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Compiled and edited by
Stuart H. Wittenstein, Ed.D
Superintendent, California School for the Blind
The employees at the AIDB believe in their work. So much, that 96 percent gave to this year's Employee Campaign. "What a fantastic response from our employees," chairperson Sharon Gooden said. "Together, with everyone doing their part, we raised $37,472.14—outstanding!"
ASB is involved in a mentoring project with students from our local community colleges. The college students receive credit for a class that includes classroom instruction on working with young people and for mentoring a student five hours per week. They also receive pay for the mentoring time. Mentors help with homework, serve as role models, and do fun activities. Students from both ASB and PCC have learned and grown a great deal.
In February, to continue our commitment to literacy at CSB, we held two very special events: our first annual Braille Bee and the Braille Connection Day. At the Braille Bee, 28 students proved their knowledge of Grade 2 contractions in front of their classmates. One student said afterward, "I'm going to study all year, so that I can do better in the next Braille Bee." The Braille Connection Day featured a panel discussion by blind staff members at CSB about the uses of braille in the workplace and at home and a history of tactile reading from the superintendent Stuart Wittenstein. Over 100 community members from several blindness support organizations then viewed APH's "Tactile Writing System Reproductions" and CSB's collection of antique braille writing machines.
CSDB will celebrate its 125th Anniversary 1998-99. The search is on for lost CSDB alumni who are blind or visually impaired. If you know the whereabouts of anyone matching this description, please ask them to contact us to have their names added to the most wanted list. A spot on the list entitles them to the very earliest notification of events surrounding the School's celebration. Contact Mike Witter at (719) 578-2248 or write him c/o CSDB, 33 N. Institute Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3599.
Busy year! Girls' and boys' Goalball teams: national high school champions. Ski club: two trips to Colorado. Space Academy and Close Up. State High School Competency Test: 88 percent. Peer counseling; Chorus; Jazz Band; Enrichment Ensemble performances; Drama Club; Amateur Radio Club; Future Homemakers; Scouts; Animation Club; Herb Garden Club; Student Council; Career preparation; business partners; veterinary assisting; landscape operations; information processing; early childhood; food production and services; teacher assisting; marketing/retail; summer programs; remedial academics; enrichment; technology upgrade; facility renovation.
There are exciting activities for students and employees. We're all on the Net!! Georgia Academy for the Blind computers now have Internet Access through MindSpring and PeachNet. It's going to be an E-lectronic year! We are also continuing our communication connections with Cellular One with Internet access, homework hotline, and telecommunications with parents and local schools statewide. Cellular service is again sponsored by Palmer Wireless Communications.
The Idaho School has had a great year. The winter camp was a huge success, and we’re looking forward to our summer experience camp on the campus in June for the 7-14 year olds. We are very optimistic that we will again be able to offer the two-week summer training for paraprofessionals working with visually impaired and blind children in public schools. This would introduce them to braille, orientation and mobility, technology, and self-help, to name just a few.
Indiana, like many states throughout the country, has legislatively passed high stakes testing in order for students to be eligible for a high school diploma. Unlike may other states, however, Indiana has determined that all special education students will take the high stakes test along with non-disabled students. Reasonable accommodations as determined by the students' IEP may be used during test administration. However, it appears that the exam that is currently being used is less than reliable for many special education students. Staff members from the Indiana School for the Blind are actively working with CTBS-McGraw Hill to develop a test that will more accurately reflect the skill levels of blind and visually impaired students. Currently, many of the test questions are omitted because of the visual concepts and also portions of the test requiring applications have been omitted due to the difficulty blind and visually impaired students have with graphs and other application concepts.
The Des Moines Register, Iowa's leading newspaper, ran a front page story about three IBSSS wrestlers competing in the NCASVH Conference wrestling championship tournament in Indianapolis in January. The story featured Bre-Aun Elsey who finished first; Shaun Elsey who finished second; and John Patterson who finished fourth. Many favorable comments from across the state were heard by staff and students alike. It gave Iowa Braille another reason to be proud of our 146-year heritage serving blind students.
KSSB is developing an integrated learning experience based upon the Oregon Trail and the Westward Expansion. This summer, students will study the actual journals of those who traveled the trail; visit museums dedicated to the subject; help build an outdoor scale model (1"=1 mile) of the trail; and then travel up the Oregon Trail camping and visiting key points of interest. The two-week program will integrate historical research, literature, logistical planning, arts, and outdoor skills into one action-packed adventure. We are interested in future collaboration with other schools in the region of the trail.
KSB is planning now for five summer enrichment programs to begin in June. Two unique opportunities for students who are blind and visually impaired are the week-long art and computer camps. Art camp will cover architectural and landscape design, folk art, and the art of storytelling. Computer camp will explore a wide range of networking opportunities. In addition, KSB will run a two-week camp for elementary students. Middle and high school students can participate in a two-week enrichment program, and/or work programs throughout the community scheduled for two weeks in June and two weeks in July.
MSB is excited about assistive technology, so much so that this year two of its staff have been assigned as assistive technology specialists. They both received Master's Degrees from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in Assistive Technology prior to being assigned to their current positions. They, along with our computer specialist and President Lou Tutt, presented at the DC/MD AER Conference in Ocean City, MD last month. For more information about MSB's Assistive Technology program, please contact Karin Nord at 410-444-5000, ext. 224.
MSAB in partnership with State Services for the Blind and the Resource Center: Blind/Visually Impaired has produced materials to assist other states to implement a Family Transition Weekend in their own State. Materials include a video, handbook, and computer disk to guide program planners in replicating this very unique family training program originally developed in Texas. Materials will be available soon by contacting Elaine Sveen at MSAB.
If you want to make a difference in someone's life—volunteer. At MSB, we are partnered with one of the largest volunteer agencies committed to children, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Inc. Our school will be collaborating on numerous projects with this group included: "Teach One" matches adult men and women with children in a school setting; the "Mentoring Program" empowers youth to develop a sense of self-worth and responsibility; and through a customized program, "Sports Day" enables youth to attend major sporting events in St. Louis with an opportunity to meet famous sports celebrities. We plan to include many MSB students and staff in these programs.
St. Joseph's School for the Blind (SJSB) is providing in-service training and technical assistance to the Liberty Science Center (LSC) in Jersey City. LSC is an innovative museum and is the only hands-on science center in the New York Metropolitan area. The center is hoping to make their exhibits more accessible to blind and visually impaired patrons. LSC is providing evening programming to our residential students. SJSB has also enrolled nine students in the "Learning for Life" program with the Boy Scouts of America. The program will focus on self-sufficiency and enhancing coping skills. Additional areas to be covered include self-concept development, personal and social skills, and life skills for independent living.
Goalball, wrestling and cheerleading were the focus of the EAAB Winter Tournament 1998, and the Sports Team of NYISE were ready for the competition. Skill, spirit, and success were the key words as our cheerleaders cheered their way to first place, and our wrestling team pinned their way to second place. After an initial setback, our goalball team reached an astonishing first place, first-time championship victory! Congratulations to our accomplished athletes and their dedicated coaches: Robert Tripodi and Luisa Iadeluca (Goalball), Jack Cuggy and Richard Baez (Wrestling), and Rosalind Wright (Cheerleading).
The Governor Morehead School is in the eighth month of a mandatory 12-month cycle of school improvement planning under the ABC's Plan in NC. Following adoption of new Mission and Vision statements, student outcome measures and process indicators were reviewed. Internal working groups will focus on identified deficits, and a strategic plan will be in place by July. Pilot programs including alternate testing in reading and math will be initiated in 1998-99 with state financial incentives and consequences flowing from the gains, or lack thereof, based on comparisons of 1999-2000 outcomes with those from 1998-99.
Career Week has been such a popular event at the NDSB that this year we have provided two Career Weeks in addition to our Independent Living Week offered during the summer. During these weeks, high school students from ND and MN job shadow and work at local businesses to gain vocational experiences and explore a variety of jobs to better prepare them for their future after high school. They also have opportunities to speak with professors at the university or technical college, as well as tour these facilities. The Comprehensive Vocational Evaluation System also serves as a valuable tool in determining a student's vocational future.
OSB recently received a grant that has provided funds for transition of students with multiple disabilities. A job coach was hired to provide employer contacts and develop job and market analyses to obtain jobs for our students in the community. To date, we have one student working at a major department store and two working as assemblers in a local manufacturing facility. Five students will be placed at another local assembly plant immediately after our Spring Break.
The faculty at Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind Children has written a monograph entitled the "100 Most Commonly Used Terms." This brief lexicon defines terms that are used routinely in dealing with families. The document has been written primarily for families with the intention of helping parents better understand the language of special education. A copy can be obtained by calling Janet Simon at 412-621-0100.
Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received a Silver Place $10,000 award from Compaq. The award is for the teacher training program the school is using as part of the Overbrook 2001 technology project. The second phase of our campus accessibility project is complete. We have a new classroom, several accessible bathrooms, and an elevator that gives access to the second floor in the main building.
South Carolina is sprouting braille everywhere. Dr. Sheila Breitweiser is still on the go with many projects—two just about braille. One is a Braille Literacy Seminar that the school co-hosted with NFB of SC. The seminar was a statewide effort with Commission for the Blind staff, Teachers of VI, State Department of Education staff, and School for the Blind staff in attendance with Dr. M. Rydes and Dr. Deborah Hatton as guest speakers. The other project is a start to having the SC Prison agencies braille textbooks and materials needed by students in the state. If you have any information that might assist us in starting this project please e-mail Dr. B at sbreitweiser@scsdb.k12.sc.us.
For the past several years, TSBVI has surveyed its "customers" to determine their level of satisfaction with services received during regular school year programs, summer programs, and through Outreach services. Those surveyed each year are asked to rate their satisfaction: with progress in identified areas; with benefits identified by the parent and school district for summer programs; and with overall satisfaction of TSBVI’s services and personnel.
The Outreach Program surveys parents, professionals, and paraprofessionals concerning the effectiveness of workshops and onsite visits as well as satisfaction with the statewide Instructional Materials Center. TSBVI is contacted several times each year to provide examples of its customer satisfaction surveys to other schools for the blind or deaf and to other state agencies. We use this valuable information to drive strategic planning of our programs as well as to prove accountability to the State Legislature and to the citizens of Texas.
Springtime greetings to you from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia (VSDB-Staunton)! TEMP, The Extra Mile Program, our new short course program, is beginning to take off! During each quarter of the 1998-99 school year, we will offer an intensive two-week program in Independent Living Skills for students with a visual impairment who are not enrolled in our regular program. We are very excited with this new programming concept!
The Braille Access Center at the WA School for the Blind has formed a partnership with the Women's Corrections Center of Washington. Inmates are being trained in the use of Mega Dots braille translation software and will be working with the Braille Access Center and Washington Instructional Resource Center to develop a system to increase quality capacity of braille.
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