[Cabs-talk] A blast from the past!

[Michael Peterson]

California Association of Blind Students Seminar-A Success!
By Ronit Ovadia, First Vice-President, CABS
Robert Stigile, President, California Association of Blind Students
Robert Stigile, President, California
Association of Blind Students
>From November of last year to this April, the California Association of 
Blind Students
(CABS) board and I worked on a student seminar, which took place April 5, 
2003, in
the Bay Area at the Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco. This seminar 
was geared
toward high school students, although there were also college students who 
attended.
The title of the seminar was "The Road to Success," and several topics 
important
to blind high-schoolers were addressed. Being new to the board, this was 
quite an
experience for me. However, I was excited to be involved and honored that I 
was chosen
as the leader of the planning committee for this event. I had never planned 
anything
of this kind before, and there were so many details to be considered. 
Everything
from who we should invite to speak to what we should serve for lunch were 
important
issues we discussed and planned. We also worked on outreach, and several 
schools
and teachers were contacted to let them know about our seminar.
After so many months of planning, the big day finally arrived. All of us 
were nervous,
thinking that we wouldn't have enough people because our RSVP list had only 
a few
names on it. However, we had about 10 students who came, along with parents 
and teachers
of these students. This was the first exciting part for me; seeing the 
students actually
arrive and register. In the morning, we had all sorts of speakers discussing 
several
different topics. Nancy Burns, president of the NFBC, spoke about what the 
NFBC is
and attitudes about blindness. Patricia Leetz, a rehabilitation counselor 
from Alameda
County, gave tips on what rehabilitation services are available and how to 
make sure
you benefit from these services. Michael Thomas, who works for Social 
Security, gave
a talk about how Social Security is important for students as well as 
working adults.
We also covered the topic of training centers for the blind. I spoke about 
the process
I went through in order to attend the Colorado Center for the Blind this 
upcoming
summer. Finally, because we all like to have fun, we had a representative 
from the
Environmental Traveling Companions tell us about outdoor activities 
available to
blind people. Their programs include everything from rock climbing to river 
rafting,
water skiing and snow skiing. Throughout all these presentations, the 
audience was
involved and asked many good questions directed to each of the speakers. 
Several
of these questions initiated many conversations that continued into the 
lunch hour.
After our informative morning, we took a lunch break and served pizza and 
soda to
everyone. This was a great way to maintain contact with everybody throughout 
lunch,
and people really got to know one another during this time. Several of the 
CABS board
members talked with students and answered their questions during our lunch 
break.
During the afternoon session we divided the students, parents and teachers 
into three
discussion groups. Each group was led by one or two of our board members who 
had
pre-assigned topics to discuss, ranging from disability student offices, to 
rehabilitation,
to blindness training and even social skills and other social issues. After 
each
group had discussed their topics for half an hour, the groups cycled to the 
next
group, and after an hour and a half of discussion time, everyone had a 
chance to
meet with all the discussion leaders and get many of their questions 
answered. This
was a particularly successful activity, as everyone got involved. Whether 
they were
a student, a parent or teacher, they were able to ask their own questions 
and tailor
the discussion to meet their own needs.
Overall, this seminar was quite a success. We had an interested group and 
all our
activities seemed to be well received. Participation was a great part of 
this. Although
it was the first seminar I had planned, it went very well and I am hoping 
that I
will have the privilege to help plan our annual seminar for next year as 
well.
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