[Ohio-talk] 2012 NFB BELL Program?

[Everett Gavel]

Thank you, Barbara. See how much I've been missing?
Buckeye issues, the NAPUB meeting. I thought I was
keeping up better than this. Sheesh. ;-)

Thanks for the great feedback. You mention making sure
the kids go home each day after class. What are the
possibilities of having a NOPBC event, like a camp,
where they can also incorporate for a couple hours a
day for the 2 weeks, this braille curriculum along with
everything else? If it's summertime, kids should be
able to stay, if we could afford it somehow. And
parents could stay and/or go if they needed to, as
well. Just a thought. To possibly get more kids from
around the state involved in such a one-off event. 


Strive On Until You Can Thrive On!
Everett


-----Original Message----- 
From: "Barbara Pierce" <bpierce at oberlin.net>
This was the third summer in which more than one state
conducted at least
one BELL Program. Each year we have reported on the
events in the Braille
Monitor. The most recent report is in the November
issue. The effort is
directed at youngsters who need Braille but who are not
getting it at all or
who are getting so little instruction that they are not
making progress. The
curriculum is carefully designed by the education staff
at the Jernigan
Institute. It combines Braille instruction with other
skills training and
activities with adult mentors, who are of course blind.
Every state that has
begun the program is committed to continuing it.
Participating adults and
kids are transformed by the experience, and parents get
ideas and insights
that transform their dealings with their children and
the school systems
that have been selling them short. 
At the convention last week NAPUB agreed to try hard to
prepare to submit a
grant for Imagination funding for BELL in 2013. The
affiliate does not have
the funds--it costs around $3,000 to conduct a two-week
program--but we
badly need the instruction. Those who will be teaching
the next summer
attend a workshop in February to help them get ready.
The JI team supports
them through the spring and will even send a lead
teacher, if that is
needed. With Debbie on our team, I doubt we would need
that much help. We
certainly would not try to do this program without the
leadership of the JI
education team, but I think we have the staff talent to
run the program,
assuming that we can identify students in a single area
who could benefit
from it. They have to be close enough to stay at home
during the program. If
you will look up any of the stories, I think you will
agree that this is a
well-thought-out effort that embodies everything we
believe about the
importance of Braille to all students who cannot read
print easily, quickly,
and for long periods.
Barbara