Deaf Custodian, Surprised By Kindergartners On His Birthday, Bursts Into Tears

Nov 05, 2018 by apost team

Birthdays are a time to celebrate and have some fun. Even when you are no longer a child, it is still nice when people remember your birthday. If you are like most people, you have probably heard the “Happy Birthday” song many times over the years.

Interestingly, this song is one of the most popular songs to ever be sung in English. Over the years, it has been translated into at least 18 other languages. It also appears in at least 143 movies. Children are especially fond of this song. It is easy to sing, and it means that birthday cake is about to arrive.

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In most kindergarten classes, this song is always sung when someone has a birthday. Most of the time, it is sung in English since that is the one language shared by most students. In one amazing case, a bunch of kindergarten students learned American Sign Language (ASL) to sing to the deaf janitor at their school.

About 500,000 people use ASL in Canada and the United States. In Tennessee, one group of kindergarten students wanted to make their custodian, Mr. James, have an amazing birthday. He was about to turn 60 years old, but he was deaf. He would not be able to hear or understand their song in English.

Instead, the students at Hickerson Elementary School decided to learn sign language instead. Principal Jimmy Anderson told a local news station about how much the children adored their beloved janitor.

Mr. James is known for being an amazing role model. He regularly teaches the children sign language and has worked in the school district for more than 30 years. For the last 15 years, he has worked at Hickerson Elementary School.

To show how much they love Mr. James, the students decided to make a birthday greeting for him. With the help of Nurse Angela, Ms. Alyssa and Ms. Amy, they learned how to sing the song in ASL. As you can see in the 30-second video, the children did a truly amazing job.

The video starts with Mr. James strolling into the room. As soon as he walks in, all of the children start singing in sign language. You can easily see how surprised and happy Mr. James is. Now, this video is touching hearts around the world. Check it out right here:

Did the video warm up your heart? Have you ever experienced a similarly wonderful surprise? Pass this wonderful story on to your friends to spread the love.