Covid-19 has led the world into a massive change of environment. Teachers were having to teach to black screens over Zoom throughout the majority of  last year. It was a major turnover for Camas High School (CHS)’s American Sign Language class (ASL). Nouri Marrakchi recently moved to Camas in the summertime to fill the spot that was left open due to the previous ASL teacher quitting.

“I have always had the heart of being a professional teacher who wants to share language and culture with hearing students so they can be able to build a bridge between the Deaf and Hearing communities,” Marrakchi said. 

Within learning and becoming an ASL teacher, Marrakchi has had many opportunities and struggles. “Masks are a game changer for all of us Deaf Teachers because there is no cultural mediation with facial expression and identifying their understanding for ASL in the classroom,” Marrakchi said. “Any difficulties with being a Deaf ASL Teacher is the transparency communication from school administrators, not being able to offer accommodations when necessary.” 

On a happier note, this is the first time in CHS history there has ever been two deaf teachers teaching sign language at once. For Marrakchi, that is one of his greatest experiences in life. The most important thing in Marrakchi’s opinion is being able to see students light up as they start to understand the importance of communication between hearing and deaf people within the community and getting to spread deaf awareness across Washington and the country.

Marrakchi was born deaf into an all-hearing family with his parents, sister, and brother. From Kindergarten to senior year of high school, Marrakchi was in public school with a Deaf Education Program with several other deaf kids. He described feeling isolated as a deaf individual since he tends to be very social.

After he graduated high school, Marrakchi went to university in Northern Colorado and went on to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Ed and a Masters Degree in teaching ASL. 

Most recently, Marrakchi has worked as a program director at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He also worked for five years teaching high school and then three years teaching at the college level. He then moved to Washington.

Since moving to Washington, Marrakchi has felt a big change. He was motivated to stay close to his brother, who is a fourth-year med student in Seattle. He had always wanted to move to Washington for the similarities of it to Colorado and the good Deaf Community. 

Marrakchi heard of a job in Camas from a friend. The friend was taking a masters course in Washington and told him about the assignment which led him to his current job, teaching ASL 2-3 at CHS.