USM Students Serve as Translator Between Santa and Deaf children

This past Saturday, a group of Southern Miss sign language students helped spread Christmas cheer to visitors at the de l’Epee Deaf Center in Gulfport.

Families from across the Mississippi Gulf Coast came out for the center’s annual ‘Breakfast with Santa,’ which involves pancakes, games, and of course the meet and greet with St. Nicholas himself.

The role of the Southern Miss students was to use hand signals to explain the rules of the games to visitors, translate their Christmas wishes back to Santa, as well as share holiday stories both out loud and through sign language.

Here’s a heartwarming video from WLOX’s Andrés Fuentes of one student serving as an interpreter between Santa and a young child.