School police officer speaks students' language

J. L. Long Middle School in East Dallas, TX, has a campus police officer named Kimberly Stangarone. It also has 50 students in the Deaf Education Program, and they speak sign language. If they have a problem, would they hesitate to tell Stangarone about it? Not anymore.

                                                                                                                                              Facebook
"It just felt right for me to take it upon myself to learn their language, so that they could feel more comfortable to come up to me and speak," Stangarone said. First she asked deaf students to teach her single words. Then they taught her phrases. Now she's the only Dallas ISD police officer versed in sign language. Seventh grader Shem Castillo says, through an interpreter, "It makes me feel good and proud of her that she signs. She signs really well."