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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> State-affiliate-leadership-list [mailto:state-affiliate-leadership-list-bounces@nfbnet.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>charlene smyth<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, November 12, 2012 2:34 PM<br><b>To:</b> NFB Chapter Presidents discussion list; NFB Affiliate Presidents List; State Affiliate Leadership List<br><b>Subject:</b> [State-affiliate-leadership-list] 7 West Virginians Certified in Literary Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>West Virginia's first vice-president, Ed McDonald, made me aware of this. I am proud of West Virginia for this accomplishment and wanted to share it with all of you.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Charlene Smyth</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>NFBWV President</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Our colleague Sheila Amato assures me that it is OK to share with you the<br>information below.<br>As many of you know, Sheila is a Member at Large of NFBWV. She moved to West<br>Virginia after retiring as a teacher of blind and visually impaired children<br>in the state of New York, and she continues to teach a number of online<br>university level courses in Braille.<br>Last spring she coordinated the Braille Challenge in the state, and she<br>recently conducted the National Certification in Literary Braille exam at<br>the School for the Blind. Below are the results of the exam which she shared<br>with me. We congratulate these individuals, and perhaps we need to encourage<br>more of our VI teachers to seek certification.<br>Ed<br>Hi, Ed - just thought you would smile to hear this news. Seven candidates<br>tested on the National Certification in Literary Braille test on October 10<br>at the school for the blind, and all of them passed the test. According to<br>Dr. Eddie Bell of the National Professional Blindness Certification Board,<br>this is the first time in his 5 years involvement with this certification<br>process that there was 100% passing rate at a test administration.<br>So the state of West Virginia now boasts a 5th place ranking in the nation<br>with folks certified in literary braille.<br>LA = 34 (this is the home for the NPBCB; they offer this test once a month)<br>CA = 26 (home for California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually<br>Impaired)<br>MD = 9 (national headquarters for the National Federation of the Blind)<br>TX and VA = 8<br>NM and WV 7<br>Sheila</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></body></html>