MTSU’s 2020 American Sign Language classes will offer an entertaining and enriching experience via videoconferencing.

The first session will take place from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. each Wednesday from Aug. 26 through Sept. 30.

The second session also is set Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. from Oct. 14 through Nov. 18.

Instructor Haley Jensen, top left, and, clockwise from left, Stacie Lowry, Sarah Pruitt, Sarah Seago, and Joshua Jensen display their American Sign Language skills via videoconferencing. (Photo submitted)

Provided by the Center for Accelerated Language Acquisition in MTSU’s University Honors College, the classes will allow students to interact with the instructor and their fellow students in real time.

“I have been able to enjoy interacting and practicing with my classmates, engage and play games, and do all of this conveniently at home,” said Brianna S., an environmental health and safety specialist who took the online course.

“The class itself is so much fun, and the fact that it can be done virtually makes it even easier to accommodate into my schedule.”

Participants will learn how to communicate with people with hearing impairments through activities that include greetings, numbers, colors, body parts, the alphabet and elements of basic, everyday conversation.

The fees are $100 for MTSU and high school students; $115 for MTSU faculty, staff and alumni; and $130 for the public.

Classes are capped at 30 participants each and usually fill up quickly. To register for either session, go to https://tinyurl.com/ybvd3t9w.

For more information, email acceleratedacquisition@gmail.com.

— Gina Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)

Haley Jensen, an American Sign Language instructor from Voice Off Learning, teaches four students via videoconferencing in this May 2020 photo. (Photo submitted)