[stylist] Vejas, question about youth writing contest

[Robert Leslie Newman]

Vejas and/or other youth on this list:

Gee dude! I'm hoping to see one of your story's come in to our 2012 writing
contest for youth. And recall, our youth contest requires both a Braille
hard-copy (hand embossed, like with a Perkins or by slate, no use of an
embosser), and as a word document attached to an email.

Our youth contest is all about promoting Braille literacy, and so the
hard-copy requirement. We want to see the quality of Braille that a person
can produce (meaning, we are encouraging quality of Braille knowledge and
use). And here is a thought as I am writing this to you --- Tell me the
strait of it --- it appears that once a young blind guy gets proficient with
the code, in reading and writing Braille, and once the person gets a
notetaker with a Braille display, they no longer are interested in
hand-"brailing out a longish document? (In part, I'm asking because we are
not getting many entries from who we think are "the more experienced Braille
users." Most entries are coming from the elementary age group, in general
from kids who are learning the Braille code. (Yeah, we see some high school
kids who are just now learning Braille, or are saying they know it.) 

[We may need to open up a section of the youth contest to those who wish to
submit electronic entries, just like the adults are required to do (no
hard-copy print is accepted). After all, we do want to encourage our blind
youth to write!] 



Robert Leslie Newman
President, Omaha Chapter NFB
President, NFB Writers' Division
Division Website
http://www.nfb-writers-division.net
Chair, Newsletter Publication committee
Personal Website-
http://www.thoughtprovoker.info