[NFBWATlk] Recap of February meeting and important links

[Kris Colcock]

Hello Everyone,

Well, it has been almost a week since our last meeting. Truly
wonderful visiting with you all and getting to know everyone better.
Here is a recap of the items we discussed:

1. An idea of making braille fun was suggested with a braille BINGO /
Scavenger hunt. To incorporate exploration and encourage braille use,
it was suggested to have braille bingo cards created or a lists made
and students mark off when they find something. Either some "braille
graffiti or specific items.

2. It is looking like the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is our
most favorable field trip for Friday. I believe Bear (Chris Higley is
looking into this)

3. We need to have people start filling the volunteer forms so "i's"
can be dotted and "t's" crossed. Here is the link to the form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdcHzdKsqGGfc6VZo1KLOXmSYM3Yeo6H75lH7hP2sC-YvHf4g/viewform?usp=sf_link

4. Here is the link to the registration form for our students. Share
it widely https://nfb.org/form/bell-combo-reg

6. I thought I had previously sent out Save the Date flyers. However,
I cannot find them on my drive. I have sent an email to the national
office and when I receive the flyers I will send them out immediately.

7. Remember our BELL Training during the convention. This is a 2 hour
training and we will have another in-person training in May or June.
Dates will be discussed soon.

8. Our next Zoom gathering will be on March 18th at 7pm. Please mark
your calendars.

9. We will have tables at both the NW AER conference and the WSSB
Track Meet. If you would like Justin or I to talk to a group of
parents or teachers please let us know.

Finally Angi shared with us a wonderful story about a student from
last year. This student came to us knowing no braille at age 13. By
the time she left the BELL Academy she knew the alphabet. Since then
she has been asking to be taught braille at school. Her TVI felt that
the residual vision she has was sufficient and there was not a need
for braille. Angi helped the student advocate for herself through
email. The result is that starting in February, the TVI said OK but
that they would start the student at Kindergarten level. the student
has progressed through the Kindergarten level, 1st grade level and as
I understand things is well into the 2nd grade level of braille. Also,
the student remembered the contraction for "and" as well as "the". The
TVI was surprised as they had not covered that conraction yet. The
student informed the TVI they they had learned it over the summer at
the BELL Academy. Thank you Angi for sharing this. If I have it all
correct, I'd like to share the story as it is with our National office
as well as with the parents at our convention. This is a great example
of lighting the desire to learn braille by being exposed in a fun way.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Kris