Learn the basics of American Sign Language (ASL). This course is designed for students who have little or no previous knowledge of ASL. Students will learn the ASL manual alphabet and simple sentence structures. This course has been approved by Durham Public Schools for license renewal credit. Textbook may be required. 20 hours. 2.0 TRCs.

Continue to build on your skills from American Sign Language I, Beginning. The focus is on refining the use of basic ASL sentences. Students learn routine communicative functions of the language. Information about the deaf community is included. This course has been approved by Durham Public Schools for license renewal credit. Textbook may be required. Prerequisite: American Sign Language I, Beginning or permission of the program coordinator. 20 hours. 2.0 TRCs.

In this course, students integrate and refine expressive and receptive skills learned in American Sign Language I and II. Increased fluency and accuracy in fingerspelling and numbers is expected. In order to progress, students must successfully pass a written evaluation of general knowledge and an evaluation of expressive and receptive skills. This course is taught by native signers. 20 hours.

This course is designed for health care and service providers who work with people who are deaf or hard of hearing and who communicate in sign language. The focus is practical, functional signs that are important for employees in service agencies such as group home staff, social service workers, mental health workers, and case managers. Upon completion of the course, students have an increased capacity to communicate with their signing clients in a conversational setting. 20 hours.

This course provides an overview of the grant writing process, including grants versus contracts; the role of educational, governmental, and non-profit organizations in the grant process; information on available grant organizations; and use of the Internet in the grant process. Learn the grant process from initial identification of grant organizations to the request for solicitations and applications, application requirements, negotiated awards, grant administration, and finally to grant close out. After the overview, each student pursues a grant opportunity following the process utilized in class and is able to submit a grant application tailored toward the student’s personal or professional goals. Familiarity with the Internet is recommended. 24 hours.

Get the “jitters” when speaking in front of a group? This class is designed to familiarize you with a wide variety of business and daily-life situations. Learn to organize effectively, create speaking outlines, challenge nervousness, and communicate a message to your audience appropriately. Develop the confidence to deliver polished presentations anywhere! 24 hours.

Become a confident and effective public speaker! Public speaking ranges from transmitting basic information, to motivating people to take action, to simply telling an entertaining story. Strong public speakers use their skills in their profession, in community activities, and in many other ways. This course helps you get over the jitters and become a polished speaker who enjoys stepping up to the podium. 24 hours.

Learn to integrate basic written English concepts with the demands of today’s work environment. Develop and strengthen writing skills required to communicate in today’s workforce using documents such as reports, newsletters, procedure manuals, proposals, résumés, and other forms of business communication. Emphasis is on developing the student’s writing style, organizing information, and producing professional documents. In addition, students are evaluated on principles of writing, editing, and critiquing formal and informal documents. 24 hours.