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The Alabama School for the Blind is in the midst of a very busy year. The senior class, consisting of seven students (6 girls!) is preparing for commencement day on May 19th. The speaker for the occasion is Debbie Grubb, who serves as an active executive board member for the American Council for the Blind. She will follow an earlier-in-the-day Baccalaureate presentation by Alabama Governor Don Siegleman.
One of our seniors, Beth Campbell, was recently named as one of 1,965 semi-finalists from over 117,000 applicants in the Coca Cola Scholarship Foundation competition...quite an accomplishment! Plans are in place for a summer training session to be held on campus in July for Alabama VI teachers in the areas of science education and tactile graphics. Teachers will live in dorms and receive training from ASB science and math staff as well as representatives from the Alabama Instructional Resource Center for the Blind, the ASB component responsible for Braille and large-print production for Alabama's blind and VI students.
Helen Keller School (HKS) students held their annual Spelling Bee on March 10th. The winner was Bruce Parker. Angel Waites came in second place and Otis Williams came in third. On March 17th, we had our own St. Patrick's Day Parade. All of the students were dressed in their formal attire and marched through the campus.
At the HKS Athletic Banquet, 19 student athletes were honored by our guest speaker, Mr. Alfred Baker, Head Basketball Coach from Talladega College. A special presentation was made to Teneeshia Gholston for participating in the World Games in North Carolina. Helen Keller students participated in the statewide 2000 Sectional Power Lifting Championship held on our campus. HKS participants were Bruce Parker, Renita Wilson, David Peterson, Shaun Thompson, DeeAnn Ikner, Sophia Smith, and Jimquita Peterson. A week-long Arts Festival has been planned for this spring. The week's activities include: Lee Bryan's Zany Zoo Show, a puppet factory where the students will make their own puppets, printmaking with Toby Richardson and the Children Dance Foundation will do a movement workshop with our students. In early May HKS will hold our annual Transition Awards Banquet and REUNION 2000 for all our alumni.
A California School for the Blind (CSB) committee of teachers, administrators, students, and dorm staff have worked together to create a series of culturally diverse educational programs. These monthly activities have been exciting, stimulating, and quite educational for both staff and students. Assemblies have been created to celebrate Chinese New Year, Black History Month, Asian Cultural Days, Native American Festivals, Cinco de Mayo, and Great Americans in History. Through music, dance, food tasting, storytelling, and historical exhibits students learn about the differences in cultures and the values that we all share. For example, Chinese students participated in the traditional dragon dance. Congolese drummers and an array of home-cooked African-American foods were sampled by all. These activities have brought CSB staff and students closer together.
?With lots of construction on campus; a new state accreditation process; a new integrated database for student information (grades and transcripts coming online soon); students traveling to Washington, D.C. for Close-Up, to Florida for Goalball, and to Oregon to study the ocean; and with a new math series in hand and language books on order - we have lots of change and lots of opportunity. We are reminded of the Chinese curse and blessing, "May you live in interesting times." This is truly an exciting time to be working at the Colorado School for Deaf and Blind (CSDB).
ISVI high school students joined students from Jacksonville High School to present a special program for Black History Month. The combined presentation was presented at both JHS and ISVI. This cooperative program is coordinated by Residential Service Director Polly Williams. Seven students from ISVI traveled to Oak Brook, Illinois to attend the Third Annual Illinois Student Technology Conference. The conference is for students by students, All concurrent sessions we given by students from throughout Illinois. This is the third year ISVI students have participated. Last year the group presented a session on the technology they use in the classroom.
It's expected to be a first-of-its-kind book. Powerful...Attention-grabbing... And created by Jacksonville, Illinois teens about a passion they share - sports. The brainchild of educators at Illinois School for the Visually Impaired (ISVI) and Jacksonville High School (JHS), teens from JHS, Ms. Sandi Buchholz' Children's Literature class and ISVI, Ms. Barbara Shoup-Raabe's English class will soon publish a book for younger kids that will be in bookstores all over the country. Published by WeWrite Corporation, the book will be created within a workshop setting. Illustrator Norman E. Calmese will sketch while the teens brainstorm and act out story ideas about playing sports even if you can't see.
The kids are 'swimmin' at the Indiana School for the Blind (ISB)! The ribbon to the new $3.65 million aquatic center ribbon was cut in December. The six-lane pool has a diving well and separate instructional area for small children. ISB will host the upcoming North Central Association of Schools for the Visually Handicapped (NCASVH) swimming tournament.
Last legislative session the governance of the school was changed from the Department of Health to a 10-member school board appointed by the governor. The board has been meeting formally since September, but the changeover will not occur until a transition plan is approved by the governor. The board is developing policies and memoranda of understanding with the departments in state government. The change is expected to take place by July 1, 2000.
The Kentucky School for the Blind's KIDS Outreach Director Linda Smith and KIDS Consultant Cathy Johnson were awarded Exceptional Service Awards from the Kentucky AER Chapter. The awards were presented in March at the organization's state conference at Barren River State Park.
The Kentucky School for the Blind (KSB) introduced the Braille Carnival in 1994 as an end-of-the-year activity. In 1998, it was moved to January in observance of Braille Literacy Month. This year, 17 elementary school-aged children from across Kentucky joined nine KSB students for a two-hour whirl of carnival-type games designed to provide practice of Braille skills for children at readiness levels through accomplished Braille readers.
The Braille Carnival, held in the middle of January, did more than chase away the doldrums of winter from the hearts and minds of youngsters who are blind and visually impaired. It was an invigorating way to incorporate the use of braille skills and to celebrate Braille Literacy month. The Braille Carnival gave young students who are blind and visually impaired the opportunity to become confident with their braille skills in a relaxed and recreational learning environment and to discover that BRAILLE IS FUN!
CONGRATULATIONS, MARYLAND SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND STUDENTS! More than a dozen Maryland School for the Blind (MSB) students will have their artwork displayed at the Circle Gallery at City Hall March 21 - April 28. We sure do have some talented students! These students include: Darion Anderson, Demonte Austin, Christina Campbell, Marlena Bogden, Brandy Brown, Reina Brown, Jessica Floyd, Flint Follet, Amanda Garrett, Jennifer Hamilton, Lindsey Holmes, Calvin Jackson, Lisa Johnson, Jessica Markle, Michael Moore, Bobby Smith, Leomar Valle and Paul Weller.
In keeping with its mission to assist students to live productive lives, Missouri School for the Blind (MSB) has formed a partnership with the Koalaty Kid Alliance and local business leaders. The program is designed to train educators to engage students in the educational process and to achieve continuous improvement that will positively impact student self-esteem, responsibility, excellence and self-motivation to learn. Dr. Ann Raines from the American Society of Quality is the primary trainer. Representatives from Anheuser-Busch, Bausch & Lomb and Graybar serve as backup trainers, along with Dr. Yvonne Howze, Superintendent. The first two days of training included both principals and 10 other staff. Training focused on the continued application of the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM).
During the initial training session team members learn how TQM principles and tools are applied to the educational environment. The team then select one or more quality improvement efforts in the school to practice using their new skills. MSB staff selected two major projects - "Communication of Student Needs" and "Student Problem Solving." The team will also work on four other topics related to enhancement of learning. As the teams work on their projects, trainers provide follow-up consulting and training. At the end of the first year, team members will train as facilitators and then return to MSB to train more faculty and staff. As more people become involved, more quality improvement projects are undertaken. Ultimately, the goal is to make this ongoing improvement process "second nature" in the school.
?St. Joseph's School for the Blind is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a celebration for U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg on Monday, June 5, 2000 in honor of his distinguished career and upcoming retirement. Senator Lautenberg was instrumental in assisting St. Joseph's with securing funding for it's Concordia House residential facility. The midday event is expected to be attended by students, staff, board members, local, state and federal politicians, and supporters of St. Joseph's School for the Blind.
This is the third consecutive year that the New York Institute For Special Education sent Student Council officers, representatives, and staff advisors to the National Association of Student Councils' Convention. We are especially proud of their participation because we are the only school for special education in attendance. The organization itself represents more than 1.5 million students across the country. Topics covered at the conference included improving leadership skills, as well as developing new ideas for student activities. Sessions presented by motivational speakers emphasized the theme that Student Council members serving in the schools today will be leaders in the work places and communities of tomorrow.
The North Dakota School for the Blind opened a Braille Access Center on July 1, 1999. A full time Braillist has been hired with Braille production services centralized in one office. An array of Braille materials have been produced including agendas, reports, personal correspondence, poetry, menus, training materials, business cards, brochures, catalogs, newsletters, IEP's and more. Volunteers are utilized for proofreading, scanning, editing, and formatting. Several Braille related activities were conducted during January 2000, in recognition of Braille Literacy Month as declared by the governor of North Dakota.
Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB) is nearing completion of its four-year award-winning project, "Overbrook 2001." The project is school-wide; each student has his or her own workstation with the appropriate access programs installed. Teacher training has been important to the success of the program and upgrading of hardware and software will continue as needed. Response from across the country has been positive regarding the publishing of the Braille Literacy curriculum, the first publication of OSB's Towers Press.
Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children is piloting a classroom program in horticulture therapy. Intermediate age students are having the opportunity to engage in a number of interesting experiences with plants. Our teachers are finding horticulture to be a nice curricular addition for students with moderate to severe disabilities who participate in a life skill program. In fact, it's a natural addition for the Recreation/Leisure Domain.
We are having great success with the Scholar (Braille N' Speak). One of our techies, Lee Speer, has an article in RE:View concerning transferring files from BNS to Scholar. We are thankful to have people like him to help us all. The students here have signed no taunting pledges, are doing a prevention curriculum called PATHs and we had a "Peace Begins with Me" rally.
We are applying best practices (Accelerated Reader programming, Math and Science Hub resources, Reading Recovery, Four Block Language Arts, and VIISA for preschoolers) in regular education subjects to our special education curriculum. We can't wait to see our accountability data. Dr. Breitweiser is lobbying for a month of extra school (June) to help give us time to teach all we need to our students. We will be offering Orientation and Mobility for the Classroom Teacher this July if you have a need to take this class at the graduate level.
On their 150th Anniversary and to the newly created Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
In Wisconsin two major happenings... We are celebrating our 150th anniversary of serving blind and visually impaired. Our celebration will include remarks by various dignitaries, renaming parts of the building, and an open house. Second, the state legislature passed a bill creating the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Under this umbrella will be the residential school.
Volume 6, No. 2, April 2000 Contents
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