By: Josh Quiñones (11)

Mr. Jonathan Kraus begins a new season at Helias Catholic High School as the school’s newly hired American Sign Language (ASL) teacher. Kraus joins Helias Catholic after working as an ASL mentor at William Woods University. He has officially taught language for 7 years, but his experience with ASL stretches back much further. 

“I’ve actually kind of taught sign language all my life,” Kraus remarked. 

Born deaf, Kraus attended normal schooling and was integrated with the rest of the student population. He grew up with a sign language interpreter while English remained his first language. 

Kraus has been teaching sign language all his life. The first time he really taught sign language was in 4th grade. He had a school assembly, and one of his fellow students had the idea of doing ASL while performing “Silent Night." He was asked by his peers to teach how to sign the song to his classmates. He later taught sign language to his peers in the gifted program as well. In his adulthood, Kraus managed over 100 people at a deaf agency where he made sure people knew at least basic signs. 

Now Kraus brings those experiences to his classroom at Helias Catholic.

“ASL is not a verbal language. It’s visual,” Kraus commented. 

At the beginning of the year, his class will begin with him speaking normally as he tries to ease his students into the class. He aims to keep his class lighthearted and engaging. His teaching is a mixture of utilizing various forms of media, like various videos or hands-on practices like games. 

His goal is to balance out long-lasting receptive and expressive skills, being able to both understand ASL and communicate to others.

"I tell my class every time: Practice, practice, practice, because this is the type of language where you use it, or you lose it,” Kraus said.

Kraus himself went to public school, graduating from Jefferson City High School. However, his parents and his 3 older sisters all graduated from Helias Catholic. 

Despite that, he didn’t know much about the school before joining the faculty.

“I will say that I have been very warmly welcomed here. Everyone is doing whatever they can to support me and…I really appreciate that,” Kraus said.

Kraus admitted that Helias Catholic was nothing like what he was expecting.

“I was just thinking it was just any other school, but I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far,” Kraus said.

Kraus reminisced on what his happiest moment of teaching was.

“Anytime that I taught was my happiest (moment),” Kraus remarked. “Anytime that I’ve had, whether it’s a student or a colleague at work that I was teaching sign and they were really struggling with it.”

His proudest moments come when the lessons finally click.

“My most proud moment, overall, is anytime I see that little twinkle in somebody’s eyes, and just kind of like ‘Oh! I get it!’”Kraus said.

Kraus hopes that students will remember and utilize the skills they learn in ASL and remember more from the class than even just that.

“One part of teaching ASL is talking about deaf culture and the history and background of the language. Why it came to be, how it came to be, and so on and so forth. I really hope it helps them build empathy, not particularly just towards deaf people, but people in general, and respecting everyone’s differences and recognizing that there are various forms and versions of strength. It does not have to be a weakness unless you let it be a weakness. So I truly hope that they leave the class and continue on and maybe cross paths with somebody that is an ASL user that is struggling to communicate and they can say ‘Hey, can I help you?” Y’know, that little empathy, that little kindness, and just keep it going.”

Kraus sees the teachings of ASL connecting with the virtues of Christianity through the idea of acceptance.

“Jesus was also about accepting everyone, regardless of their differences. He does not look down upon anyone. This shows a different viewpoint than what most people see,” Kraus said.

On the first day, Kraus asked his students if any of them had actually met a deaf person. Only a handful of students raised their hands. He was most of his students’ first deaf person.

“Catholicism - a lot of it is about charity. And it’s not just sharing or giving - it’s being open-minded, it’s being kind, it’s being empathetic, it’s being, y’know, respecting all of God’s creatures and deaf people are just one of many. I hope it opens their minds not just to deaf people, but people of all struts, creeds, race, anything, any bit of difference, and learning that we’re all the same. We’re all still equal in the eyes of God. We’re all truly loved regardless.” 

With Kraus now joining the Helias Catholic Faculty, students have a new opportunity to learn ASL while gaining a greater understanding of deaf culture and communication.