At J.L. Long Middle School in East Dallas, campus police Officer Kimberly Stangarone is giving back to her students in a very big way. She began working at the school three years ago, and after learning some of the students were deaf, Stangarone decided to teach herself sign language.
"It just felt right for me to try and take it upon myself to learn their language, so that they could feel more comfortable to come up to me and speak," she explained to USA Today.
While Stangarone admits she's still learning, her students have inspired her to take classes to become an American Sign Language interpreter.
Shem Castillo, a seventh grader at J.L. Long Middle School, says the students really appreciate that she's gone the extra mile to better communicate with them.
"It makes me feel good and proud of her that she signs," Castillo said with the help of a sign interpreter. "She signs really well."
In fact, Stangarone is the only Dallas ISD officer versed in sign language!
"I want to show people all the positive sides of being a police officer," she said. "To me, I think that's really important that they see that, hey, I'm a police officer, but I'm willing to try something new and to get a little bit better."
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