After nearly 20 years of service in the South Windsor School District, SWHS’s American Sign Language (ASL) teacher Barbara Eddy is retiring in June 2024. She has taught at SWHS since 2010, starting as an English teacher, and transitioning to teaching ASL in 2016.
“It just seemed like it was the right time for me to concentrate and focus on me,” said Eddy in an interview with The Prowl. “I also don’t want, if I have any health issues, to impact my students.”
Eddy was not always a teacher, but has always possessed a passion for teaching. Previous to teaching, she worked in insurance, writing contracts. She got into ASL because her then 12-year-old son showed an interest in it.
She ended up taking ASL classes at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford with her friend, who was working on getting an audiology degree, and her son.
“Basically I did it just to support my son and kind of fell in love with the language,” explained Eddy.
Eddy’s friend recommended that instead of being an interpreter, she should teach the deaf, allowing her to combine her two passions. So, at age 40, Eddy went back to school to get a master’s degree from Smith College to teach children with hearing loss.
Since getting that degree, she’s taught both English and ASL to students of a variety of different ages throughout the district.
“[The students in the class] when they’re asked to sign and confused, they do like a confusing face and it’s hilarious,” explained Narichka Sanchez-Valetin, a first-year ASL student who has been enjoying Eddy’s class, when speaking with The Prowl.
Sanchez-Valentin describes Eddy as a fun teacher and is sad to see her go, but hopes that the class can remain fun next year.
In her retirement, Eddy plans to keep working with the deaf and stay active in the deaf community, as well as spending more time with her four grandchildren.
She also has the goal to travel more, planning a trip over to Croatia in October.
Eddy desperately wants the ASL program to continue after she leaves, and hopes that SWHS can add an ASL III class in addition to the two already offered.
Candidates for the new ASL teacher at SWHS are currently being interviewed by ASL students, but who will fill that position is currently unknown.
Eddy has been a valuable member of the SWHS community for almost two decades and will be missed by students and faculty alike. She loves teaching and emphasizes that the school has been wonderful to her, and retiring now is the right decision for her at the stage in her life that she is at.
