[Fopbc] Fwd: NFB Imagineering Our Future: March Madness

Wed Mar 31 17:44:07 UTC 2010

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Riccobono <JerniganInstitute at nfb.org>
To: bluegolfshoes at aol.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 30, 2010 3:56 pm
Subject: NFB Imagineering Our Future: March Madness

 View this newsletter as HTML in your browser.
View last month’s newsletter.
Imagineering Our Future

     Issue 21 

March 30, 2010    

In this issue:

Message from the Executive Director
What’s New
Education
Braille Initiative
Advocacy
Straight Talk About Vision Loss
Technology Talk
>From the Jacobus tenBroek Library
Independence Market
Parent Outreach
Spotlight on the Imagination Fund
NFB Calendar
Citation

Message from the Executive Director

Dear Friends,

March Madness has a different meaning at the NFB Jernigan Institute. Yes, around the coffee machine there’s the usual discussion of big upsets and smack talk for favorite college teams. However, the madness here has to do with a more delicate and life changing selection process than those sixty-five teams that are picked to play for a chance at the big dance. March is filled with sorting through applications for participation in upcoming educational programs like this summer’s NFB Junior Science Academy.

Why madness? We receive four times as many applicants as we have spots for participants in our programs. We know that every blind child, every parent of a blind child, and every teacher of blind students would benefit from participating in our education programs. Until we figure out a way to get enough resources to spread the programs out to every corner of this country, we have to continue going through the madness that is the selection process. The stakes are high as we see so many children and families that are desperate for the hope and opportunity that is offered in the programs of the National Federation of the Blind. A recent letter from a mom said, “We felt like we learned more at the Beginnings and Blueprints Conference than any other sources combined.” And this spring we are welcoming back blind students from the 2009 NFB Youth Slam for more training in leadership and self-advocacy. The stories of how their lives were changed because of their experience at the NFB Youth Slam and the ongoing mentorship they are receiving from blind people in their local community fuels our passion to do more.

We are tired of the madness. Blind people should not have to wait or compete for hope and opportunity. That is why we continue to expand and improve our efforts. This year’s Junior Science Academy will have two sessions instead of the one we offered two years ago. This summer we are expanding our Braille enrichment program to three more states (above and beyond the two original states from last year). And, we are offering new education programs this spring and planning for new initiatives in the next year and a half.

We need to do more. The pace is increasing, the urgency is building, the demand for the work of the Federation is at an all time high. We need your support in the effort. Your time, talent, and treasure all contribute to helping us expand the resource pool to accomplish our goals. I would ask that you look over this newsletter and find the place where you can contribute (put your name in that bracket and let us know). Pass this newsletter on to friends to spread the word about our work (your college buddies will turn their heads when they learn that March Madness is more than whether or not their team advanced). And get behind our team by making a contribution to Team Jernigan Institute in the Race for Independence. Your support in all of these ways makes a huge difference in our effort to change what it means to be blind.

When you are standing around the coffee machine talking about March Madness and tipping your hat to outstanding performances on the court, remember the work of the National Federation of the Blind. The teamwork and accomplishments of the members of the Federation are outstanding, and our teamwork is helping put more blind people in a position to compete in the big dance in more fields than ever before.

Mark A. Riccobono, Executive Director, NFB Jernigan Institute 

Featured NFB News

2010 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
The Jernigan Institute will host the 2010 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium: Equality, Difference, and the Right to Live in the World, on April 15th and 16th. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez and former Congressman Tony Coelho head the list of distinguished legal scholars, practitioners, and advocates who will discuss the concepts of equality and difference as they relate to the disabled in employment, education, medical treatment, and access to technology. This year, the symposium format has been expanded to incorporate workshops on special education advocacy and litigation strategies to provide disability rights advocates increased opportunities to collaborate and network.

In addition to founding the NFB in 1940, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek was a constitutional law scholar who created the concept that civil rights should apply to disabled Americans. His seminal 1966 Law Review article “The Right to Live in the World: The Disabled in the Law of Torts” is the foundation for the civil rights provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Jernigan Institute and the Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium will provide disability rights advocates a forum in which to continue Dr. tenBroek’s work toward achieving equal opportunity for all citizens to participate fully in the society in which we live.

Time is short to register or get more information on the 2010 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium. Learn more about Jacobus tenBroek and the Jacobus tenBroek Library online.   
Bolotin Award Deadline Approaches
Individuals and organizations who are making significant contributions to help change what it means to be blind are encouraged to apply for the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award presented by the National Federation of the Blind. Nominations and letters of support should be completed online by March 31, and winners will be notified by May 15.  To be considered, nominees must live and work in the United States. The Federation will award $50,000 this year to recognize and support individuals and organizations that share and live the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind and Dr. Bolotin.  For further details, to nominate an individual or organization, or to support a nomination that has already been made, go to the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award page.
Cane Event
Join us for our annual fundraiser, The Cane Event, on May 1, 2010! The evening will feature casino games, a piano bar, food, drinks, music, and more! The proceeds from the event benefit our Imagination Fund, which supports programs at the NFB Jernigan Institute and in our state affiliates. Reserve your tickets today!  Alternatively, you could become a Braille Literacy Champion, which comes with two tickets, plus you’ll support a blind child’s right to read by sponsoring a Braille book to be sent through our Braille Reading Pals Club. 

When you become a sponsor or purchase tickets, you support us as we empower the blind across the country! Thank you to our current sponsors, including Brown, Goldstein, and Levy, LLP; Morgan Stanley Smith Barney; and Market Development Group. 

Sign up or get more information online at thecaneevent.org or call Karen Zakhnini at (410) 659-9314, ext. 2297. 

Education
2010 NFB Leadership and Advocacy in Washington DC (LAW) Program
We received nearly 100 LAW Program applications from interested students and are very sorry that we cannot take more participants. Twenty-five youth from across the country have been accepted to this new program and will be coming to the NFB Jernigan Institute next month for an exciting week of advocacy and historical learning. 
2010 NFB Junior Science Academy
This summer the NFBJI is very pleased to offer the Junior Science Academy for the second time.  The response has been overwhelming—we received over 110 applications with only thirty spots to fill between the two sessions. Selected applicants will be notified by April 1 of their status. 
Youth Leadership Seminars
This spring, as a way to follow up with youth who participated in last summer’s NFB Youth Slam, these participants were invited back to attend one of four weekend leadership seminars at the NFB Jernigan Institute. The youth will learn more about our philosophy on blindness, they will learn how to advocate for themselves as a blind person, they will learn the importance of good blindness skills, and they will participate in confidence building experiences.
Increasing Your Odds for Success

This quarter’s NFBJI accessible bulletin board has a casino theme and focuses on the five elements for success outlined in the book Freedom for the Blind: The Secret Is Empowerment. The green background of the board and the black ribbed border mimic a poker table. The center of the board features a two-and-a-half-foot square that protrudes from the board two inches and is set on an angle. The number five side of the die is face up to the viewer. Each of the tactile circles on the front of the die feature one element for success: it is OK to be blind, mastering blindness skills, coping with public attitudes, fitting in, and giving back. The title of the board—Increasing Your Odds for Success—runs around the entire perimeter of the die (in shiny red letters) starting at nine o’clock and continuing clockwise. On either side of the die are three hands of jumbo cards (five by seven inches) turned face down. The hands feature pictures of successful blind people. The cards on the right side of the board (from top to bottom) are of the NFB Training Center directors (Julie Deden, Shawn Mayo, and Pam Allen) receiving the Jacob Bolotin Award at a national NFB convention; Dr. Maurer, President of the NFB, sitting in a circle with children at National Convention; and Mark Riccobono, Executive Director for the NFB Jernigan Institute, demonstrating how to use a chain saw. The left side of the board (from top to bottom) pictures: Mr. Omvig, author of Freedom for the Blind and blindness advocate, giving a speech; Dr. Maurer grilling with a group of young people; and Ronza Othman, a staff member for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Jesse Hartle, Government Programs Specialist for the NFB, posing for a picture with then-Senator Obama and Senator Durbin. Scattered around the hands of cards are poker chips.

Attention Federationists:  Have you or your child participated in one of the following National Center for Blind Youth in Science programs: Science Academy 2004, Rocket On! 2004, Science Academy 2005, Rocket On! 2005, Science Academy 2006, Rocket On! 2006, Youth Slam 2007, Jr. Science Academy 2008, or Youth Slam 2009?  If so, we have a contest for you! Show us in a creative way what science means to you now. You can write a poem, essay, or original song lyrics, or create a piece of tactile art. The theme of this contest is “STEM-ulating Growth in New Fields.” The top ten entries will be featured on the Accessible Bulletin Board in the Betsy Zaborowski Conference Room at the NFB Jernigan Institute, the blindscience.org Web portal, and in NFB publications. In addition, the creator of the first place entry will receive a $25 gift certificate to iTunes!

To enter this STEM-ulating contest, please visit www.blindscience.org and follow the STEM-ulating Growth in New Fields Contest  link for the rules and to fill out an online entry form. Entries are due no later than March 31, 2010. If you have questions, please e-mail Natalie Shaheen at the NFB Jernigan Institute or call (410) 659-9314, extension 2293).

Braille Initiative

2010 NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) Program

On March 12-14, representatives from the five BELL sites trained at the NFB Jernigan Institute in preparation for this summer’s BELL programs. Three new states will participate this year: Utah, Texas, and Virginia. Maryland and Georgia, participants in the pilot project for the NFBJI last summer, will host programs again this year. We are very pleased with all the hard work these sites are doing to help advance the effort to promote Braille literacy to young blind and low-vision children.

Onkyo Braille Essay Contest

The NFB administers the Onkyo Braille Essay Contest on behalf of the North America-Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union. Essays by contest participants, in English or their native language, must be completely original in nature and written in Braille. Entries of no fewer than 800 and no more than 1,000 words in length and submitted by April 30, 2010, are eligible for prizes ranging from $500-$2,000.  For more information, including how to apply, please visit the Onkyo Braille Essay Contest Web page.

If you’d like to help support the Braille literacy efforts of the NFB Jernigan Institute, please consider making a matching gift to the Braille Readers are Leaders Campaign.

Advocacy

Joint Statement on Access to Books by Americans with Print Disabilities
This month, we once again got the attention of the White House. What made them notice us was a joint statement from major players that are working to make books accessible to print disabled Americans. The participating groups and their constituencies were:  the Reading Rights Coalition, representing thirty million Americans who cannot read print due to disabilities; the Authors Guild, with a membership of eight thousand American writers; and the Association of American Publishers, whose more than three hundred members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States as well as smaller and non-profit publishers. The statement read that “these groups agree to work together and through the communities they represent to ensure that when the marketplace offers alternative formats to print books, such as audio and electronic books, print-disabled consumers can access the contents of these alternative formats to the same extent as all other consumers.”

Kareem A. Dale, special assistant to the President for disability policy, commented in his blog post from the White House Blog, One Step Closer to Full Access, on March 9:  

Change.  Finding common ground.  These are hallmarks of this Administration.  And today, we move one step closer to full access to books and materials for millions of Americans with print and other disabilities.  While much work remains to be done, the community of stakeholders has taken a noteworthy and important step forward.

The Reading Rights Coalition, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers have issued a joint statement stating that “the contents of books should be as accessible to individuals with print disabilities as they are to everyone else.” They further agreed to work together to reach this desired goal.

As a person who is blind myself and thoroughly enjoys reading, I applaud these groups and organizations for coming together to bring about needed change.  We look forward to continuing to work with all Americans to support access to materials for persons with print disabilities. 

Straight Talk About Vision Loss 

A new video has been added in the Straight Talk About Vision Loss Web-based video series.  In Episode 29, NFBJI’s executive director talks with Parnell Diggs, chairman of the NFB’s Imagination Fund, which provides support for the outreach efforts of local Federation chapters throughout the United States as well as the research, technology, and education programs and initiatives of the NFB Jernigan Institute.  Parnell explains the Race for Independence—our imagination is putting us in the driver’s seat as we speed toward our goal of first-class citizenship in society at an ever-increasing pace!  This is no traditional race—it’s more about empowering the blind to do something most believe is impossible. 

Product and Access Technology Talk

The Access Technology team has just returned from the biggest Access Technology conference in the United States, the 25th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, hosted by the California State University Northridge (CSUN) in San Diego. As previously mentioned, the team hosted a record number of sessions—one pre-conference workshop dealing with eBook accessibility and further sessions on Cell Phones and Mobile Devices and Optical Character Recognition: Flatbed Scanner vs. Camera-Based Solutions. 

NFB and Blackboard jointly presented Nonvisual Accessibility in Blackboard Learn.  The NFB commends Blackboard’s investments that will provide blind students with an improved and more accessible experience.  The online education platform’s improvements remove a number of accessibility barriers.  The NFB has awarded its gold level Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification seal to the company for enhanced access in Blackboard Learn Release 9.1.   

Readers of the Access Technology Blog can expect interviews, reports, and updates on new and/or exciting products from CSUN.  Meanwhile, an article by Wes Majerus of our access technology team appeared in the March 2010 Braille Monitor:   “Leadership in Nonvisual Accessibility in Consumer Electronics: A Report on the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.”

>From the tenBroek Library
More BIG NEWS from the only research library on blindness owned and controlled by the organized blind!! Last month we announced the public launch of our online catalog.

Now we are pleased and proud to announce that we have completed basic processing of the Jacobus tenBroek papers, and that a series-level finding aid is available online. If you don’t know what “basic processing” means, and you’re wondering what a “finding aid” is, you cannot do better than to follow the link in this paragraph. This finding aid—the result of several years’ inventory work capped by a project funded by the U.S. National Archives—is exemplary of the professionalism of the tenBroek Library, reflecting current best practices of archivists and manuscript librarians. In examining the finding aid, you’ll also gain further insight into the significance of our founding President as an activist, scholar, and administrator.

We will soon open the tenBroek papers for researchers. We are confident that scholarship based on this unique collection will have a profound effect on disability studies, legal history, and every other area where Jacobus tenBroek left his mark.

Independence Market

We are pleased to announce the release of Touch the Earth: A Multimedia Book About the Earth’s Biomes.  This new large print/Braille and tactile image book created in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is designed for junior high and high school students to supplement their learning about the different ecosystems of the Earth’s continents. Copies of the book can be purchased through the NFB Independence Market by calling (410) 659-9314, extension 2216, or by visiting our e-commerce site. Books are $20 and include two instructional DVDs and a print/Braille tactile poster map.

For further information about NFB literature, please e-mail the Independence Market staff.  

Parent Outreach

Braille Reading Pals Club—A Pre-Literacy Program for Blind and Low-Vision Children 
The new, improved Braille Reading Pals Club will commence on April 1. Online registration is now open for families of blind and low-vision children ages birth to seven. Our registration is already over three hundred after being open only for a few weeks. Please e-mail the Braille Reading Pals Club if you have questions.  The Braille Reading Pals Club is co-sponsored by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC).
2010 NFB Youth Track at National Convention 
It’s coming...the 2010 annual Youth Track at the National Convention, and it’s bringing with it some new additions. We will continue to facilitate the NFB Youth Track for high school students ages 14-18, but this year we will also have a Junior Youth Track for students ages 11-14. More details and agenda information (timed to coincide with the main convention week and activities of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children) can be found in upcoming editions of the Braille Monitor and Future Reflections. 

For those of you who are students ages 14-18, listen up. We would like to announce that on Tuesday, July 6, the NFB Youth Track will host a “Throw-Back” Party.  Come dressed in your favorite digs from your favorite decade. The evening will be filled with music and dancing from across the decades as well as exciting contests. Come test your hips at the hula hoop contest, name that movie theme song, or show us your best Michael Jackson impersonation. It’s never too early to start planning which decade you’ll represent.

Spotlight on the Imagination Fund 

In establishing the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute on January 30, 2004, the nation’s organized blind movement committed itself to pushing the boundaries of imagination and innovation in work with the blind. With its programs of research, training, and technological development, the Institute has inspired millions of people to look toward a tomorrow where the world for blind people is better than it is today.

During 2010, the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute is working with students and faculty at the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech University’s Mechanical Engineering Department to develop the world’s first road-ready vehicle which can be driven by a blind person without sighted assistance. Members of the National Federation of the Blind were able to examine some of the interface technology that is being considered for this ground-breaking initiative at the annual Washington Seminar in February 2010. Using tactile information, members navigated a simulated driving course. Parnell Diggs (pictured holding the wheel of the demonstration vehicle, left) said, “The Blind Driver Challenge is important because it demonstrates that, given sufficient access to information, the average blind person can make rational, sound decisions—even behind the wheel.”

This work is being made possible by the men and women who support the National Federation of the Blind Imagination Fund. You can read about the Race for Independence and the Blind Driver Challenge project in the article “What Should I Imagine,” found in the March issue of the Braille Monitor. To get involved in this exciting campaign, please visit www.imaginationfund.org  or www.raceforindependence.org.  Come on: Let’s race!

NFB Calendar
It’s time to prepare for the 2010 National Convention:   

Make room reservations for the 2010 National Convention by writing directly to the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, Texas 75207, or calling (214) 761-7500.  

Avoid the lines and save money when you pre-register with the NFB.  With online conference registration by May 31st, the pre-registration fee for convention is $15 ($20 on-site), the cost of a banquet ticket is $40 ($45 on-site), and the cost of the BBQ tickets is $40 ($45 on-site). 

If you are interested in becoming an exhibitor, complete an online application on the Exhibitor Information page. 

Show your support of the blind across the country by becoming a convention sponsor! For more information, please e-mail Karen Zakhnini or call (410) 659-9314, ext. 2297.

Register as an Imaginator in the Race for Independence, then achieve your fundraising goal. This will earn you the opportunity to visit the exclusive showroom for the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle in the Hilton Anatole hotel, and you can even compete for the right to serve as a beta tester during the 2010 National Convention of some of the technology being used in this prototype automobile.

See you in Dallas!  

March 31, 2010  Deadline to apply for a 2010 NFB Scholarship, thirty awards ranging from $3,000 to $12,000, plus a trip to the 2010 National Convention, for blind postsecondary scholars.

March 31, 2010  Final day to submit nominations online for the 2010 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program.  Please visit the Application Information and Materials page for more information. 

April 1, 2010  Program year begins for Braille Reading Pals Club, A Pre-Literacy Program for Blind and Low-Vision Children, Sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind and the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC)

April 15-16, 2010  2010 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. 

April 16-20, 2010  NFB Leadership and Advocacy in Washington (LAW) Program, for blind students in grades 6-9, National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute and Washington, D.C.

April 30, 2010  Deadline for Onkyo Braille Essay Contest, administered by the NFB for the North America-Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union. 

May 1, 2010  The Cane Event, National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. 

Our annual fundraiser features casino games, live entertainment, heavy hors d’oeuvres, drinks, dancing, and more!  The proceeds from the evening benefit our Imagination Fund, supporting programs at the NFB Jernigan Institute and in our state affiliates.  For more information, tickets, or to become a sponsor of The Cane Event, e-mail Karen Zakhnini or call (410) 659-9314, ext. 2297.   

May 31, 2010  Deadline to pre-register online for the 2010 NFB National Convention, Hilton Anatole Hotel, Dallas, Texas.

June 10-12, 2010  Research in the Rockies international seminar devoted to Braille reading and writing, Denver, Colorado.  For more information, please contact Dr. Judith Chwalow, NFB Jernigan Institute Director of Research.

July 3-8, 2010  NFB National Convention, Hilton Anatole Hotel, Dallas, Texas. 
The annual meeting of the NFB and the largest gathering of the blind in the country, drawing approximately three thousand blind people from all across the United States.  Become a convention sponsor or exhibitor —contact Karen Zakhnini, (410) 659-9314, ext. 2297.

July 28-August 1 and August 4-8, 2010   2010 NFB Junior Science Academy, A STEM program for blind children in grades 3-6 offered by the NFBJI’s National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS).  See a video about the 2009 NFB Youth Slam science academy for high school students.  

Coming Summer 2011—NFB National Convention in Orlando, Florida!

Citation
 It seems to me that the point of education is not so much to teach somebody something—transferring knowledge from the informed to the uninformed—as it is to stimulate curiosity and the excitement of discovery in the minds of those being taught. A book is a dull object until the cover is opened, and some of them don’t change with that event. However, the others do, and the excitement, the thrill, and the joy that are stimulated change the people who do the opening.  

    —Dr. Marc Maurer, “Opening Minds with Knowledge: Intellectual Property in a Digital World,” an address given at the Library of Congress, January 21, 2010, March 2010 Braille Monitor 

Back to Top 

Thank you for reading the NFB Jernigan Institute’s Imagineering Our Future.

Support the Jernigan Institute through the Imagination Fund

Interesting links: 
Archive of Straight Talk about Vision Loss videos

National Center for Blind Youth in Science

Access Technology Tips

Blogs:
Access Technology

Voice of the Nation’s Blind

Publication archives: 
Voice of the Diabetic

Future Reflections

Braille Monitor

Visit us at nfb.org

Jernigan Institute, National Federation of the Blind
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-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Riccobono <JerniganInstitute at nfb.org>
To: bluegolfshoes at aol.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 30, 2010 3:56 pm
Subject: NFB Imagineering Our Future: March Madness

 View this newsletter as HTML in your browser.
View last month’s newsletter.
Imagineering Our Future

     Issue 21 

March 30, 2010    

In this issue:

Message from the Executive Director
What’s New
Education
Braille Initiative
Advocacy
Straight Talk About Vision Loss
Technology Talk
>From the Jacobus tenBroek Library
Independence Market
Parent Outreach
Spotlight on the Imagination Fund
NFB Calendar
Citation

Message from the Executive Director

Dear Friends,

March Madness has a different meaning at the NFB Jernigan Institute. Yes, around the coffee machine there’s the usual discussion of big upsets and smack talk for favorite college teams. However, the madness here has to do with a more delicate and life changing selection process than those sixty-five teams that are picked to play for a chance at the big dance. March is filled with sorting through applications for participation in upcoming educational programs like this summer’s NFB Junior Science Academy.

Why madness? We receive four times as many applicants as we have spots for participants in our programs. We know that every blind child, every parent of a blind child, and every teacher of blind students would benefit from participating in our education programs. Until we figure out a way to get enough resources to spread the programs out to every corner of this country, we have to continue going through the madness that is the selection process. The stakes are high as we see so many children and families that are desperate for the hope and opportunity that is offered in the programs of the National Federation of the Blind. A recent letter from a mom said, “We felt like we learned more at the Beginnings and Blueprints Conference than any other sources combined.” And this spring we are welcoming back blind students from the 2009 NFB Youth Slam for more training in leadership and self-advocacy. The stories of how their lives were changed because of their experience at the NFB Youth Slam and the ongoing mentorship they are receiving from blind people in their local community fuels our passion to do more.

We are tired of the madness. Blind people should not have to wait or compete for hope and opportunity. That is why we continue to expand and improve our efforts. This year’s Junior Science Academy will have two sessions instead of the one we offered two years ago. This summer we are expanding our Braille enrichment program to three more states (above and beyond the two original states from last year). And, we are offering new education programs this spring and planning for new initiatives in the next year and a half.

We need to do more. The pace is increasing, the urgency is building, the demand for the work of the Federation is at an all time high. We need your support in the effort. Your time, talent, and treasure all contribute to helping us expand the resource pool to accomplish our goals. I would ask that you look over this newsletter and find the place where you can contribute (put your name in that bracket and let us know). Pass this newsletter on to friends to spread the word about our work (your college buddies will turn their heads when they learn that March Madness is more than whether or not their team advanced). And get behind our team by making a contribution to Team Jernigan Institute in the Race for Independence. Your support in all of these ways makes a huge difference in our effort to change what it means to be blind.

When you are standing around the coffee machine talking about March Madness and tipping your hat to outstanding performances on the court, remember the work of the National Federation of the Blind. The teamwork and accomplishments of the members of the Federation are outstanding, and our teamwork is helping put more blind people in a position to compete in the big dance in more fields than ever before.

Mark A. Riccobono, Executive Director, NFB Jernigan Institute 

Featured NFB News