[Cabs-talk] A blast from the past!

[Michael Peterson]

    Hi Justin. I found it in the NFBC Journal.  I was actually doing a 
search for articles from "The spokesman" which was the publication name when 
Sharon Gold was president.  I didn't find it but did find a "spokesman 
Article reprinted in the Journal by Jim Willows about pat Munson.  I began 
thumbing through the table of contents and this article popped up.
Mike
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Justin Harford" <jharford at calmail.berkeley.edu>
To: "California Association of Blind Students Mailing List" 
<cabs-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Cabs-talk] A blast from the past!


> Hi there
>
> Where did this come from?  May we post it on the CABS page?  Perhaps  as 
> part of a newsletter from 2003?
>
> Regards
> Justin Harford
> Secretary
> On Nov 15, 2009, at 2:39 PM, Michael Peterson wrote:
>
>> 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.
>> Previous
>>
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>
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