[Nfb-or] Student Outreach

T. Joseph Carter carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
Sun May 3 23:55:01 UTC 2009 

The one Celyn and I did together was February 2005, so a long time 
ago now.  I haven't done it since returning from Colorado.

What we did then was drive out to the coast with a bunch of high 
school students and a couple Commission employees for a weekend 
retreat.  There were lots of discussions about college life, 
independence, working with DSOs, etc.  There were also team-building 
games and other sillinesses.

It was fun, and I hope they do it again, since they will be able to 
reach students that may not necessarily be reached otherwise.

Joseph


On Sun, May 03, 2009 at 11:43:23AM -0700, Haben Girma wrote:
>
> I would love to read it when you find the time to write it all down.  
> Perhaps you could send it to the Braille Monitor, too.
>
> When you and Celyn were giving presentations, where did you go? How many  
> presentations did you give? What were the presentations about? Did you  
> succeed in recruiting new members to the NFB?
>
> Haben
>
> T. Joseph Carter wrote:
>> It is.  It's just a stepping stone to where I am going, but it's a  
>> very hard won stepping stone.  The roadblocks keep coming and I keep  
>> finding ways around, over, or right through them.  I'll leave no doubt  
>> in anyone's mind that I have earned this degree by June, whether it is  
>> conferred or not.
>>
>> When this is all over with, I really must write it down somewhere.   
>> The change that made this possible happened--or maybe just began to  
>> happen--while I was in Colorado.  The Federation had a lot to do with  
>> me getting myself to this point.
>>
>> Joseph
>>
>>
>> On Sun, May 03, 2009 at 01:01:33AM -0700, Haben Girma wrote:
>>> 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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