[Ncabs] NABS January Bulletin

[Arielle Silverman]

National Association of Blind Students
>From the Desk of the President
January 11, 2010

In This Bulletin:
1.  Washington Seminar Is Almost Here!
2.  NABS On Facebook and Twitter!
3.  Pennies for Pages Wrap-Up
4. NFB 2010 Scholarship Program

5. State Division Announcements:
News from Wisconsin
NABS Conference Call Jan. 24
News from Virginia

1.  Washington Seminar is Almost Here!

On Sunday January 31, NABS will hold our annual winter gathering at
the Holiday Inn Capitol Hotel, 550 C Street SW, in Washington, D.C.
Come to our seminar to learn about such issues as accessing textbooks,
educational testing, scholarships, and blindness training.  We'll also
be talking about strategies for finding jobs, both while you're in
school and after graduation.  Whether you're in high school, college,
grad school, recently graduated, or even just thinking about becoming
a student, this seminar will have something for you.

After the seminar, you can mingle with other blind students and NFB
members at our reception, beginning at 8:00 p.m.  Sandwiches, snacks,
and a cash bar will be available, along with music and a live auction.

Finally, on Monday morning, we will hold a NABS open house where our
speakers from the seminar will be able to answer your individual
questions.  You'll also have a chance to meet and talk with the
students on the NABS board of directors.

We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

2. NABS on Facebook and Twitter:

The National Association of Blind Students now has a page on Facebook
and an account on Twitter! Become a fan of NABS on Facebook to stay in
touch and communicate with other blind students across the country.
Follow us on Twitter to receive announcements about what NABS is doing
both nationally and in our state divisions.  You can find us by
searching for "National Association of Blind Students" on Facebook and
"NABSLINK" on Twitter.

Do you have a piece of news that you want us to post on Facebook and
Twitter? Please send it to the membership committee by writing an
email to
Nabs.membership at gmail.com
3. Pennies for Pages:
Thanks to all of you who raised money for NABS in our Pennies for
Pages contest! Please email Sean Whalen at
smwhalenpsp at gmail.com
and let him know how much money you raised.  He will let you know how
to send in the money.  Remember that the person who raises the most
money will win an Amazon gift card! Pledges can be collected up until
Jan.  22, 2010.

4.  2010 Scholarship Applications Now Available:
Each year the National Federation of the Blind awards thirty
scholarships to legally blind college and graduate students across the
country.  The scholarship includes a cash award ranging from $3000 to
$12000, plus a free trip to the NFB national convention and often a
piece of assistive technology such as a KNFB Reader Mobile.  The
scholarship application for 2010 is now on the Web at
www.nfb.org/scholarships
Applications are due by March 31, 2010.
Already won a national NFB scholarship? You can apply again and
potentially win a second scholarship, also known as a TenBroek
fellowship.

5. State Division Announcements:
News from Wisconsin:
WABS had a busy end and start to the year.  We all got together for a
new years party, and we had a great time.  On January 2nd, we held a
Bowl-A-Thon for a fundraiser for those of us going to Washington
Seminar.  We will have 7 students in attendence, and we made around
$1000 bowling.  We are also selling cookie dough to fundraise for
D.C., and we are selling raffle tickets to win an Ipod Nano.  The
drawing will be in April.  We are hosting our state convention this
year in Appleton Wisconsin, so we are busy with preparations.  We've
got a lot to get done before April!

We're also in the process of getting T-shirts designed and printed for
our division.  Things have been busy, and it seems they will only be
getting more busy.  We purchased popcorn makers for fundraising at
events we attend, and we have dedicated members working to help us
move forward in our goals as a division.  There are great things for
WABS in 2010!

Best,
Meghan Whalen, President
Wisconsin Association of Blind Students

NABS Conference Call Jan. 24:
On Sunday, January 24, we will have a conference call to discuss
Washington Seminar legislative issues, how to lobby, etc. The call
will begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please call
712-775-7100
And enter access code 257963.
>From the NABS Membership Committee

News from Virginia:
At the 2009 NFB of Virginia convention, the Virginia Student Division
held its annual meeting. During this meeting, President Corbb O’Connor
conducted a series of “Larry King Live” interviews. He interviewed
Fairfax chapter President John Bailey about his experiences in
activities like fire-walking, walking on broken glass (not the song,
though we’re told John can sing quite well), and breaking boards with
his bare hands. John also talked about his experience losing his
vision in high school and college. Corbb also interviewed Josh
Boudreaux from the Louisiana Center for the Blind and Monique Melton
from the Colorado Center for the Blind. Josh and Monique spoke about
why students should consider training centers for improved independent
living skills and how the centers are unique.


After these insightful interviews President O’Conner led a discussion
of possible future activities that the organization would like to see
take place.  The overall consensus was to have a social gathering for
students in the hopes of increasing our outreach program and engaging
students prior to the next state convention.  The idea was raised to
host such an event at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind.
There was a discussion about having more student activities at the
2010 state convention as well as an attempt to involve students in the
Richmond Seminar. Having just spent thousands of dollars on the Youth
Blow-out, however the group decided to try to plan a larger event for
both parents and students to attend together sometime in the late
spring, possibly at the National Center for the Blind.


One task that Corbb hoped the group could achieve by the late January
timeframe was to develop a Constitution for the Division.


The meeting concluded with elections.  Corbb O’Connor was re-elected
President, Brittany Savage was elected Vice President, Michael Fish
was elected as Secretary, C. J. Fish was elected as Treasurer, and
Chelsea Cook was elected as the Board Member. All will serve for one
year, and the next election will be held at the 2010 NFB of Virginia
state convention.

Corbb O’Connor, President
Virginia Association of Blind Students


-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org