<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
This article was in the Jacksonville Journal-Courier last week.
Great work on the part of the ISVI students, and the teacher and
staff that support Braille through their participation and support.<br>
<br>
Cordially,<br>
Bill<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><br>
<br>
-------- Original Message --------
<table class="moz-email-headers-table" cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Subject:
</th>
<td>FW: Article in today's Journal Courier</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Date: </th>
<td>Fri, 21 Feb 2014 14:24:37 +0000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">From: </th>
<td>Darnell, Daryl <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:Daryl.Darnell@illinois.gov"><Daryl.Darnell@illinois.gov></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">To: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:billreif@ameritech.net">billreif@ameritech.net</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:billreif@ameritech.net"><billreif@ameritech.net></a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<br>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=ISO-8859-1">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered
medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
panose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="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"">
Dennison, Flora
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, February 21, 2014 6:49 AM<br>
<b>Cc:</b> DHS.ISVIAllStaff<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Article in today's Journal Courier<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><img
id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:part1.08010505.01050300@ameritech.net"
height="183" width="274"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Visually
impaired students were feeling good, putting their fingers
to the test in this year’s Illinois Regional Braille
Challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">On
Thursday, 24 students convened at the Illinois School for
the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville in a day-long regional
event, competing against each other and hoping for a spot at
the national competition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">The
Braille Challenge, a national program of the Braille
Institute, is the only academic competition for visually
impaired students in the United States and Canada, with
divisions for elementary to high-school levels being tested
in a variety of reading and writing skills.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Winners
in Thursday’s competition were: Daniel Bein from Fisher in
the apprentice division; Cody Boys from ISVI in the freshman
division; Darren Garland from ISVI in the junior varsity
Division; Sela Cornell from Wilmette in the sophomore
division; and Breanna Carpentier from ISVI in the varsity
division.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">While
these students were the best in their divisions, only the
top 60 students among all who participate in regional events
will be invited to the national competition in California.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Coordinator
and ISVI elementary educator Darla Chambers said 12 ISVI
students competed and 12 traveled to the school from around
the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">“The
competition is they have speed and accuracy, listening to an
audio passage being read and they have to braille it exactly
as they hear it,” she said. “Then they have proofreading
several paragraphs; charts and graphs; reading comprehension
and the younger students do spelling in contracted and
un-contracted braille.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Braille
uses several contractions, for example spelling the word
“the” as a single cell. The charts and graphs category asks
students to read tactile graphs and answer questions on
them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Chambers
said the national competition will be held in the summer,
but it will be a few months before all regional events
finish and the national top 60 are announced.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">The
event Thursday marked the second year its has been in
Jacksonville.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">“The
reason I started putting it together, five years ago we took
our students to the St. Louis School for the Blind and to
Chicago for our students to compete in their braille
challenges. And then Chicago disbanded their competition so
I wanted to keep it in Illinois, so I decided to start it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">While
advancements in technology are helping the visually impaired
without requiring proficiency in braille, but literacy is
just as important for the blind as it is for everyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">“It’s
worth it, because we want to promote braille and we want to
promote literacy among students,” Chambers said. “There’s
more devices they can use now … but you’re still going to
use braille anytime during your day, so we want to keep
students skilled so they can use it any time they need it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:10.5pt;background:white"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:justify;line-height:10.5pt;background:
white">
<span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Cody
Bozarth can be contacted at 217-245-6121 ext. 233 or on
Twitter @JCnews_Cody.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">Flora A. Dennison<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">Administrative Assistant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">Illinois School for the Visually Impaired<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">658 E. State Street<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">Jacksonville, Illinois 62650<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">phone: 217-479-4401<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">fax: 217-479-4507<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Comic Sans
MS"">e-mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:flora.dennison@illinois.gov">flora.dennison@illinois.gov</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt">CONFIDENTIALITY
NOTICE:</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"> This
message and any attachments are solely for the intended
recipient and may contain confidential information. If you
are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying,
use, or distribution of the information included in this
message and any attachments is prohibited. If you have
received this communication in error, please notify us by
reply e-mail and immediately and permanently delete this
message and any attachments. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
</body>
</html>