East Islip High School students from Jovina Bratta’s American Sign Language classes visited John F. Kennedy Elementary School on Dec. 17, teaching JFK’s entire fifth grade class some fun holiday songs and signs. The younger students rotated between three stations. In one of them, they learned the alphabet in ASL and signs; in a second, they played interactive games and learned how to sign colors. At the last station, the fifth graders watched holiday songs interpreted in ASL.

“Some of the elementary kids enjoyed it so much that they joined in signing the songs as well, and were signing their names,” Bratta said.

At the event’s conclusion, everyone joined together to sign the holiday children’s song “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”