[Fabs] NABS October Bulletin!

Wed Oct 6 04:06:54 UTC 2010

National Association of Blind Students
>From the Desk of the President
October 5, 2010

1.  NABS Reps are Here for You!
2.  This Month's Conference Call: Science and More!
3.  NABS Kicks off Pennies for Pages Fund-Raiser!
4.  Announcement from Virginia!
5.  Minutes from Last NABS Board Meeting!

NABS Reps are Here for You!
Are you hoping to organize a new student division at your state
convention this year? Is your division looking for new ideas or
planning a change of leadership? Are you looking for advice from
someone who is experienced in organizing and leading student
divisions? The NABS board are here to help! Our NABS officers travel
across the country each year attending many of our NFB state
conventions and helping your state divisions connect with the national
NABS.  If you would like to have a NABS board representative come to
your next state convention, student seminar, or other event, you can
request a NABS rep by going to our website,
www.nabslink.org
and filling out the online form.  Also, check out the "About Us" page
of our website to find out which NABS board member is assigned to your
state.

This Month’s Conference Calls: Science and More!
**This month we will be having two conference calls: one for blind
students and one for their parents! Below is information about the
student call; information about the parent call will be sent out in a
separate message.

Attention All Students!
Ever been curious about what majors and specializations blind
individuals have had in the past? Have you ever felt like learning
about fields such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math-
(STEM), are “too difficult”? Do alternative techniques a blind person
may use in such fields just baffle you?
If any of the above apply to you-
Please attend the Membership phone call, presented by the Membership
Committee of the National Association of Blind Students. We are going
to cover concerns, techniques, and generalized information about how
blind students can participate on equal terms with their sighted
peers, even when focusing on STEM fields.
Date: Sunday, October 17, 2010
When: 7 pm EST #
Where: NABS conference line- (712)775-7100 Code: 257963#.
Why: TO learn and network with other blind students who wish to
pursuer careers, or just get to know about opportunities in the STEM
fields for the blind.
We will discuss items such as the NASA Excel program, Youth Slam, the
Junior Science Academy, etc… We are open to all types of technique
questions, resource question, to be answered by the guest speaker and
the committee. Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Membership Committee
National Association of Blind Students
3. NABS Kicks off Pennies for Pages 2010-2011!
Sean Whalen, second vice-president of NABS, writes:
Greetings to all members and friends of NABS,

I am writing to announce and solicit your participation in an exciting
fundraising effort that the National Association of Blind Students is
currently undertaking. The fundraiser is our second annual Pennies for
Pages, and is being run in conjunction with the NFB’s Braille Readers
are Leaders contest. We believe that this fundraiser has a lot of
potential. However, in order to realize this potential, we need help
from all of you!

The idea is this. Students, or anybody else who is interested in
helping to raise money for Braille literacy and our national and state
student divisions, can sign up to participate in the Braille Readers
are Leaders program and then solicit donations from friends, family,
or anybody really, for Braille pages read throughout the duration of
the contest. Of course, donations of fixed sums are also gratefully
accepted.

If you are already participating in either the K-12 or Adult Braille
Readers are Leaders contests, you can simply register with NABS as a
reader and find people to sponsor you for each page you read. To
register as a reader with NABS, please fill the online form at:
www.nabslink.org/pennies_for_pages/pennies_form.php
Or contact Sean Whalen at smwhalenpsp at gmail.com or 608 332-4147.

If you are not yet signed up for the contest, no worries! The reading
contest runs from November 1, 2010 through January 4, 2011, and
registration for Braille Readers are Leaders is open now, and will
remain open throughout the duration of the contest. To register for
either the K-12 or Adult Braille Readers are Leaders Contests, please
go to www.nfb.org/bral. And, remember, once you have registered for
the contest, sign up with NABS to participate in our Pennies for Pages
fundraising effort!

If, rather than registering as a reader, you would like to support
NABS’ efforts by sponsoring a reader, or making a fixed donation,
please either register as a sponsor at:
www.nabslink.org/pennies_for_pages/pennies_form.php
or contact Sean Whalen at smwhalenpsp at gmail.com or 608 332-4147.

Donations can be accepted in cash or as checks made out to the
National Association of Blind Students and can be given to our
Treasurer, Nijat Worley, either in person at Washington Seminar or
sent, via postal mail, to:

Nijat Worley
2905 East College Ave, Unit 106
Boulder, CO 80303

If you wish to participate or have any questions at all about the
plan, please contact Sean Whalen at either 608-332-4147 or
smwhalenpsp at gmail.com. I will be compiling the list of participants
and would be happy to answer any questions which anybody might have.

Any money we raise through Pennies for Pages will be shared, in equal
portions, between NABS, the National Association to Promote the Use of
Braille, and the state student divisions (or affiliates) in which the
readers reside.

NABS looks forward to working together to raise money for, and promote
awareness of, Braille literacy!

Sincerely,

Sean Whalen

4. Announcement from Virginia:
Accessible technology is helpful, but it can be hard to learn how
students use it in the classroom. Orientation and mobility training is
useful, but many students aren't sure how to apply their skills to new
surroundings...especially a busy mass-transit system like that in the
greater Washington, DC area. And working to get electronic textbooks
can make the already burdensome life a student even more hectic. Well
at this year's NFB of Virginia convention, students will gain hands-on
experience, access to successful students, and directly applicable
strategies for all of these situations. Our convention will be held
November 12-14 at the Marriott Fairview Park in Falls Church, in
Northern Virginia just outside Washington, DC. We welcome all students
-- from junior high through graduate school -- to learn with us. We
will have a set of activities that parallel the state convention, so
students will get the most of the general sessions and specific
student-focused activities. For details and to register, please
contact Student Division President Corbb O'Connor at corbbo at gmail.com
or (202) 684-6130. If finances are tough for you and your family,
please let us know. We will work with you to make the convention
experience possible. We look forward to seeing you in Falls Church!
5.  Minutes from Last NABS Board Meeting:
The NABS board meets by monthly teleconference to discuss and plan
upcoming NABS programs and activities.  In order to let you be better
informed about what we are doing, we decided to start attaching the
minutes from each board meeting to the following month’s bulletin,
beginning with October.  The minutes are attached to this email.  If
you have any questions or suggestions for items that you’d like us to
discuss in future meetings, feel free to write to me directly at
Nabs.president at gmail.com

On 10/2/10, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
> Greetings Nabsters
>  The Nabs board is  busily making  plans  to aquire auction items for
> this January’s Washington seminar, and  is seeking   assistance from
> you!
>  If you know of any contacts, or just want to help out with gathering
> contacts and items, you are welcome to join us on  an organizing
> conference call tomorrow.
> Date: 10/3/10
> Time:5:30 p.m. EST
>  Where: Conference   call (712) 775-7100  passcode”257963
>
>
> --
> Darian Smith
> Skype: The_Blind_Truth
> Windows Live: Lightningrod2010 at live.com
> Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/goldengateace
>
>
> “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are
> spiritual beings having a human experience.” - Teilhard de Chardin
>
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-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org
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