[Nfb-or] Student Outreach

[Haben Girma]

Congrats, Joseph! Is this the master's in special education?

T. Joseph Carter wrote:
> Celyn and I have both been part of such presentations before with the 
> Commission for the Blind.  They haven't done one recently to my 
> knowledge. 
> Renee's done on 6/13, Joseph's not done until 6/14 because he's 
> walking that Saturday.  *smile*
>
> Joseph
>
>
> On Sat, May 02, 2009 at 11:39:05PM -0700, Haben Girma wrote:
>> Dear Mike,
>>
>> You have a great idea. Perhaps we should write letters to the 
>> schools  and agencies offering to give presentations. I used to give  
>> presentations in my community back in California after I came back 
>> from  a volunteer trip to West Africa. All of us--Joseph, Renee, 
>> Bill, and  others--have stories to share with students. We could go 
>> to schools that  have blind students to provide advice about getting 
>> into college and  succeeding in college, and in the process 
>> representing the NFB of Oregon  and encouraging the students to join. 
>> I absolutely agree with you that  friendships are powerful tools for 
>> drawing people into an organization.  I'm contemplating an outreach 
>> program that would result in both  friendships and new members...
>>
>> The summer months are approaching and many high school and college  
>> students might be harder to reach. Although if we get the word out 
>> soon  enough we might be able to get in touch with those whose 
>> semesters don't  end until mid June. I'll have plenty of time in a 
>> week when finals are  over at Lewis & Clark College. Perhaps Joseph 
>> and Renee will be done  with their semesters soon, too.
>>
>> There are several of us around the state and we can all focus on  
>> reaching out to those in our regions. Those in the Portland region 
>> have  had two meetings thus far, but, if I remember correctly, there 
>> are  students in Corvallis and Eugene who are interested but have not 
>> yet  been able to meet with other students in the division due to  
>> transportation and distance... The student division can have a 
>> meeting  during state Convention, though, so that will give us a 
>> chance to meet  everyone from all the corners of Oregon. Until then, 
>> we can use letters,  emails, and those who are interested could do 
>> presentations at the  schools in their areas.
>>
>> Would anyone be interested in going to a school in Oregon to give a  
>> presentation?
>>
>>
>> Haben
>>
>> Mike Freeman wrote:
>>> Haben:
>>>
>>> I have not met you although I more-than-anxious to do so. I'm 
>>> President of the NFB of Washington.
>>>
>>> Your ideas below are great and should all be tried. But in my  
>>> experience, the only thing that *really* works is personal 
>>> outreach,  i.e., going to the high schools and colleges and actually 
>>> advertising  for and holding meetings to gauge the interest of blind 
>>> students. Making friends is the best way to welcome and engage new 
>>> members. I know funds and time are tight but the personal touch will 
>>> accomplish far more than will written correspondence although email 
>>> works somewhat better in that many of your generation consider it 
>>> almost as good as personal communication.
>>>
>>> Just one old curmudgeon's opinion.
>>>
>>> Warmly,
>>>
>>> Mike Freeman, President
>>> National Federation of the Blind of Washington
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Haben Girma" <habnkid at aol.com>
>>> To: "NFB of Oregon mailing list" <nfb-or at nfbnet.org>; "Vivian M. 
>>> Smith" <vmsmith76 at charter.net>
>>> Sent: Saturday, May 02, 2009 1:16 PM
>>> Subject: [Nfb-or] Student Outreach
>>>
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> The student division wants to reach out to more students, and we need
>>> help sending letters to high schools, colleges, and agencies for the
>>> blind in Oregon that can pass our message on to blind students. Please
>>> let me know if you would like to help out.
>>>
>>> Haben
>>>
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>>
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