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Oh Peggy what a fantastic project<br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature">
<div dir="ltr">Marsha</div>
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<blockquote type="cite">On Jul 25, 2024, at 2:38 PM, Peggy Chong via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">Aurora Chapter Presents Braille to the Aurora History Museum’s Summer Camp<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">By Peggy Chong<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">The Aurora History Museum held a summer camp with a focus on assorted styles of writing. On Thursday, July 25, 2024, NFB of Colorado Aurora Chapter members, Caroline
Graves and Curtis and Peggy Chong presented the unit on Braille to the campers. <o:p>
</o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">The 10 campers were between the ages of 7 and 12. They arrived between 8:30 and 8:45, sat in their chairs and shared what they ate for breakfast. Then, Aurora Chapter
members took over. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">Peggy began with an introduction to Braille and how blind people use it in our daily lives. Exhibits brought by our chapter included an UNO game, a Braille scrabble game,
and a Braille ruler. She said that they can ask questions, but “don’t raise your hand. Say your name and then I will know who you are and call on you.” The kids caught on right away.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">Curtis showed several varieties of slates such as a dymo slate and a card slate. He shared how we mark everyday items like CD’s and passed examples around the table.
He showed how to write Braille on a cell phone.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">Caroline, a retired elementary school and special ed teacher explained the Braille cell using Hershey’s Kisses. She told them not to eat the Kisses until they got home.
They practiced forming Braille letters and learning the pattern of the Braille system.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">Slates and styluses were passed out to each child along with index cards and a Braille alphabet card from the National Federation of the Blind. The campers could take
home their alphabet card. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">Peggy stood beside Caroline as she talked about the forming of Braille letters. With a 6-unit, silicone muffin pan, Peggy held up the pan to simulate a Braille cell and
pushed out and in, the proper cups of the pan to demonstrate the letters as Caroline called them out.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">They practiced writing first a full cell then got to write anything they wanted. Several brought their cards to Curtis to have him check their Braille. Some transposed
a few letters, but on their second try, some got it perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">After an hour we were supposed to stop, but the campers and staff said keep going. Caroline read a story from a Twin-Vision book while several of the kids kept on writing
Braille. Some campers gathered around Caroline to watch her read.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">A half hour past snack time, the Aurora History Museum staff reluctantly brought the session to a close. A Braille for the sighted word game and a Blind History Lady
handout on some of the blind ancestors of Colorado were left as an additional gift for the campers to take home.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext">The Aurora Chapter is planning more activities with the museum soon and hopes to continue to expand our input into the development of additional exhibits and programs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:windowtext"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
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