Many students are familiar with the well established, and infinitely popular, Spanish and French clubs, but there is one more culture club on campus that may just give them a run for their money (or their burritos). The American Sign Language club may be quieter than most, but it maintains a loud reputation.

“ASL club is not only a club for ASL students,” senior Erin Slane said. “It’s also for people who find ASL interesting and want to learn about the deaf community.”

Slane is currently in ASL Four, the highest class level offered at Carlsbad, and is president of ASL club. She enjoys meeting other people who have the same passion for sign language as her, and this club provides a perfect place to do so.

“My favorite part about ASL club is connecting with the other levels of ASL,” Slane said. “It’s fun seeing people who you see around campus in ASL club because you don’t know if they are in ASL or they are interested in it and it’s cool to see some connection between us.”

ASL club gives students opportunities to become involved in the deaf community. They do different community service events, perform songs in ASL and give students the opportunity to practice their signing skills.

“One of our biggest events will probably be the deaf community services toy drive,” ASL teacher Mrs. Large said. “We are going to do a Menchie’s night fundraiser coming up pretty soon and that goes towards the Deaf Education Arts Foundation.”

This club requires student involvement and is almost entirely student-run. Mrs. Large is there to help students come up with ideas for events,  but she puts all the planning in the hands of the students.

“The funds raised by the students not only help to provide money for our club, but also as a donation back to the community through scholarships,” Large said.

While ASL club seems like they have had years to perfect how they fund-raise, there has not been an ASL club in a few years. It finally picked up again this year with the help of Mrs. Large and the students. Most students did not know the exact reason why there was not a club, but Mrs. Large had an exact answer.

“Well I believe two things,” Large said. “One, it is important to get students who are motivated and excited about something. Second, I also in the past taught at Palomar college and Saddleback, so my time was spread pretty thin, but now that I’m just focusing here at Carlsbad High School, I’m happy to get things organized again.”

ASL club offers a variety of options for students to learn about the deaf community and the language. Their main objective is to have fun while learning about deaf culture.

“ASL club is a club for people to come and hang out,” Slane said. “They come to learn about the language and the culture and play games and just have a good time.”