‘What’s the sign for homey?’

High school classes are often quiet at 8:30 a.m., as most teens aren’t fully awake then. But Meredith McGahan’s second period class at Jackson High School was almost surreally silent .

McGahan teaches American sign language, a new offering at Jackson this year. Most of her classes run almost exclusively in sign. Immersion is one way to learn the difficult skill of talking without voice, which can take years to master.

The beginning of class Monday, Oct. 9, had a typical pre-start verbal buzz. At the front of the classroom, student Allan Wade, with surfer-style longish blonde hair, stood with friend Justin Heckencamp asking McGahan how to sign “What’s up?”

The two often ask her those kinds of questions, McGahan said. Recently they asked her what the sign was for “homey.”

“He wanted to use the sign for ‘home’ and I said, ‘You can’t do that — you’re not saying the person’s part of your home,’” McGahan said.

It can be hard to students to grasp that they need to sign their meaning, not the literal words, she said.

On Monday, once McGahan launched into “voice off” mode, the class went dead silent. “Voice off” means students and McGahan don’t speak.

Students used their hands and mouthed words to test each other’s vocabulary in groups, to ask questions and to “chat” with McGahan as she passed out papers.

During lecture, McGahan signed animatedly, mouthing words and acting out small scenes. Now and again, the class would laugh.

Senior Michaela Stone said she can understand about 87 percent of what McGahan is doing. For example, the second week of class, McGahan told a story about her new car that students understood, Stone said.

“Her facial expressions help,” she said. “It’s all about the expressions.”

Facial expressions are key for students, too. McGahan used her voice once Monday to tell students to aim for the facial expressiveness of Jim Carrey.

“Is anyone familiar with fire marshal Bill?” she said, referring to Carrey’s ridiculously expressive character on “In Living Color,” a sketch comedy TV show from the late 1980s.

You don’t have the intonation of voice to get across what you’re thinking, she said.

“So at home when you’re brushing your teeth, get those facial muscles in gear,” she said.

McGahan teaches two sign language classes at Jackson and both are full, with about 30 students each. She attributes the class’ popularity in part to the fact that American sign language is now a bigger part of mainstream culture. Many students have friends who can sign, and others have deaf siblings, she said.

Student Ethan Gillette is taking the class so he can communicate with his brother, 19, whose hearing was damaged when he had meningitis as a baby.

Hearing aids have helped his brother until now, but it looks like he will be deaf in a few years, Gillette said.

“I want to be able to talk to him in the future,” he said.

Students have different motivations for taking the class.

“It’s an awesome class ‘cause I get to hang out with my friends and learn a new language,” sophomore Nick Rezsnyak said.

Gillette is his friend, he added.

“Everybody takes Spanish. I want something someone hasn’t done,” he said. “So I’m unique.”

Stone wants to enter the mission field, and thinks it will be a useful skill. Sarah Flatt is already fluent in sign language, as her grandparents are deaf. And Kristine Haataja wants to work in special education.

Many people think American sign language is used by a tiny portion of the population, but it’s the fourth most used foreign language in the country, McGahan said.

“I have a skill that’s allowed me to go anywhere in the country and get a job quickly,” she said. “It gives me a real freedom a lot of other people might not have at my age.”