[Nfbwv-talk] SEVEN WEST VIRGINIANS CERTIFIED IN LITERARY BRAILLE

[Ed McDonald]

Our colleague Sheila Amato assures me that it is OK to share with you the 
information below.

As many of you know, Sheila is a Member at Large of NFBWV. She moved to West 
Virginia after retiring as a teacher of blind and visually impaired children 
in the state of New York, and she continues to teach a number of online 
university level courses in Braille.

Last spring she coordinated the Braille Challenge in the state, and she 
recently conducted the National Certification in Literary Braille exam at 
the School for the Blind. Below are the results of the exam which she shared 
with me. We congratulate these individuals, and perhaps we need to encourage 
more of our VI teachers to seek certification.

Ed


Hi, Ed - just thought you would smile to hear this news. Seven candidates 
tested on the National Certification in Literary Braille test on October 10 
at the school for the blind, and all of them passed the test. According to 
Dr. Eddie Bell of the National Professional Blindness Certification Board, 
this is the first time in his 5 years involvement with this certification 
process that there was 100% passing rate at a test administration.

So the state of West Virginia now boasts a 5th place ranking in the nation 
with folks certified in literary braille.

LA = 34 (this is the home for the NPBCB; they offer this test once a month)
CA = 26 (home for California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually 
Impaired)
MD = 9 (national headquarters for the National Federation of the Blind)
TX and VA = 8
NM and WV 7

Sheila