Learning sign language at Muncy Bank & Trust recently, instructor Jenny Santo from Muncy answers questions while bank tellers practice conversing with each other in sign language.  (Left to right) tellers Vanessa VanKirk, Cindy Craddock and Casey Fry practice ASL numbers.     

MUNCY – On the evening of March 4th, The Muncy Bank and Trust Company hosted an American Sign Language (ASL) class for its employees. Nineteen staff members attended with the interest of learning better communication skills with friends, family, and bank customers that have hearing-impairments.

Jenny Santo, a Muncy resident and a student at St. Francis University with a minor in ASL, volunteered to instruct the class at the bank’s Muncy office where a training room facility is located. Santo taught employees the ASL alphabet and numbers, fingerspelling, while focusing on basic conversation and common bank terms, such as account, open, loan, driver’s license, deposit, withdrawal, cash, savings, and checking.

Santo also explained the importance of proper etiquette, facial expressions, and eye contact when conversing with the hearing-impaired. Santo stated, “I had to take a class on just learning facial expressions,” when explaining to employees to “not hold back with one’s expression. This is how the hearing-impaired understand the emotion behind the signing.”

The bank’s Hughesville branch staff was especially excited about this opportunity to learn this new skill, as they have struggled at times to converse with their hearing-impaired customers that frequent their office. “This knowledge will enable our branch employees to improve their customer relations with these clients as communication barriers are lessened,” said Krista Dyer, Community Office Manager in Hughesville.