ASL-for-All 5K (Walk, Run & Roll)

👟 Race Overview

Join us for our SECOND annual ASL for All 5K fundraiser to foster Olathe as a "Shared Signing Community”! Shared signing communities are localities where both Deaf and non-Deaf community members use a shared visual language to communicate with one another. Non-signers are welcomed!

📅 Race Details

This SECOND annual ASL for ALL 5K fundraiser will take place on the Indian Creek Trail leading from and returning to Frontier Park. Following the 5K race, there will be two Fun-Runs for children (50 yards for tots 6 yrs or under & 100 yards for kids aged 7 to 10) at the park in conjunction with an ASL Festival area offering booths. ASL Performances will be provided at the conclusion of the Awards Ceremony.

🕒 Race Schedule

• 7:30 am: Registration Opens
• 8:30 am: 5K Race Begins
• 9:30 am: Tots-Fun-Run (50 yards and 100 yards) Kids-Fun-Run
• 9:35 am: ASL Performance

🎽 Participant Information

Participant Packets will be ready for pick-up on Friday, Sept 27th to from 10 am to 4 pm at the Museum of Deaf History, Arts & Culture, Inc. 455 E. Park Street, Olathe. Water and refreshments will be available to registered participants. (Please note: Runners, walkers, and rollers who register after the Sept 12th deadline are not guaranteed a race t-shirt or size.)

📽️ Media Coverage

Check out the newsreel from our 2023 event: 2023 Event Newsreel

💰 Proceeds Information

All proceeds from this event will be split between the Kansas School for the Deaf Endowment Association (KSDEA) and Museum of Deaf History, Arts & Culture (MDHAC) in support of their missions in fostering shared signing communities.

📖 More Information

👐 American Sign Language (ASL)

ASL is a natural language that serves as the most predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is NOT signing in or shorthand for English. It is a complete and organized visual language that is expressed by employing both manual and non-manual features. It is a natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken language, with its own grammar, syntax and vocabulary.

🤝 Shared Signing Communities

Shared signing communities are defined as communities where BOTH Deaf people and non-Deaf use sign language to communicate with each other in the areas where they live, work, congregate, or play. Such places are regarded as different from the mainstream where deaf people mostly are surrounded by hearing, non-signing people in their families, schools, and workplaces. It is believed that shared signing communities have existed on Earth for thousands of years in various countries.

🌟 How Signed Language Benefits All

Using signed language allows you to communicate with everyone in your environment without barriers or frustrations to anyone. Signing conversations are efficient and you can go deeper in the conversations without cutting out details. Sign language is good for the brain, boosting cognition, creativity, functionality, memory, spatial awareness, mental rotation skills, and more! Babies, both Deaf or non-Deaf, can use sign language as early as 6 months, and this jump-starts the building blocks of language which provides babies with many benefits that would last a lifetime!

🔗 More Information & Registration

For more information and to register, please visit the race page: ASL-for-All 5K.