands-on activities and class collaboration. Get ready to sign and explore this beautiful language!

Class Times(s):
Option A: Saturdays, null
Option B: Saturdays, null

Program Teachers: Kristine Sun, Jewel Lin, Varshini Peddinti, Meelana Pham, Nikhil Jagota, Soomin Sun, Summer You, Shannon Wang, Lynn Estrada, Maryam Shabazz, Sarah Berhanu, Blake Tretter, Elena Reyes, John Doe

Teacher Bios

Kristine Sun

Hey everyone!! My name is Kristine Sun and I am the program lead for YAPA Kids American Sign Language. I am currently a rising junior at Cupertino High School and have studied ASL for about 2 years. I am a part of my school's ASL club and Best Buddies Club, which is a club that helps pairs friendships between club members and children with disabilities. I am passionate about spreading Disability Awareness and I love teaching; I have taught art at my art school for 2 years and worked as a camp counselor at my local zoo for 3 years. I look forward to sharing my passion with you and help you master the world of Sign. Get ready to learn this beautiful language!

Jewel Lin

Hi! My name is Jewel Lin and I am a rising Junior at Cupertino High School. I've had a lot of experience with teaching students younger than me and I am excited to start classes!

Varshini Peddinti

Hey everyone!! My name is Varshini Peddinti, and I'm a junior in California! I've been learning ASL for over a year now, and it's such an amazing and expressive language. I really enjoy teaching, and I look forward to sharing my knowledge of ASL with you all! :)

Meelana Pham

Hi! My name is Meelana Pham and I am a senior at Cupertino High School in Cupertino, California. I think American Sign Language is such a cool and interesting language because it involves hand movements and facial expressions instead of spoken words. I have lots of experience teaching my little cousins and look forward to teaching you all ASL. I hope everyone learns something fun and enjoys their time in this ASL program!

Nikhil Jagota

Hello! I'm Nikhil Jagota, a rising junior at Fremont High School. Raising awareness about the Deaf community and, by extension, teaching people how to communicate in the easiest manner, is something that I'm super passionate about. At school, I hold a leadership position in the Best Buddies Club, a club pairing students as "buddies" to students with disabilities. Since I generally work in the non-verbal room, where many of the students have trouble speaking, ASL is really useful as a basic communication tool. Because of that, I'm super excited to teach all of you!

Soomin Sun

Hi everyone! I'm Soomin and I am an incoming junior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. I love learning as well teaching languages to kids so I am very excited to teach ASL!

Summer You

Hey everyone! My name is Summer You and I’m a rising junior at Cupertino High School. I have been teaching and working with young kids for over 3 years, and I love interacting and bonding with them. I wanted to explore more about American Sign Language because I strive to be more aware and knowledgeable about the unique languages and communities around us. Learning and teaching ASL will also help to spread awareness about the deaf/disabled community. Super excited to be a part of the ASL program! :)

Shannon Wang

Hi everyone! I’m Shannon, and I'm a senior at Cupertino High School. I'm really interested in learning American Sign Language because I believe that it’s important for us to help to raise awareness for the deaf or disabled and learn to communicate with all kinds of people. I'm sure that understanding the language of Sign will be very helpful in our lives. I also enjoy working with children a lot! Looking forward to teaching and sharing the knowledge with you all!

Lynn Estrada

Hi everybody, my name is Lyhn Estrada and I am so excited to start teaching. I am currently a rising Senior at YWLA. I live in El Paso Texas and I took ASL for 3 years at school and fell in love with the language.

Maryam Shabazz

Hi everyone, my name is Maryam Shabazz and I am currently a junior at Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS) in Connecticut! I am taking a ASL class and overall fascinated with it so I thought this would be a great opportunity to further increase my skills of the language and help the community at the same time by passing it on!

Sarah Berhanu

Hey everyone! My name is Sarah Berhanu and I am currently a junior in highschool in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I have taken ASL for three years and I am super excited to teach it to anyone who wants to learn!

Blake Tretter

Hi everyone! My name is Blake Tretter and I am a junior in California! I've been learning ASL and Deaf Culture over the last 4 years, and I'm super excited to share my knowledge and passion of ASL with others!

Elena Reyes

Hello everyone, I am Elena Reyes, a sophomore in Dallas ,Texas. I have been fascinated by Deaf community and have been teaching myself American Sign Language since 5th grade.I am so excited to be along side amazing people , who share the same passion as me and still do good in the world.