[nobe-l] Exciting NOPBC Announcement

[David Andrews]

>
>Dear Listers,
>
>I am most happy to announce that at this year's Annual Meeting in 
>Dallas this past Monday, the National Organization of Parents of 
>Blind Children elected a new president and board.
>
>As many of you know, I stepped into the position of NOPBC president 
>under unusual circumstances a little over a year ago.  I have had a 
>wonderful experience being president and hope that I have made a 
>contribution to the organization.  But I never intended to run for 
>this office and in fact, though I was very honored, I turned down 
>the offer to do just that two years ago, when Barbara Cheadle 
>announced that she would not run again.  I believe that this 
>organization that I love so much will be better served by having a 
>president whose child is younger and who is closely connected to the 
>education system.  After all, my daughter is 26 now and I haven't 
>had a direct connection with the schools for five years.  In 
>addition, I was very happy serving as a support to Barbara Cheadle 
>for all those years and I will be extremely content to return to a 
>position of support for our new president.
>
>And so, it is with great excitement and pleasure that I announce 
>that our new president is Laura Weber of Texas.  Laura is the very 
>capable founder and past president of the TX POBC, a very lively and 
>dynamic chapter.  She is the mom of Lindsay Adair who just turned 
>eight years old and will be entering second grade in the fall at her 
>local elementary school.  Laura, her husband John, and Lindsay live 
>in Houston.
>
>Laura had a seventeen-year career as a biomedical engineer at NASA's 
>Johnson Space Center.  Recently, she shifted gears and is now in the 
>last class of a master's program in special education.  Student 
>teaching comes next in the fall.  Once she is certified in special 
>education, Laura plans to pursue certification as a teacher of blind 
>students.  Laura has also successfully completed all the required 
>coursework for certification as a literary braille transcriber and 
>is working on completing her manuscript.  It will be a wonderful 
>thing to have a person like Laura as a professional in the blindness field.
>
>I would also like to announce our newly elected board:
>
>1st Vice President: Stephanie Kieszak-Holloway (GA)
>2nd Vice President: Carlton Walker (PA)
>Secretary: Andrea Beasley (WI)
>Treasurer: Pat Renfranz (UT)
>
>Board Members:
>Jean Bening (MN)
>Jim Beyer (MT)
>Wingfield Bouchard (MS)
>Carol Castellano (NJ)
>Lety Castillo (TX)
>Denise Colton (UT)
>Dave Hammell (IA)
>Zina Lewis (VA)
>Barbara Mathews (CA)
>Sally Thomas (TX)
>
>I believe that our organization is in very, very capable hands and I 
>hope you will join with me in enthusiastically welcoming and 
>supporting our new president and board.
>
>All the best,
>Carol
>
>Carol Castellano
>National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>973-377-0976
>carol_castellano at verizon.net
>www.nopbc.org
>

                         David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
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