[Mt-blind] MSDB Easter egg hunt:

[Jerry Hutch]

Great Falls Tribune. MT, USA
Wednesday, April 04, 2007

MSDB Easter egg hunt: Students follow the beeps

By KRISTEN CATES, Staff Writer
An Easter egg hunt generally involves using several senses, including 
sight.

When children are visually impaired, an Easter egg hunt might seem out 
of the question, but not for students at the Montana School for the Deaf 
and the Blind.

A group of youngsters got the chance Monday morning to hunt in the gym 
for beeping Easter eggs created by Qwest Pioneers.
"They can hear those eggs beeping and create a plan of attack," said 
Carol Clayton-Bye, a teacher in the visually impaired department.

Student volunteers like Samantha Ellis and Melissa Lane, both 16 and 
visually impaired, hid the eggs in baskets and underneath the play 
equipment spread throughout the gym.

Initially, the egg hunt was supposed to be held outside, but snow forced 
the festivities indoors.

Ellis said she was busy all morning hiding the beeping eggs and turning 
them on.

"They were annoying," she said.

But fun nonetheless.

"The kids seemed to like it," Lane said.

Diane Moog, principal of MSDB, said the students look forward to the 
annual Easter egg hunt.

Qwest Pioneers, a volunteer organization comprised of active and retired 
Qwest employees as well as retirees from Bell System companies, 
developed the beeping eggs.

Charlie Fairbanks developed the special egg in 1964. Fairbanks was a 
telephone engineer who wanted to create an audio ball for students to 
play with at the Colorado School for the Blind.

That morphed into an old L'eggs pantyhose case, which was shaped like an 
egg, said Reid Edwards of Qwest Pioneers.

A battery, telephone speaker and electronic speaker board were added to 
create the beeping sounds.

"I guess one mind got to working with another mind to put them 
together," Edwards said.

The technology hasn't evolved much in the past 40 years, said Russ 
Cravens, a Qwest Pioneer from Helena, except now the eggshell is a bit 
sturdier than the pantyhose case.

"We've helped keep those maintained so the kids can enjoy them," Cravens 
said.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463 or 
kcates at greatfallstribune.com.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/NEWS01/704040314/1002 


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