The Braille Challenger Newsletter

Our official e-newsletter about The Braille Challenge®

Vol. 1, Issue 1 - April 2009
Click here for a BRF version of this newsletter

Caitlin Hernandez: From Challenger to Champion, Student to Mentor...
Caitlin Hernandez: The Braille Challenge® Speech
A Former Teacher-of-the-Year Looks Forward
How Come That Kid Always Wins?
Q & A
No Blind Child Left Behind

From Challenger to Champion, Student to Mentor...
By Scott Kassel

California native Caitlin Hernandez typifies the spirit of The Braille Challenge®—literacy, academic excellence, sportsmanship and camaraderie. As a five-time Challenge participant, Caitlin's mastery of braille flourished year by year, culminating in first place finishes in both the varsity and overall competition in 2006 and 2008. But her outstanding performances are not what made the biggest impression on her. "Winning is fun and the prizes are great," Caitlin admitted, "but meeting all of the other kids from around the country is what will always stick with me. Through the years, I made so many great friends at The Braille Challenge®."

Now a freshman at the University of California in Santa Cruz, Caitlin is giving back to the competition that helped instill the importance of braille in her as a child. This March, Caitlin acted as a mentor at the Northern California Regional Braille Challenge®. She helped grade exams, spoke with participants and their parents and—much to her delight—got to announce the regional winners. Caitlin was also bestowed the high honor of acting as a keynote speaker at the event. Although she was nervous about it, Caitlin delivered a remarkable speech, demonstrating maturity rare in someone only 19 years old. Scrolldown to read the speech in its entirety. Caitlin closed her keynote address with a bit of humor, telling the other visually impaired students, "Because we can’t see, we can’t see any limits!"

Caitlin isn’t seeing any limits in her own life either, with dreams of a career as a novelist or a middle school English teacher. She's keeping both options open, hard at work on her third novel while pursuing her bachelor's degree at college. This summer Caitlin plans on continuing to work on her own writing while taking on a new endeavor—tutoring a visually impaired first grader in braille. “Braille has been such a big part of my life,” Caitlin said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without it. It's important to me that other visually impaired kids grow up with the same opportunities as I did." And that young first grader she’s tutoring this summer may not yet realize how lucky she is. She will be working with a special instructor—a champion, mentor and role model.

Click here to read more about Caitlin and other past Braille Challenge® winners.

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The Braille Challenge® Speech
Delivered Saturday, March 7, 2009, at The Northern California Braille Challenge®
By Caitlin Hernandez

Ten volumes. More than twice the amount of pages as its print counterpart. Standard braille margins. Six dots rearranged over and over in countless different ways to form letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, chapters, and, ultimately, a story.

By the way, if anyone wants to approximate the number of dots there are in the last Harry Potter book, I'll totally give you mega-kudos.

I was always kind of a crazy kid when it came to braille. I just took to it right away, not really for any specific reason. The funny thing is that I barely remember actually learning it. The one scene that especially stands out to me is sitting in the little office that acted as the braille classroom. I was in pre-school and I had one of the Patterns books spread open in front of me. My VI teacher, Deborah Kern, had gathered a bunch of people—my pre-school teacher, my parents, and some others I can't even remember—to watch me read. To this day, I remember Deborah opening the book to a page and saying, "Caitlin's starting to read grade two now! Caitlin, read this sentence!"

Even at 4 years old and having only been working with braille for a year, I wasn't about to pass up a chance to show off.

I still remember reading that sentence out loud. I was using my announcer voice: the same one I used when I mimicked the newscasters on TV. The sentence was, "I can go."

I still remember everyone gasping and bursting into spontaneous applause. I remember grinning from ear to ear. I remember typing sentences on the Perkins as everyone looked on. But aside from that single incident, how I learned braille is pretty much a mystery to me.

As I worked my way through elementary school, Braille and I were constant companions. I devoured book after book, struggled through worksheet after worksheet of math problems and always tried to remember those little braille rules that try to slip through the cracks. Like "in the" is not a quote-on-quote "snuggler," just because "into the" is one. Also, Deborah lectured, just because I forgot to set the margins and listen for the bell did not mean that I could write s-p-e-c-i-a, insert on a hyphen, sneak to the next line, slap on the final l, and conclude with the perfunctory period. Nor could I scratch out my mistakes with my fingernails. Nor could I cheat on my spelling tests by using the grade two word for "spirit" because I couldn't remember how many Rs were in it.

Still, in spite or maybe because of these battles, braille and I were best friends. I remember being in first grade and reading "Arthur Meets the President" on thermoform paper in grade two braille. It took me so long to finish it that my fingertips started getting sore from all that friction with the plastic. I remember being in fourth grade and reading "Quest for Camelot" all in one night. There's something special about finishing a braille book and then being able to go back and fan through all the pages you've read by hand. Knowing that every single one of those dots whizzed past your fingertips at some moment or another gives braille reading a distinctly real quality. It's tangible: literally something you can touch. When you read something in braille, there's that sense of accomplishment: that sense of knowing, "I didn't just skim through this. Every single word was processed. I am king of the braille world because I sat down and took the time to read this with my own hands."

Nowadays, of course, things are different. We have BookShare and Web-Braille. There are Web sites where stories and books and articles are posted in a format that we can easily translate into braille. Of course, there's audio, too ... but the opportunities with Braille are everywhere. I'm super jealous that all of you Apprentice and Freshman participants have so many of today's current books at your fingertips at almost the same time your sighted peers do! I've never been the most patient person, especially when it comes to waiting for books to be released. Still, there are some hard-copy braille-reading memories that I'll never forget.

When I was 7 or 8, I used to cart my braille books everywhere. My mom would haul me on endlessly boring shopping trips, and I'd shuttle a few braille volumes along. Usually, she'd try to put me in a chair where she could see me, but if she couldn't find one, she'd let me sit on the floor. After a while, though, I'd become annoyed by all the shoppers inadvertently bumping into the sides of the book, which, of course, didn't really fit all that well across my crossed legs. Finally, I'd slip in between some of the clothes and snuggle up in the middle of the rack. There, I'd read to my heart's content. Well, I'd read until someone pulled aside a pair of kids' jeans and saw that—oh my gosh—there's a crazy little blind kid reading in the dark. Wow?

Things are different now. We have BrailleNotes and Pac Mates. We have Victor Reader Streams and MP3 players to use for audio and DAISY books. There's Jaws and Window-Eyes. Even Macs, which were completely impossible to use without vision when I was growing up, are easily accessible to us now. Then there are the talking cell phones that all of us put on our Christmas lists, because it's never fun to be left out of a fad, and all of our sighted friends are texting. There are so many ways to read, write and surf the Net that it's tough for any of us to keep track. But for me, it all comes back to braille. Maybe I'm just set in my ways, but I don't think so.

When people tell you, "You can listen to your textbooks on the computer. There's an audio version of this. Listening will be faster than reading," remember this: Only with braille will you learn to spell, punctuate and use proper grammar. Writing comes through reading, and if you only listen, putting together coherent and accurate essays and reports will be a tricky thing to do later. Listening to a book will never be the same as physically reading it. The comprehension, the sense of really absorbing the words and their meanings, the ability to literally reach back and see where you've been ... all of that only truly comes with braille.

All of you are to be commended for making it this far and coming to compete in this Braille Challenge® today. You're all in school. You're all braille readers. All of you care about your education and your future. You have great family, friends and teachers who support you. And, perhaps most importantly, you have the drive, the determination and the patience to persevere with braille when so many kids your age don't. Again, mega-kudos. Every single one of you braille readers are automatically awesome in my eyes (no pun intended).

All of us are very lucky to be growing up with braille. Not every blind student is extended the opportunity to learn and receive instruction and materials in Braille. You should all be proud of yourselves for having the initiative to, as the title of our carnival today so affectionately phrases it, "prevail with braille."

Every single one of you participants is in for a great day. I've been to several Challenges, starting with the first-ever event in 1999. I'm still close friends with one of the girls who competed with me every single year. I'm in touch with Braille Challenge participants from all around the United States and Canada. Every year brings a new Challenge, and every Challenge brings new participants and veteran participants alike. Every Challenge is a reunion: a chance for all of us to come together, make new friends, embrace the old ones, and catch up on the year that has just elapsed. Ties between Braille Challengers are the ones that truly bind.

So to all of you: give it all you've got today. Yes, you'll read and write so much braille that by the time today ends, you'll definitely be ready to let your fingers take a long nap. But you'll also have so much fun that you won't be able to believe it. And as goofy as I always thought the line was, you truly are all winners.

Many of you are the only blind students at your school. Sometimes it's rough being in a mainstream school all by yourself without another blind student to bounce things off of. I was lucky in that, from third grade onward, I went through school with one other blind student. Like me, he's a braille reader and a big fan of all the awesome technology out there that opens so many doors for us. He's also one of my very best friends. He's also in the audience today. And even though I believe that we would be friends whether or not we were blind, there's something undeniably special about being able to turn to your neighbor in the middle of a government class senior year and say, "Shoot! My BrailleNote just died. Can you e-mail me your notes?"

Derek got me through geometry and chemistry with more skill than any regular-ed teacher could, because he knew the ins and outs of both the subject itself and the ways in which it correlated back to braille.

So today, as you compete, talk to your fellow Challenge participants. Ask them what it's like at their school. Compare technology. Find out the things you have in common and the things you don't. Share experiences. These friendships are the ones that last. Take it from me: it's refreshing to know that there really are other blind people out there who understand what going through school, not only as a blind student, but as an individual person with individual needs, is like. Milk The Braille Challenge® for all it's worth and make connections.

I know you're all dying to compete, so I'll cut right to the chase. Keep writing, reading, and working in braille. I know it might seem like all your classmates are faster. I know it's frustrating to sit in class reading as fast as you can while the rest of your classmates have already whipped through the passage. But just remember that in the long run, if you put in the time and effort now—if you buckle down and work hard—you'll be so glad you did later.

We all have to work hard to get what we want in life. All of you participants know that. Because you're here this morning with such killer braille skills under your belts, you've already worked harder than you yourself even know. And when people tell you, "Oh man, you're amazing because you're blind," remember this: You're amazing in your own right. You haven't let your blindness define you. All of you are strong braille readers. Whether you're mainstreamed or homeschooled or at a school for the blind, you have forged your own path and decided to invest time and energy toward your education. All of you are going someplace great, and being a braille reader and writer is the key that got you there.

Erik Weihenmayer, the world-renowned blind mountain climber who scaled Mount Everest in 2001, hits it right on the nose when he says, "A summit isn't just a place on a mountain. A summit exists in our hearts and minds. It is a tiny scrap of a dream made real, indisputable proof that our lives have meaning. A summit is a symbol that with the force of our will and the power of our legs, our backs, and our two hands, we can transform our lives into whatever we choose them to be, whatever our hands are strong enough to create."

No matter what your summit is, I know you guys will reach it. You've come this far, and, as I'm fond of saying, "Because we can't see, we can't see any limits."

Ten volumes. More than twice the amount of pages as its print counterpart. Standard Braille margins. Six dots rearranged over and over in countless different ways to form letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, chapters, and, ultimately, a story.

So everybody wiggle your fingers, make friends, do your best, have fun and, most of all, write your own story. And write it in braille.

Go get 'em!

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A Former Teacher-of-the-Year Looks Forward
By Scott Kassel

Anna Swenson has been involved with The Braille Challenge® for some time now. Six years ago, she guided her pupil, then first grader Joy Hu, to a national championship finish in the Apprentice group. Although, Anna did not personally attend the awards ceremony in Los Angeles that year, upon the announcement of the test results she did receive an immediate phone call from her thrilled student. "Joy was so happy," Anna remembered. "It made me feel wonderful to hear the excitement in her voice and to know all of her hard work had paid off."

The following year, Anna's hard work paid off when Joy's mother, in turn, nominated Anna for Braille Institute's first Annual Teacher-of-the-Year. It came as no surprise to those who know her and her work that Anna came away with the prize. Anna has spent 33 years as a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. She has seen much in her years as a TVI, but Anna wasn’t prepared for her time in Los Angeles.

"I didn’t really understand how great The Braille Challenge® was until I experienced it for myself," Anna admitted. "The competition is such a celebration of braille and it gives the competitors a sense of pride knowing they can do something special that not everyone else can do."

On a personal level, Anna saw just what it did for her pupil, Joy Hu. "Winning The Braille Challenge® gave Joy an added boost of confidence and it spurred her on to pursue literacy—to read more and reach for the stars."

This year she was selected for The Braille Challenge® Advisory Committee. "It's a great honor," Anna said. "I look forward to seeing this great event grow and grow, and I can't wait to come out to Los Angeles for the finals. It’s going to be a blast."

Click here to read all about our 2009 Teacher of the Year.

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How Come That Kid Always Wins?

If you’ve been following The Braille Challenge® for a few years you know that many of our Finalists are returning champions. Last year a full 60 percent of the kids who came to Los Angeles have been here at least once before. So what’s their secret?

Here are a few teacher-to-teacher suggestions on how to help kids bone up for the Big Day:

• These days many older students routinely use notetakers, not Perkins Braillewriters, which have a much lighter touch. Get your older student back to their roots and using a braillewriter to brush up. One teacher makes it a point to have her student take her weekly spelling tests on the Perkins, just to keep up her skills.
• Collect curriculum typically given as daily assignments and have your student take it in one batch as contest prep.
• Go online and pull up words used for your state's Spelling Bee.
• To improve reading speed and fluency, one teacher recommends having students read riddles and poetry. They flow easier that straight prose, so a student can get a faster rhythm going and get a feel for increased speed.
• We all know the importance of goal setting. Tracking braille techniques is one way to help a student see progress and improve speed and fluency. If you don’t already have your own system, here are three charts one teacher uses to help her students build confidence in their progress.
• a log of proficiency in braille techniques
• a record of minutes of braille reading per day
• a reading rate log.

Many also shared ideas from their students:

• Wear a braille watch! It helps keep track of the time limit.
• It does really help: get to bed early and eat a good breakfast!
• Practice finding and using the buttons on a talking book machine while brailling. Braille Institute has machines and foot pedals available for loan for the contest—ask to borrow them in the off season.
• One student enjoys creating his own proofreading passages and questions (is the error in sentence 1 only, in sentences 2 and 4, etc.), and giving his test to his teacher! He builds in errors in punctuation, spacing, fingering, and misuse of contractions. The benefit: the more devious becomes to try and trick his teacher, the more attuned he became with what he could have faced on the test.
• Listen to a newscast on TV or the radio and braille what you hear. See how many minutes you can keep it up.
• Ask your teacher to pull some past copies of state standardized tests. They might often are good sources for questions that use tactile graphics.

And finally, if you haven't taken advantage of our practice contests, check out the Challenge Resources page on our Web site. You can download several past Challenge contests to use for practice. Good Luck!

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Q and A

Q: How is The Braille Challenge® scored and why aren’t the actual scores released?

A: Finalists for The Braille Challenge® are determined by a national ranking of all students' final scores. Each student's final score is more than just a total for the number of correct answers. Each of the five contests has a different number of questions. In order to make each contest equally important, we take the actual correct answers for each test and assign it a number value. The highest number value is 100 as a perfect "final score," which then translates into percentages. These "final scores" are compared for all students and the 60 finalists are determined. Our goal is for all five contests to be equally important, to reflect finalists whose braille skills are well rounded.

We know students, parents and teachers want feedback to improve, so each year we send letters that outline where a student's score ranks in terms of being among the top, middle or lower third of all scores for each contest category. We have made the decision not to release actual scores because The Braille Challenge® is not a professionally developed and researched standardized test. It is simply a contest meant to motivate and inspire students to sharpen their skills.

No Blind Child Left Behind
By Doug Menville

Student participating in the Rookie Challenge at The Colorado Braille Challenge®

Not every braille reader has been reading braille since preschool. Many new braille readers have just recently lost vision or their sight has become worse later in grade school, middle school or high school. They have just begun to learn braille.

To accommodate these eager students, “Rookie Challenges” have been organized at Regional Braille Challenge® competitions across the country. They have been very effective in getting blind children at every proficiency level interested in braille and one day qualifying for the contest.

One such “Rookie Challenge” has been hosted at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind for many years and coordinated by Randy Witte. Last year 14 rookies took part in The Braille Challenge® and had fun with the school art teacher, Ms. Barbara Jack, who guided them in making a tactile quilt and organized some other braille activities and contests.

Thirteen braille readers from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade County schools took part in The Braille Challenge® of South Florida. Among them was tenth-grader Helga Schreiber of Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton, who competed at the rookie level by taking the Apprentice contest designed for beginners. Teri Abrams, an orientation and mobility specialist with the Palm Beach County School District, was so proud of Helga. “This is the most motivated student that ever was,” she said. “Being able to be part of the competition was so thrilling for her.”

At the Central Florida event, there were 12 rookie competitors. Some had lost their vision and used to be print readers, and some were not reading contracted braille. “For these we created the ‘Un’s the One’ category, for students in grades 3 or above who are only reading uncontracted braille,” explained Sue Glaser, regional coordinator.

Most importantly, Ms. Glaser explained that making the rookies feel part of the overall competition was key. “They had their own T-shirt color, a separate prize category, separate testing room—just as the other groups did,” she said. “In addition to the prizes and excitement of competing, the most valuable thing for the students is meeting and interacting with others who are braille readers. They see that they’re not the only ones reading braille. It gives them a real sense of belonging and self-esteem.”

And, for Mr. Witte, the overall goal of providing the “Rookie Challenge” in Colorado is clear. “Many of our rookies will soon have enough braille skills to move into the official contest,” he said. “That’s what makes the effort so worthwhile.”

For more information about creating or attending a “Rookie Challenge,” please contact Randy Witte, Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, at rwitte@csdb.org, or Sue Glaser, FIMC-VI, at floridabraillechallenge@gmail.com.

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If you have comments about The Braille Challenger, we would love to hear from you. Please e-mail our Website and Publications Director, Alison Dirstine, at adirstine@brailleinstitute.org.

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