[NFB-Idaho] president's report for October

Mon Oct 31 01:53:21 UTC 2022

The below article was written for our upcoming Gem state Milestones
newsletter. It will serve as the president's update for October.

President's Address

Dana Ard

In mid-August, I traveled to northern Idaho to teach braille writing at
Idaho's first Bell and Beyond camp. I taught 3 classes daily of 2 students
each. In addition to increasing and strengthening each student's skills in
braille writing, each class wrote a story, a poem, and an essay. The best
story was written about Louis Braille. One student had read a biography of
Louis Braille's life, and contributed significant facts to the story. The
second student has a tremendous love for braille, and shared her
appreciation for the work that Louis Braille did to make it possible for
blind people to read. All students participated in a spelling contest, where
they received a point for each word they spelled correctly. Points were
totaled and all participants received a prize, with the winner receiving the
grand prize. 

In the NFB, October is "Blind

Equality Achievement Month." On October 11, the NFB of Idaho held a seminar
entitled "Idaho's White Cane Law: Guaranteeing Freedom and Access for
Idahoans who are blind or disabled. "Our national president emeritus, Marc
Maurer, provided introductory remarks about the history of the white cane
law, and the influence of Jacobus TenBroek, our first NFB president. on that
legislation. Retired attorney, and lifetime NFB of Idaho member Eric
Petterson, provided specific information on the Idaho law, which was updated
in 2019 to include all persons with disabilities. This event was very
successful with over 20 persons in attendance including staff from the Idaho
Commission for the Blind, Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and Blind,
NFB members, and the Ada County Highway District. On October 22nd, Jordana
Engebretsen, a member in Post Falls and a teacher of the blind, conducted an
activity for blind students and the community entitled Celebraille. Braille
equipment was demonstrated, and community participants were able to ask
questions and get their names put into braille. Four Teachers of the
Visually Impaired, who work in the area, came to help and participate. This
is a great example of NFB's partnership with other professionals working
with the blind.

The state NFB board met for the Fall board meeting on October 8. We will be
giving 3 scholarships of $3000 each to individuals who are or will be
attending post-secondary programs in the 2023-2024 school year. Applications
will be sent the first week in January. We agreed to have a legislative
luncheon, and this has now been scheduled for Martin Luther King Day,
January 15. The venue for this event has not yet been decided. The websites
and software Application Accessibility Act (h.r.9021, s.4998, was recently
sponsored in congress. You can read details of this bill on our NFB website.
Please contact our senators and your representative and ask them to support
this bill. This bill will certainly be brought up in the next congress and
will be discussed as part of our Washington seminar which begins January 30.

Remember our state NFB convention is April 27-29 in Boise. Details with the
venue are being worked out and more information will be coming. Our state
Winter board meeting will be on Martin Luther King Day and will fit in with
our legislative luncheon. 

We now have an easy way to donate to the NFB of Idaho. If you shop on
Amazon, go to Amazon Smile and designate the NFB of Idaho as the charity to
receive donations from your purchases. When you want to make a purchase from
Amazon, go to Amazon Smile. I know many of us, as well as our family and
friends, shop on Amazon. This is an easy way to raise some funds for our
affiliate. 

Our holiday season is coming. Let's make this an opportunity to celebrate
with our federation family and friends as we build the National Federation
of the Blind. 

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