[Njabs-talk] Njabs Minutes for June 13, 2010

[Rania]

Thanks for the minutes. Sorry I missed the call again! I am sad that I
missed it because that was my last conference call as a student. You might
be asking or wondering why is that the case? Well I am proud to say that I
am now a massage therapist! Yea! And will be done with school on July 26th!
This has been a long journey for me but I did it! I hope to be an example to
others and I hope that I have shown you that you can do what ever you want
inclooding go to school for something you believe you can do even when
others don't think you can do it. I also stuck threw it when I was told that
by going to another school that my chances for passing this program at the
second school that I am currently attending for the same thing are low. I
stuck with it because I new things were going to be different and that I was
going to make it! And look! I did it! Only 5 weeks left until I graduate! My
advice to those of you who will be students in the fall is never give up
even if some tell you that you can't do something because it didn't work the
first time and show them that you believe that you can do what ever it is
you want to become! And only do it for your self not because it's what
someone else wants you to do!
Rania,

-----Original Message-----
From: njabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:njabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Benjamin Vercellone
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 12:47 AM
To: njabs-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Njabs-talk] Njabs Minutes for June 13, 2010

NJABS Conference Call Minutes for June 13, 2010

Members present:

Evelyn Valdez - President.

Shafeka Hashash - Vice President.

Benjamin Vercellone - Secretary/treasurer.

Greg Rivera - Board member.

Melissa Hurff - Board member.

Danny Romero.

Guillermo.

Philip So.

Bryan Mackey.

Missy Lomax.

Jessica Scannell.

8:00 PM: NFB Pledge read by Ben Vercellone

8:02:

Melissa Hurff introduces Andrew Ligus. He is a chef at Johnson and Wales in
Charlotte North Carolina, and has been there for a year and a half. 
There are other campuses for Johnson and Wales in FL, RI, and Denver. He
cooked since he was 8 years old. Cooking for him is a little more
challenging than for other students, but this doesn't affect him too much.
His other senses work very well like smell and hearing and touch. 
He has 2400 in both eyes. One challenge for him is the time it takes to
learn new materials. He uses both his vision and blindness techniques, but
more of the latter. For example, he can close his eyes and cut using a
knife. He uses time and smell among other things to judge the progress of
his cooking. He said that you need to show people that you can do it. 
His favorite thing to cook is Italian food, and he is more into cooking than
baking. His classes range from garnishing plates to serving lots of people.
Working for places with Find dining is hard. For example, it is hard to know
how to set utensils up perfectly. The school year is in Trimesters. There
are new classes every 9 days. Students are required to complete an
internship before the end of their sophomore year, and in some of them
students are paid and in others not. Andrew was in clubs for cooking before
high school.

8:26 PM:

Evelyn says we should invite him again to be a guest in the fall maybe
because he will acquire more knowledge as he goes through his classes.

Shafeka talked about planning for the NJABS Summit to be held in 2011 near
the end of the school year. The month needs some negotiation because of the
difference in high school and college years and finals. 
This will be a conference. Students can come together and have a great time,
and also learn a lot about making the most as a blind student. Our goal is
for 1 very low cost. Students may just need to pay for transportation.
Everybody is encouraged to contribute ideas. We want it to be all ages.
There should be meetings, new Technology, and maybe something with fashion
so we can know how to better dress independently. 
We want this to be funded in the future. It should be less formal. It should
have a panel of college students and professionals. We may have lessons on
mobility. We need to get people involved, and we should get the media
involved. There will be a meeting in august to plan these things. All board
members are already on the planning committee.

8:46

Congratulations to Shafeka Hashash our vice president and Missy Lomax. 
Both of them will be participating in The Youth Ability Summit to be taking
place in Damascus Syria, and they are 2 of only 10 Americans to be selected
with different disabilities and ranging from age 15 to 21. 
They are representing NJ to the fullest with this great opportunity.

The NFB national convention will be from July 3 to 8. Instead of the March
for Independence, this year we are raising money for the Race for
Independence. The money raised will go into funding the car that the blind
can drive. This is not a physical race. Go to www.raceforindependence.org.

John Rowan stepped down from the board on Tuesday.

Respectfully submitted,

Benjamin Vercellone

NJABS, Secretary

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