New ASL Club Off to a Strong Start

KO encourages students to take initiative and develop their passions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the opportunities to create and manage your own club. Take Emma Davis ’28.

One of Davis’ most meaningful experiences at KO has been launching the American Sign Language Club, a project rooted in personal experience and a desire to make language more accessible. “I had to learn sign language to babysit a child I really loved who was hard of hearing,” she said. “I wanted to still be able to communicate with him, so that’s what drew my attention to ASL.”

As she learned more, she realized how widespread and underestimated ASL truly is.“ASL is actually one of the most used languages in the U.S.,” she explained. “It’s often competing for second or third place with Spanish, depending on location. I was genuinely shocked.” Yet despite its prevalence, Emma noticed that many schools don’t offer ASL as a class, or students overlook it when they do. “That really stuck with me,” she said. “It made me think, ‘Okay, I actually have to do this.’”

Davis approached her advisor about the viability of such a club, and without hesitation, her advisor said, ‘Go for it.’  “She told me to absolutely run with it and gave me names of people to talk to,” Davis said.

Davis, along with co-leader Jenna Schwartz, then met with several administrators and faculty members to build their proposal and pitched the idea. “We talked to Ms. Baker, Ms. Loeb, and Ms. Watson,” she said. “We also had to see if other students were interested and do our own research, because we were still learning the language ourselves.” After months of conversations and planning, the club was approved with Upper School Head Lisa Loeb serving as faculty advisor. “Now we meet every week and plan what we’re going to teach,” Emma said. “We’re starting mini lessons, games, and learning together.”

Her long-term goal is even bigger. “My hope is that by my senior year, we could have a plan to make this an actual class,” she said. “Even if it starts as an elective, I just don’t want this to disappear when I leave.”

For Davis, ASL is about more than vocabulary; it’s about understanding the hard-of-hearing community. “I’ve learned a lot about how important connection is,” she said. “There’s this tradition where goodbyes take a long time because people want to say goodbye to everyone. They want to make sure everyone is seen, even if they’re not heard.” That idea – making sure everyone feels seen aligns perfectly with what Davis values most about KO.

Davis is also involved in the Neurodiversity Alliance, another club shaped by personal connection. “I have friends and family who are neurodiverse, and I wanted to learn how I could support them better,” she said. “It’s taught me not to judge a book by its cover.” Whether through advocacy, athletics, or academics, Davis is driven by the same motivation: helping others feel included.