[Nfbf-l] FW: [Brl-coordinators] Nebraska Coin Launch Events

[Sherrill O'Brien]

MessageHello everyone,
As Florida's Braille Coordinator, I daily receive messages from other
coordinators telling about events done in their respective states.  This one
from Nebraska has several interesting ideas I thought I'd share, in case any
chapters out there want to take on a similar, or completely different,
project.

Sherrill

-----Original Message-----
From: brl-coordinators-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:brl-coordinators-bounces at nfbnet.org]On Behalf Of Barbara Loos
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 3:47 PM
To: Braille Readers are Leaders contest support list
Subject: [Brl-coordinators] Nebraska Coin Launch Events


On March 26, at the Lincoln Children’s Museum, approximately 30
Federationists and friends celebrated the release of the 2009 Louis Braille
Bicentennial Silver Dollar with a Gubernatorial Proclamation of Braille
Readers Are Leaders Day.  I, Barbara Loos, Braille Literacy Coordinator for
the National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska (NFBN), served as emcee for
the event.  We chose the museum because it is teeming with lively
interaction among all generations and afforded an outside the box backdrop
for our Braille literacy campaign launch.  We expressed our gratitude to
Darin Macfee, Executive Director, and Evan Killeen, Director of Operations,
by giving them each a chocolate replica of the Louis Braille coin, the
symbol of our newest path to literacy for the blind.



We next asked Rachna Keshwani, University of Nebraska Lincoln student;
Jessica Wymore, University of Nebraska, Lincoln student; Shane Buresh, NFBN
Lincoln Chapter President; and Gwynne Widhalm, Nebraska Center for the Blind
student; each to read in Braille a myth about Braille and add a sentence or
two dispelling the myth.  Rachna’s myth was that Braille is hard to learn.
She dispelled it by saying she had once given an informative presentation
about Braille, by the end of which several of her classmates could write the
alphabet.  Jessica’s was that Braille is slow and inefficient.  As someone
who has read both print and Braille, she said that she reads Braille more
than three times faster than print and she uses it in college and at work.
Shane’s was that all blind people have the opportunity to learn Braille.  He
said that, because he didn’t learn Braille early on when he was losing his
sight, he doesn’t read it as quickly as he otherwise would have.  Gwynne’s
was that Braille is on the way out with the coming of the digital age and
the greater availability of audio material.  She said that, although she
uses many technologies that talk, none takes the place of Braille on food
items, CD’s, playing cards, or books.



Then, on behalf of Governor Dave Heineman, Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy
presented NFBN State President Amy Buresh with the document proclaiming
March 26 as Braille readers Are Leaders Day in Nebraska.  President Buresh
read the proclamation in Braille.



Next, as President Buresh presented Lieutenant Governor Sheehy both a
genuine Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar and a chocolate replica, I
read the description of the coin provided by Edmund Moy, Director of the
U.S. Mint.

The last item on our agenda was the reading of the five goals of our Braille
Literacy Campaign:  1.  The number of school-age children reading Braille
will double by 2015.  2.  A nationally-accredited Braille Training
Certification Program will be established by 2010.  3.  Braille resources
will be made more available through online sharing of materials, enhanced
production methods and improved distribution.  4.  All 50 states will enact
legislation requiring that teachers of blind children know Braille and are
competent to teach Braille reading and writing.  5.  The American public
will learn that blind people have a right to Braille literacy so they can
compete and assume a productive role in society.



Following the ceremony, some of us stayed to demonstrate Braille, first to
children attending a science camp and then to all comers.  Local radio
station 1240 AM KFOR posted our press release beginning the day before and
aired segments of a telephone interview I did with News Director Sandy
Conners throughout the day of the launch.



Our Omaha Chapter held a read-a-thon at Caffeine Dreams, 4524 Farnam Street
from 4 pm until around 8:30 pm on March 26.  Chapter President Sandy
Alvarado wrote afterward, “We had a very successful read-a-thon 
.  One of
our local stations did come in and film us reading.  We were on KPTM 
.  The
segment on KPTM was a pretty good length and they used some of the
information sent out from headquarters.”



On Saturday, March 28, NABS, the Nebraska Association of Blind Students,
held its event to celebrate and promote Braille literacy from 11:00 AM until
2:00 PM at the Nebraska Bookstore near the University of Nebraska, Lincoln
campus.  This event featured showing different items having to do with
Braille, including Monopoly, and blind students Brailling names for anyone
requesting this.  NABS President, Karen Anderson, reports that this event,
too, was a success in raising awareness about the value of Braille and the
availability of the Louis Braille commemorative coin.



Nebraska has several future Braille Readers Are Leaders events coming up.
We’ll keep you posted.



Barbara Loos