[Njabs-talk] NJABS Minutes 04/08/2012

[Benjamin Vercellone]

NJABS Conference call for April 8, 2012.

8:04 PM - The Call began.

Brent Batron was the speaker. He spoke about high school and college 
programs of the NFB. First he covered the High School earn and learn 
program. You get the whole works. It is a pretty good deal. I believe he 
said Kevin Warly works there. It is a very robust program. There are 
activities including white water rafting, a martial Arts seminar, roller 
skating, ETC. There is always stuff to do. There is transportation in 
Denver, which is great. You get to do whatever you want. Though it is a 
summer program, it is not humid. There is not much rain. It is a nice 
place to be in the summer time. You Earn and learn a lot of prep 
including interview skills before the convention. Students learn about 
questions in interviews and how to dress appropriately. They will be 
working at the BELL program. Most of these positions are with blind role 
models, and in other positions, you are the blind role model. This can 
help in your career. You get paid.

Then he spoke about the college prep program. They changed it a little. 
There is a lot more class time before convention. Students learn how to 
work with the disabled student office as well as Socialization skills. 
They learn how to work with a reader and also not to just cruise and 
party all the time. They go to college campuses. It is not so much about 
touring in the campuses in Denver or Bolder. They get the gist of the 
differences in colleges. There are differences in makeup. The real 
learning gained by touring is more related to skills. For example, a 
student learns that he or she can pretty quickly get from math to 
science by asking directions. There is a program that has a presentation 
using PowerPoint. 9 students recently did PowerPoint presentations 
successfully. Then at the end of the program, students make a meal for 
120/150 people. A lot of people want to come and see how they did. These 
are largely parents. There was the parents' seminar last year.There is 
an expectation going in. People are worried about socialization. They 
want to know how to strike a balance. This program works with the whole 
individual for 8 weeks. He spoke about a work station. Students were 
testing out different science principals. Maybe they would study an 
accessible globe for example. One thing covered last year was a 
photography class. They taught blind students how to do photography. 
There was a Gallery at the end. IF people have ideas, they will 
definitely entertain them. They are accommodating in those aspects. 
There are spots available still but not a lot. As soon as possible, 
contact him and you can talk. He would love to have you come out if 
interested.

8:14 PM -- Evelyn said it sounds like a great program before college.

8:15 PM - Brent said that he would recommend an NFB training program. Do 
not wait too long. Jeremy Capadi went and gained a lot of skills.

8:16 PM -- Brent gave his contact info.

Phone: 303-778-1130 ext. 222

Email: bbatron at cocenter.org <mailto:bbatron at cocenter.org>.

There was a Promo summer video recorded last year. It is available on 
YouTube. It gives a really good flavor of what they do.

8:19 PM - Desmond Jackson began. He is the new youth director in BISM. 
He was at the Colorado program last summer. He said if you are looking 
for east coast action, the BISM program is good. This stands for Blind 
Industries and Services of Maryland. BISM is modeled after the NFB 
program. He spoke about the high school program for independence in 
2012. Students wear sleep shades. They learn braille, independent 
travel, and computers. There are a lot of other fun activities. He said 
there is a new thing, but I am unsure what. It could have had to do with 
bowling. Students in this program will attend the NFB national 
convention. The BISM program will be held at Towson University. It will 
be held from June 17th to August 10th I believe. Check it out. We want 
to get parents involved. There will be a day when they come in and see 
what the students have been doing all summer. There are definitely still 
spots open in the high school program. There is an independence program 
for grades 5 through 8 and it is 3 weeks. This is also another component 
of our program.

Desmond's email is djackson at bism.org <mailto:djackson at bism.org>.

His phone is 490-737-2676.

8:23 PM -- Evelyn asked if there is a prerequisite for the independence 
2012 program. Do you need to contact your CBVI case worker? Or can you 
just apply? He said the majority of students have funding from the state 
rehab. If not, you can try to work something out. What would be one 
suggestion if a student did not have this but still wanted to go? There 
is a school program where the core curriculum is extended and includes 
this program. Also, some NFB state affiliates may at least partially 
fund. This is really great. Last year, a student from NJ, Liz Morgan, 
went there. She walked away with a lot. There is a lot to offer in the 
timeframe.

8:26 PM -- Do they get to go to the convention in Dallas? Yes. This is 
great. See you in Dallas.

8:27 pm Desmond left.

8:27 pm attendance was taken.

Members present:

Evelyn Valdez - President.

Benjamin Vercellone - secretary.

Greg Rivera -- Board Member.

Maxine Lomax -- board member.

Jason and Jeremy Capadi.

Anthany Rayes.

8:30 PM -- Evelyn said she needs the board members to stay in contact. 
We have 2 more conference calls before the summer break. They are in May 
and June.

Evelyn said she begins the Louisiana Center for the Blind this week and 
heads down to Louisiana on April 9. She expects to be there for 9 
months. If anyone needs to contact her, she prefers that you call her 
cell phone or text her.

Respectfully submitted,

Benjamin Vercellone, Secretary.