As American Sign Language (ASL) teacher Kiara Campbell comes up on her second year at WJ, she strives to spread the unique language and diverse culture to her students. Outside of school, Campbell connects on a deeper level with the community by working as a part-time interpreter with well-known companies such as Amazon and Whole Foods.

The start of her love for ASL began when she was a high school sophomore. She was exposed to different people in the deaf culture as her teacher, who was hearing, had deaf friends who visited her class.

“They would come to class and sign with us and tell us all about their experiences being deaf. I think that’s when I just kind of connected,” Campbell said.

During her high school years, she worked at a movie theater where she got to practice signing outside of school.

“Deaf people would come to the movie theater. I got to practice my signing outside of school and that’s kind of when I got my confidence of like ‘Hey they understand me. I can do this,’” Campbell said.

She graduated from the University of North Florida and got a master’s degree in deaf education. Then in 2015, Campbell’s former high school teacher reached out to her.

“Two weeks before school started my ASL teacher from high school contacted me and said, ‘Hey this school in the next county is looking for an ASL teacher. Their teacher just abruptly quit because she is moving,’” Campbell said.

Six years later, in 2021, Campbell moved to Virginia with her husband, who was going back to school to get certified as an anesthesiologist assistant. During that time, she was working virtually but deeply missed the classroom feel of making connections with students and building relationships. It was then that she got the opportunity to work at WJ.

“My husband sent me a posting from Indeed and it said, ‘Montgomery County looking for ASL teachers.’ When I clicked on the job, there were three schools that had openings, and living in Virginia, WJ was the closest school,” Campbell said.

Since then, she has been a familiar face at WJ, smiling and making students feel extra welcome, especially for their first time taking ASL.

“She’s a great and energetic teacher. She has taught us a lot of signs and makes sure everyone in the class understands the material,” sophomore Henry Koenick said.

In addition to making the class a fun-filled environment, Campbell has added a fun tradition, “Fun Friday.” Every Friday in class, students play a game that closely relates to topics they have been learning throughout the week.

“Something I also really enjoyed from her class were the Fun Fridays we had every week. Every Friday, we would play a game involving ASL as a class and it was always something I looked forward to. It was always so competitive and fun and a great way to end the week,” senior Lyn Mckaig said.

Students also truly see the love that she has for the language.

“Mrs. Campbell is one of those teachers who genuinely wants the best for her students. She is one of the funniest and most kind teachers I’ve met, who clearly wants to help her students do the best they can. She’s such a queen,” junior Arielle Boxt said.

Campbell hopes that students who take ASL here at WJ grow to love it as much as she does.

“Even if you don’t continue with a path and a job where you’re signing as an adult, at least you’re going to be able to help someone in the community that you see is struggling communicating with someone,” Campbell said.