[Nfb-or] Student Outreach
Haben Girma
habnkid at aol.com
Mon May 4 03:08:03 UTC 2009
Joseph, what you've described sounds like something I've done with the
California Association of Blind Students. Can you remember if any of
those students joined the NFB afterwards? Were the students primarily
from a certain area? During our meeting a you mentioned a contact at
Salem's Commission for the Blind, was he also on this trip to the Oregon
Coast?
Haben
T. Joseph Carter wrote:
> 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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>>>>>>
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