This is one of a series of articles on each of the five finalists for Savannah-Chatham County Public School System 2022-23 school year Teacher of the Year.
After Barbara Rupnik’s dream working for NASA didn’t work out, she fell in love in with American Sign Language after having two professors who communicated with ASL.
“Both of professors were deaf themselves and were native users of American Sign Language,” she said. “It really inspired me to want to go into the classroom and teach American Sign Language, as well.”
Rupnik is one of five finalists competing for the title of the 2022-23 teacher of the year for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS). She will compete in a process that will involve classroom observations and panel interviews over the past couple of months. A winner will be announced at the annual gala Feb. 11 at the Marriott Savannah Riverfront. A winner will be announced at the annual Gala on Feb. 11 at the Marriott Savannah Riverfront.
Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools Teacher of the Year finalist Barbara Rupnik communicates through sign language with a student at Marshpoint Elementary.
Cherie Dennis, a teacher of English speakers of other languages (ESOL) at Hesse K-8 School, was named as Teacher of the Year for 2020-21. Dennis held on to her title for 2021-22 because of the pandemic. She is also the Georgia State Teacher of the Year.
Read More: Savannah-Chatham County educator named Georgia Teacher of the Year
Rupnik is found at Marshpoint Elementary School, where she has been teaching since 2006 and joined SCCPSS in 2007. She is one of four district teachers who teach deaf and hard of hearing students. In class she communicates to her students through ASL.
She has taught at various elementary schools, a middle school and four years at Groves High School. In addition to working at Marshpoint, she also spends time teaching at Coastal Middle and Islands High School.
She also teaches a sign language course at Georgia Southern University.
Falling in love with the language
She got her first taste of sign language when she was part of The Girl Scouts.
Rupnik said even though she is not a native communicator of the language or knows someone personally who uses it, she still enjoys the language.
Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools Teacher of the Year finalist Barbara Rupnik communicates through sigh language with a student at Marshpoint Elementary.
Rupnik said teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic was hard because her students needed to visually see the language. Rupnik said she and her students have to either wear a clear face mask or a face shield in order to communicate.
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Source: https://www.yahoo.com/amphtml/entertainment/barbara-rupnik-uses-sign-language-140016930.html