Awareness & Skill Building

Talk with Your Hands, Shine with Your Heart!

Sign to Shine

Objective:

The Sign Language Project aims to promote inclusivity and accessibility by organizing a competition that exclusively uses sign language. This initiative will encourage participants—including members, college students, and school students—to learn and use basic sign language.

1. Competition Formats

  • Team-Based Challenges: Participants form teams to collaborate on tasks like signing a story, solving a puzzle, or completing a group activity entirely in sign language.
  • Individual Quizzes: Participants interpret signs shown on a screen or by a judge or sign their answers to questions.
  • Creative Performances: Participants prepare and present a skit, song, or poem in sign language, demonstrating creativity and skill.
  • Relay Challenge: Teams pass on a signed message in relay style. The final team member delivers the message to judges, with accuracy earning points.

2. Categories of Challenges

  • Vocabulary Rounds: Test participants on basic sign language vocabulary, such as numbers, colours, or common phrases.
  • Situation-Based Scenarios: Role-play real-life scenarios (e.g., ordering food at a café, asking for directions) using sign language.
  • Mystery Word: Participants guess a word based on signed clues given by teammates or judges.
  • Translation Tasks: Translate written or spoken sentences into sign language and vice versa.
  • Sign Karaoke: Participants “sing” a song or perform a monologue using sign language.

3. Bonus Activities

  • Learning Stations: Set up interactive stations with sign language instructors to provide quick workshops or tips between competition rounds.
  • Interactive Displays: Showcase the history and importance of sign language and accessibility through exhibits and games.

4. Workshops and Online Learning Programs

To ensure participants are well-prepared, we will provide:

  • Pre-Event Workshops: Interactive sessions conducted by sign language experts to teach participants basic sign language skills.
  • Online Learning Program: A self-paced online course covering foundational sign language vocabulary, phrases, and everyday scenarios. Participants will have access to video tutorials and practice modules.
  • Follow-Up Sessions: Post-event workshops to encourage continued learning and mastery of sign language.

5. Judging Criteria

  • Accuracy: Precision in executing the signs.
  • Clarity: Readability and expressiveness of the signs.
  • Creativity: Innovation in performances or skits.
  • Teamwork: Collaboration and coordination during team-based activities.

6. Awareness Elements

  • Expert Involvement: Invite sign language experts or members of the Deaf community to serve as judges or mentors.
  • Introductory Session: Conduct a short session at the beginning of the event to teach basic signs and build participants' confidence.
  • Certificates: Provide certificates of participation to encourage continued learning.

7. Incentives and Recognition

  • Prizes: Offer prizes for categories like “Best Performance,” “Most Accurate,” and “Best Teamwork.”
  • Titles: Award titles such as “Sign Language Ambassador” to participants showing exceptional skill and enthusiasm.
  • Sponsorships: Partner with schools, colleges, or companies for sponsorships to fund the event and reward winners.

Next Steps:

  1. Share your feedback.
  2. Identify potential partners, sponsors, and venues for the event.
  3. Collaborate with sign language experts to finalize the competition format and learning content.
  4. Launch a promotional campaign to raise awareness and encourage registrations.