[Gabs] NABS March Bulletin!

Sun Mar 13 23:20:14 UTC 2011

Please find the bulletin below and the minutes from the February board
meeting attached.

Arielle

National Association of Blind Students
>From the Desk of the President
March 13, 2011

In this bulletin:
1.	Student Slate Coming Soon!
2.	Next NABS Conference Call March 27
3.	Last Chance to Apply for NFB Scholarships!
4.	Start Planning for NFB National Convention!
5.	State Division Announcements
Student Slate Coming Soon:
	The spring 2011 issue of the Student Slate, our quarterly newsletter,
should be released this week, so look for it in your email inboxes!
This issue of the Student Slate will feature a report on the 2011
Washington Seminar, as well as several inspiring and informative
articles written by blind students. Stay tuned!

Next NABS Conference Call March 27:
	Each month, the NABS membership committee organizes a conference call
discussion for blind students, prospective students, and parents and
teachers of blind children. This month, on Sunday, March 27, we will
be talking about the independence training programs at our three NFB
training centers in Colorado, Louisiana, and Minnesota. Come to learn
about these training programs, what you can gain from them and how to
work with your state voc rehab agency to get there. Stay tuned for a
separate announcement about this conference call.
Can’t make it? Listen to the recording, as well as recordings of past
conference calls, at
www.nabslinkaudio.org
.

Last Chance to Apply for NFB National Scholarships:
	Each year, the National Federation of the Blind gives thirty
scholarships to blind students, ranging in value from $3000 to $12000.
The deadline to apply for this year’s scholarship competition is
Thursday, March 31. To learn about the program and fill out an
application, go to
www.nfb.org/scholarships
.

Start Planning for NFB National Convention!
	This year, the NFB national convention will be in Orlando, Florida,
from Sunday, July 3, through Friday, July 8. You can reserve a room at
our hotel, the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, by calling 866-996-6338.
Depending on current availability, you may be able to extend your stay
a few nights after the convention to explore the theme parks in
Orlando, and still take advantage of our convention room rates: $63
for singles, doubles, and twins, and $67 for triples and quads, plus
tax.
	Many NFB local chapters and state affiliates offer funding to help
students attend national conventions. Contact your chapter or state
president for details.
	You will see information about student/youth activities in upcoming
NABS bulletins. Hope to see all of you in July!

Division Announcements:
>From Nebraska:
The Nebraska Association of Blind Students (NABS) Presents The 2011
Student Seminar:
Puzzle it Out- Collecting the Pieces of Success!

  What:   It’s time for the Third Annual NABS student Seminar. We have
gone beyond the horizons of our dreams and dived into the depths of
our potential and now we are putting the puzzle pieces of our future
together! This is an opportunity to learn the skills that can help
you, your child or your student succeed, as well as network with
fellow blind students, parents and teachers across Nebraska, and of
course have fun!!
When: The seminar begins at 6:00 PM on Friday, March 25, and ends
Sunday, March 27 at 11:00 AM, so don’t worry about missing any class!
Where: Doubletree Guest Suites
                7270 Cedar St.
                                Omaha, NE, 68124

Who: Blind Students of all ages, and the parents and teachers who want
to see them succeed.

Cost: The $20 registration fee will cover the cost of both your room
and meals for the duration of the seminar.

Scholarships are available for participants who are unable to cover
the $20 registration.  Preference will be given to those who request
assistance first.    Contact Karen Anderson (402-319-7645) if
interested.
>From North Carolina:
The North Carolina Association of Blind Students is having its third
annual student seminar on March 19th in Raleigh, NC.  This event
continues to grow.  We launched a major recruitment initiative, where
we called and emailed every one of the 128 institutions of higher
education in our state, every services for the blind employee, and
every teacher of the visually impaired in our state.
   Last year, we experimented with a small technology fair that
consisted of impromptu exhibits run by our leaders and our state
affiliate president.  This year, we will have a full exhibit hall with
28 exhibits, including guide dog schools, adaptive recreation
programs, adaptive technology, employment opportunities, blindness
skill training centers, and more.  Our exhibit hall will include
agencies from many states, including California, New York, Minnesota,
Florida, Kansas, Michigan, and others.  We are also having all-day
literature tables for those agencies that were not able to send
representatives.  We charged no fee for the exhibit hall and a
creative new type of fee for the literature tables.  We asked all
agencies wanting to participate in the literature tables to provide us
with at least one door prize to distribute on their behalf.  This
gives them easy advertising and us more door prizes.  We will be
having speakers in the morning to get attendees pumped up with the
fact that blind people can do anything.  Then, we’ll send them to the
exhibit hall, followed by an hour for lunch (catered as a donation
from Whole Foods Market).  In the afternoon, we will have more
speakers and 3 periods of breakout sessions.  The last 45 minutes of
our day will include speakers about different NFB events, such as the
national convention, Washington Seminar, and the Blind Driver
Challenge, to get attendees excited about the NFB.  Finally, we will
invite reflections from attendees and ask them to step up if they want
to help plan a summer event.  I will leave you with two pieces of
advice from my experience in planning the seminar:
1.	If you plan to have an exhibit hall, make sure that your seminar
does not overlap with CSUN or any other major blindness event that
will steal many of the smaller agencies’ representatives.
2.	Don’t be afraid to ask your state affiliate for help.  There are so
many people in our state affiliate who are helping us make this
seminar great.  The Federation supports its future.
>From California:
Announcing the 2011 California Chemistry Camp for Blind High School Students!

                Would you like to learn how blind people tackle the
very visual subject of organic chemistry successfully? Do you have a
general love for science? Do you want to learn how you can do
chemistry as a blind person just as successfully as your sighted
peers? Are you interested in how blind professionals use science in
their careers every day? Then the 2011 California Chemistry Camp is
for you!
                Come join the National Federation of the Blind of
California, the California Association of Blind Students, the
Lighthouse for the Blind of San Francisco, the University of
California, Davis chemistry department, and up to twelve blind and
low-vision high school students for an Educational, exciting, and
Fun-Filled weekend of science!

When: Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1, 2011.
Where: Enchanted Hills Camp near Napa, California.
Who: Up to twelve blind high school students ages 14-18 will be
selected to participate.
 Cost: There is no cost to apply for the program. The National
Federation of the Blind of California, the California association of
Blind Students, and the Lighthouse for the Blind of San Francisco are
underwriting the camp. Once accepted, however, donations from students
or parents to the National Federation of the Blind of California would
be most appreciated to off-set the expenses associated with the
program.

                During this exciting and busy 3-day experience,
students will get to learn how blind people use  chemistry in their
careers, will explore techniques used by blind people to make
chemistry accessible, perform hands-on accessible chemistry
experiments, apply the chemistry they learned to some basic cooking,
see the chemistry they learned turned into action with an exhilarating
magic show, and talk with blind scientists who use science in their
professional careers. The students will also be able to participate in
recreational activities possibly including swimming and the martial
art of Judo. Note that students need not only love science to apply.
This will be a learning experience for all blind people!

To fill out the application, go to:
www.sixdots.org
and follow the link on the main page to the application form.

We hope to see you at camp! If you have questions, please contact:
Henry Wedler
Program Coordinator
hobywedler at gmail.com

-- 
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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