[Fabs] 2013 Fall NABS Update

[Darian Smith]

The National Association of Blind Students is  excited to bring to you
an update on  the recent happenings  of your fellow blind students.
 These are updates from across the country of students who are
organized and unified in the mission of changing what it means to be
blind.
 We encourage you to contact   the student division in your state as
well as become involved in the work of NABS via it’s committees such
as  Student Slate, Fundraising, membership and Communications.


>From the NABS fundraising  committee:
The fundraising committee invites  you to be a part of the important
work of  it’s committee.
 The committee is currently planning for an exciting Washington
seminar, and needs your help in order to make it a  success!
Please contact Candice Chapman: chapman.candicel at gmail.com   or
 Cindy Bennett:clb5590 at gmail.com. They are your committee Co-Chairs,
and they are   happy to have you!



 From Illinois:
At our convention last month, Brianna (Bree) Lillyman was elected
president of the division.

In other news, IABS is happy to report that our t-shirt fundraiser
went really well, and the mentoring program was a big success.  We are
looking forward
to planning a student seminar in Chicago in April.
	Rose Sloan.

>From Ohio
Our convention was held November 1st-3rd in Dayton Ohio.  The student
division held elections on Saturday the 2nd at our annual business
meeting.  The following
officers were elected: Kaiti Shelton, President; Aleeha Dudley, Vice
President; Lillie Pennington, Secretary; and Abby Bolling, Treasurer.
We are still
working out some leadership things, and may amend our constitution to
change corresponding secretary from an appointed position to an
officer position,
and change the “secretary” to Recording Secretary.  We are also going
to elect board members to comply with our constitution, which OABS has
not had for
some time.  I am excited that we are on our way to having a complete
board of directors to spearhead the organization.

In addition to the board members, several committees have been set up
including Fundraising chaired by Emily Pennington, Membership chaired
by Aleeha Dudley,
and Social Media chaired by Amber Meloy.  We have also appointed one
of our newest members who is working on a masters degree in English to
serve as editor
and to spearhead efforts to create the first OABS newsletters.  Our
Social media chair and Corresponding Secretary is in the process of
setting up a web
site, and Emily Pennington is heading up our first long-term
fundraiser, which will be beautifully designed braille bookmarks.  One
side of the bookmark
will show Whozit and the braille alphabet with the words, “The Ohio
Association of Blind Students,” and “NFB”.  The other side of the
bookmark will contain
a short explanation of braille, along with a message for sighted
readers to crack.  The message will be, “Seeing occurs in the mind.”

We’re beginning to network more than before, with a partnership
between the Ohio student and parents of blind children divisions
quickly forming.  Our affiliate
is happy to see the growth of the student division, and sees us as the
next group of Ohio federation leaders.  It’s been quite some time
since Ohio had
a booming student division, so the older federationists are glad to
see some new blood around convention and on conference calls.  Our
group is eager to
grow, and efforts are already being made to expand and recruit more
members.  Another milestone Is that we now have two prospective
members from Cleveland
in northern Ohio, after having no one outside of Cincinnati and Dayton
for the past two years.

Kaiti Shelton

>From Indiana:
“An update from the Indiana Association of Blind Students: a new
president was recently selected at the NFB of Indiana state convention
in

October, Christopher Meyer, studying in Indianapolis, IN. Christopher
is an undergraduate public affairs student in public and nonprofit
management at Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and former graduate
from Blindness: Learning In New Dimensions (BLIND), Inc., in
Minneapolis, MN. He
takes over the post from former student division president Ashley
Ritter. A word from student president Meyer:

“I’m really glad to step up in this role as young blood for the
student division and hope to bring some positive changes. My primary
goal this year is to
build an organization open to many new members, since our biggest
problem currently is a lack of significant involvement by students. I
plan to find and
develop leaders who can help me in this effort, as well as identify
ways we can plan programs that draw participation and attention to
what the student
division might offer.

On a lighter note, we’re kicking around more interesting names like
INABS or iNABS, since Illinois has beat us to the simpler IABS. INABS
has a certain
distinctness to it, does it not?”

Minnesota gives a report from their student division elections which
took place  recently at their state convention:
 President
Vanasha Washington
First vice president
Hannah furney
Second vice president
Quint habrol
Treasure
Candice chapman
Secretary
Chelsey duranleu

>From Virginia:
This past year has been a good year for the Virginia Association of
Blind Students. On October 25th through the 27th, Virginia held its
55th annual state
convention. The student division held a meet and greet on Friday night
to kick off the weekend. During this time, students were able to
mingle with their
peers while engaging in activities. Students were given scenarios by a
few mentors, who were successful college students and professionals,
regarding the
public’s view of blindness. After being given a scenario, the students
talked to the mentors about what his/her own reaction would be and
whether the student’s
response was appropriate or whether he/she should handle the issue in
a different manner. If the scenario came from a mentor’s own
experience, the mentors
explained how he/she handled the situation. On Saturday afternoon, the
student division held its yearly business meeting, electing the
following new officers:
Sarah Patnaude (President), Kimberly Valko (Vice President), Kierra
Davis (Treasurer), Vee Gaspa (Secretary), and Chris O’Meally (Board
Member). During
the luncheon, mentors discussed the importance of going to an adult
program at a rehabilitation center and the differences between a state
center and a
NFB center.  The student division board has been working diligently on
writing its constitution and is proud to say that the constitution is
in the process of being finalized.

>From North  Carolina:
Officers:

President:  Alan Chase, M.Ed.
aachase1 at gmail.com
1st Vice President:  Kevin Currin
kwcurrin at live.unc.edu
2nd Vice President:  Bobbi Pompey
Pompey2010 at yahoo.com
Treasurer:  Eric Galindo
ericgal62 at gmail.com
Secretary:  Travis Sherrill
tssherrill at windstream.net
Webmaster:  Justin
drummer060891 at gmail.com

What SUP?

SUP stands for Students Uniting for Purpose.  It was created by Alan
Chase, M.Ed., as a way to increase membership, retention, and outreach
by bringing students together in smaller geographic regions.  They
will be feature round table seminars to be held throughout North
Carolina in the months of October, January, April and July.

1.  Admission is free and lunch will be provided.  Please bring $5.00 for lunch.

2.  Meet other blind students from around NC who are enrolled
in college or working, who are active in sports, involved in their
communities, and the leaders of tomorrow.

4. Find answers to all those questions you’ve had about internships,
cooking, cleaning, guide dogs, transportation, and much more!

NCABS Scholarship

The NC Association of Blind Students is in the development phase of
creating its own scholarship to help supplement larger sums of
financial aid already awarded to blind students in North Carolina.
Currently, a committee headed by 1st Vice President Kevin Currin is
creating eligibility criteria, drafting applications, and seeking
funding for this exciting opportunity.

>From Connecticut:
The Connecticut Association of Blind Students is proudly beginning its
second year.  We had a successful fundraiser at our state convention
in November,
where we sold snack packs.  We now have enough money in our treasury
to open a bank account and are actively pursuing its establishment.
We have amended
our constitution to have a first vice president and second vice
president instead of just one vice president.  We have been holding
two conference calls.


We Thank the Presidents who contributed by sharing what has   taken
place  in the divisions  of wich they lead.  We also encourage you to
keep on the lookout, we know that you’ve not heard too much from us
lately, but this will start to change very soon. Thank you for your
support  and we  wish all of you a very happy thanksgiving!

 The National Association of Blind Students.