Have you seen Christmas songs performed without a single word sung?

The South Kitsap High School American Sign Language club and classes did just that. They presented their 2015 Christmas ASL Concert Dec. 7.

Three levels of sign-language students performed classic holiday favorites as well as holiday pop culture songs.

While the actual songs played over the loud speakers to a full auditorium, the students celebrated the holidays by performing their chosen songs in front of family and friends.

“Each individual student chose the songs they wanted to sign in the performance,” Elizabeth Cordy, the sign language teacher at South Kitsap, said. “For each class, they had to choose one song that they agreed to sign together.”

Songs in the concert included “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “Mary Did You Know,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

Cordy said students start practicing at the end of October for the Christmas show. Some performed solos, others as duets and the classes also performed as a group.

“As individuals or duets, they had to practice on their own time,” she said. “For the class groups, we practice for 15 to 20 minutes during class time.”

Cordy said it took her a while to correct the students’ signs and remind them to show facial expressions while performing.

After with the Christmas concert, the sign language club and classes host a spring ASL concert in April.

“Some students are ready to start practicing for the spring already,” Cordy said. “It’s amazing to see the students grow in their love for sign language music.”

Cordy is really proud of the students improvement in the language.

“I am amazed that they are doing fabulously with great improvement of their skills and facial expressions,” she said. “The time they put in for this evening really paid off well.”