THE market

Sunstone Fit

Yoga, Pilates, Barre, Cardio

1920 Skillman Live Oak Dallas, TX 75206 214.764.2119 x 113 sunstoneFit.com/slo

Arrive 30 minutes before any class to earn your One Free Class, become acquainted with our studio and staff, and receive exclusive special offers for our first-time students.

Dutch Art Gallery

Celebrating 50 Years of Custom Framing & Fine Art 10233 E. Northwest Hwy Dallas, TX 75238 214.348.7350 dutchartgallery.net

Now on exhibit through January: Impressions of the “Past, Present and Future.” Owners, Hans & Pam Massar, are passionate about presenting art as well as quality custom framing. Stop by to view the 7,000 square foot showroom, featuring an array of original oil paintings. Above: “Bluebonnet Field & Barn” by Jim Phipps

Monster Yogurt

Frozen Dessert/Catering

9540 Garland Rd., Suite 394 In Casa Linda Plaza 214.321.6363 scarytastesgood.com they don’t write things normally. So it’s even hard to write things down sometimes.”

The incident sparked a desire to learn how to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing students. She asked school interpreter Darryl Joubert about sign language. After noticing her genuine inter-

Fitness Center

214.887.1200 5726 Belmont Ave. crowbarcardio.com est, he eventually suggested she take a class to learn to speak with her hands.

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So that’s exactly what Stangarone did. She started taking night classes in order to learn ASL, although that didn’t stop her from bombarding Joubert and the other interpreters at Long with plenty of questions.

“She’s very eager to learn,” Joubert explains. “She’d practice with me in the morning. I’d get to work early to practice with her or help her, if she didn’t understand a sign. Sign language became a passion.”

She has been learning and practicing American Sign Language for more than two years now, and the more she learns the more students open up to her in ways she didn’t originally anticipate.

“I’ve built up a such a rapport with the students that they’ve started to tell me their problems,” she says. “As a police officer there’s this idea that we’re just tough and we don’t care. I tell my students I’m not here to pick on them; I’m here to protect them, and if they ever need anything they can come to my office.”

“She’s very eager to learn.

She’d practice with me in the morning. I’d get to work early to practice with her or help her.”

Others at Long have noticed the positive effects of Stangarone’s effort as well. She has become good friends with Ana Michel, a teaching assistant at Long.

“The students are more comfortable to talk to her when they need help,” Michel observes. “It’s important that the deaf and hard of hearing kids do not feel like they are limited in communicating, especially at school where students should feel welcome to express their struggles at school and at home with a police officer.”

Not only does Stangarone speak English and sign, but she also speaks Spanish, so she has even been able to translate ASL into Spanish for some students.

It’s more than just a language, she points out. It’s a culture, and learning ASL has given her a unique glimpse into deaf culture from the perspective of someone who grew up hearing.

“In hearing culture it’s rude to point,” Stangarone explains. “Well in deaf culture, you have to point because you have to show what you’re talking about. And in hearing culture, it’s natural to look around while talking. In deaf culture, eye contact is really important, so it’s rude to look away.”

When Stangarone has questions, Michel, who is deaf, is quick to give her pointers. Their friendship has been a fun side effect of Stangarone’s decision to learn sign language — not to mention Michel lets her practice signing.

“When I first met her she could sign some words and often relied on the interpreter to tell her what was being signed,” Michel recalls. “Now, Kimberly and I can hold an entire conversation.”

And she doesn’t intend to stop there. She started the ASL interpreters program at Collin College in the fall to become a certified sign language interpreter.

“I think being in a program where I can better my sign language will help,” she says. “I’d be able to use it anywhere. I’m not going to stop being a police officer, but I just want to have my ASL interpreter license. So that’s my next goal.”