NFB Youth Slam! » grecia

Working Wednesday

grecia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:56:20 +0000

By Wednesday most of us could barely move. But we knew we had to. We arrived at breakfast earlier that day and consequently had a little time to spare.
When we got to Slam News, we had no time for catching up, a fact that overwhelmed me at first. The first hour was our round table meeting, which we have every day. The next two hours my team and Ronza discussed the upcoming press conference and the questions we needed to prepare. The reason it took about two hours is that we kept meandering away from the main subject to relevant but not really necessary topics for this press conference.
The last thirty minutes of the morning were dedicated to coming up with questions. It was difficult, and most of us got nervous when we were told we would have to stand where the press was and act exactly like them. The prospect seemed fun yet slightly daunting.
The minute class was over, we were all to report to our dorms and stand in front of them while we loaded the buses by track to go to the National center. We got there late and almost missed the whole press conference. Luckily, we made it just in time for fellow blogger and Baltimore native Denzel Ferges to give his speech. He sounded a bit nervous and regretful about the situation in the Baltimore City schools, but determined and hopeful that things would change soon. And, if we have anything to do with it, they will.
Our team did, however, manage to get an interview with Chris Danielson, the NFB’s director of public relations. That was a learning experience, and I hope that our being there influences the Baltimore City Public Schools in favor of educating properly trained blind students.
Because of our quick interview, we missed the mass passing out of sack lunches. By the time we finally got our lunches, it was time to go to our short course sessions. The Slam News track had the History of Technology, a thrilling story of technology through the ages. After that we toured the International Braille and Technology Center, (IBTC). That place amazes me every time I see it.
The next thing on our schedule was the exhibit hall, where we got to look around at all the different tables. I still have my Louis Braille commemorative coin pin that they were handing out. My favorite table, though, was the Astronomy one, where there was a tactile sun dial and two tents, representing the fall and summer skies with tactile constellations.
Dinner was a fancier affair than we have been used to. When we sat down, the tables were set with table cloths, real silverware, plates of food, fresh cookies, and glasses of water. Rolls and butter were at every table. It felt just like the banquet at Convention, only instead of a speech, we got an excellent talent show.
Two of Georgia’s best performed that night: Wilkens Eugene on the saxophone and Garrick Scott on laughter. It was very entertaining.
The only thing we did when we got back that night was sleep. I think we all needed it.

A Slammin’ Tuesday

grecia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:51:13 +0000

Tuesday morning arrived all too quick for most of us. But we were excited to rise and get the day started with breakfast, which was exciting, as were all the meals. We spent it mostly wandering around, talking with people we knew, meeting some we didn’t.
Afterword, it was time to break into our tracks. In the morning we played catch up and got our assignments for the afternoon. The blogging boys were to interview three different people separately for three different projects, while we girls were to stick together and interview three different people for the same project. That would prove to be an interesting story.
Lunchtime eventually came, and most of us were, if not completely done, then almost completely done with the previous day’s assignments. Nothing eventful happened that day at lunch–just had lots of laughs and lots of fun mingling.
After lunch we spent some time thinking about whom we were going to interview. Olaedo and I had phone numbers for our people, so we decided to interview Kayla’s person, Willy Black, first, because we could just go with him to his track, (Robots), and pull him quietly to the side.
As we walked, I noticed that the group kept splitting in two: those who walked super fast and those who didn’t. I mostly walked by myself between the two, though I was sometimes with one group and then with the other.
At one point I was walking with the fast walkers. We got to a point in the path where they needed someone to marshal the people behind. As the lovely people my friends were, everyone volunteered me for the job. So I stood to one side and became surprisingly loud. In the end, I was an extra. The team forgot to call me off when they had passed, and some nice girls stopped and asked me who I was yelling at. It was funny and not embarrassing because at first I thought they were part of our group. But as they walked with me further and further, I realized they were from a different group all together.
I finally found the slower-paced half of the group and walked with them the rest of the way. In this, I discovered that the person we were looking for, Willy Black, was the mentor/leader of the group.
It took us a while to get there. We made several wrong turns and had many people looking for us. I had to make sure I wasn’t forgotten because I wasn’t a part of the track we were walking with. But we eventually made it, Kayla got her interviews, and Willy got to take a break.
Our next interview was with Marc Schmidt. I had already contacted him, and we had agreed to meet at his track building. He was in the Go Green Track, so we thought it wouldn’t be too bad getting there. We somehow forgot to plan out exactly how we would get there without the help of a marshal, since before we had been following a group.
After we realized this, we began calling anyone we could think of. Starting with Ronza, our head blogger, we called four different people, three of whom did not answer. Finally, we were able to put in a request for a marshal. Just when we were beginning to relax, Marc Schmidt called and told us his location had changed. And, to top it all off, we found out no one was answering because we had a water problem.
Eventually a marshal came, we got the remaining two interviews, and we met our deadline of reporting back to Slam News headquarters at 5:30.
Dinner and sports were next. Dinner was uneventful. However, the fool I made of myself in Sports was all too noticeable.
That night my team and I got to know our suite mates, three girls on the Chat Bots team. I must admit that we had a lot of fun. But when it was time for bed, we all crashed, anticipating the next day.

The First Day of the Tornado That Is the NFB Youth Slam

grecia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:29:19 +0000

The first day of Youth Slam was so great and exhausting!!! Breakfast was bright and early, starting at 6:00. My team was there at about 7:30. We would later discover that it was better to end up there earlier rather than later so we would have time to eat. That’s because slight mishaps do tend to happen.
That first day we had a lovely breakfast of potatoes, bacon, eggs, and other things my poor brain can’t remember.
After that, we all went to a welcoming short session. It featured some great speeches by people that had done some wonderful things as blind scientists, and the Dean of education for the University of Maryland. It was all fantastic, except for the fact that I was cold. But then I’m always cold, in case anyone ever wondered why I always wear a jacket, even in 90-degree weather.
The next order of business was finding and meeting with our Slam News track. Our track is awesome! When we got there, the different parts of what makes the Slam News tick were explained to us: the bloggers like myself, Kayla, Olado, Denzel, Tarik and Tomi; the podcasters like Dawlyn, Derrick, Scott, Jennifer, and Ja’Nesha; the journalists like Jordan and Gabe’ and the video people like Amber, Missy and Amber. Afterword we divided into our separate groups and were given our assignments.
For bloggers, the first assignment was writing down 25 things about ourselves, which are now posted. For the rest of the time with our track, what we created would appear some way or other, no matter which of the news crew did it. Even our tweets on Twitter would appear.
At around noonwe broke for lunch. That was a fun meal involving new faces and resulting in some honorary members invited to become friends with the Georgia students. We’re always looking for new friends. After lunch, it was back to work, finishing up our writing, audio, or video.
At around 6:00 , we broke for dinner, after which we had a dance. It was supposed to be a barbecue, but it rained so it was moved indoors instead. Our news crew wrote and posted a piece about the dance, keeping us alert and working whenever a slam activity merited it.
By the end of the evening we all had fun on the dance floor,
And by the time the dance ended, we were all exhausted and ready for bed. What a tornado of activity we had that first day, and a whole week still awaits us.

Blind Technology From Yesterday to Tomorrow

grecia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:35:22 +0000

Yesterday we were given the opportunity to tour the Jernigan Institute. We were sorted by track and put into different sessions. The session you went to depended on the track you were in. We of the News Crew had the session, History of Technology.

Ms. Anne Taylor and Mr. Steve Booth took us on a trip through the past, talking about how far blindness technology has come, from room-size computers in the 60’s, to mini-laptops in mid-2009. And of course we were sitting in the blind technology center which has more physical examples of that technology than any other place on earth. . Mr. Booth talked us through Ray Kurzweil’s invention of the optical character scanner, and even his help in creating some aspects of Xerox copying machines. He took us decade by decade from the 60’s up until now, showing what a rich background the NFB has in nearly all aspects of blind access technology. .
Mr. Booth mentioned how over time decreasing size of computers translated into decreasing cost. .
After an enthralling hour hearing about all the wonderful steps technology has made, we all began talking about what the future of technology may or may not hold, and the role of organized blind people to help advance it. Our dream and goal was looking forward to the accessible car that will be available for an acceptable price one day.

Free To Be Wild with the NFB

grecia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:24:57 +0000

Last night, after touring the Jernigan institute, some of the Youth Slam students performed in a talent show. It was full of people with amazing talents, two of them from my home state, Georgia. Even Dr. Maurer got up and sang a song from Gilbert and Sullivan. It was amazing and different to see the head of a huge organization cut loose a little bit and make us all laugh.
The only thing that made this talent show a bit wild was the people I was sitting with. When I came to Youth Slam two years ago , I told myself I wouldn’t sit with the Georgians anymore. You know, you can never take them anywhere and not expect people to know all of them by the end of the event. However, since I’m a natural optimist , I decided to join them at dinner and the talent show was right after.
All of the performers were amazing. We had blind singers, musicians and storytellers from Georgia, Texas, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and so many other states. The host that night was a successful rapper called Braille. A highlight of the evening was when we all were given complementary CDs of his music.
And of course, true to form, at the end of the evening at our table , a mini, yet full flown water war broke out among the Georgians. I didn’t know much about it at first. But then I became a casualty. My right side was soaked. One of our girls got an entire bottle of water poured on her somehow. It was so odd and yet so fun to cut loose a bit after days of classes and projects.
Georgia is known for the loud cheers of support we give each other. We’re a very friendly and close-knit NFB affiliate.So, when Wilkens Eugene’s turn came I don’t believe anyone was surprised by our cheering reaction. However, when it was Garrick’s turn, everyone began to boo us. Well, Georgian pride meant we couldn’t take that sitting down. So, we stood up to cheer. We were so loud, we had to be given an extra minute to all calm down. Sometimes, I wonder to myself if we don’t take it overboard. It’s all in good fun though, and I loved these fun times with my NFB friends.
All too soon, it was time to come back to our dorms and prepare for bed. While the bus ride to the National Center was energetic and fun, the ride back was spent in slumber, dozens of students utterly drained from yet another long 18-hour day. We were all so exhausted. But it was all worth it, hearing the wonderful people who put in the time and effort to make our night special.

An Overview of the Braille Note

grecia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:07:58 +0000

There are many note takers for blind people to choose from. My personal favorite is the BrailleNote, made and produced by HumanWare. Readers are probably wondering why I am beginning this blog entry with this comment. The reason is this: yesterday the youth slam toured the International Braille and Technology Center, (IBTC) at the National Center for the Blind.
We examined all sorts of notetakers, electrical appliances, and even phones and mp3 players–all accessible to the blind. I am here to highlight one of those amazing pieces of equipment, HumanWare’s Braille note.
Available with a Braille or full computer keyboard and with a Braille display built-in, the BrailleNote is a great introduction to notetakers. If you are just beginning to use notetakers and possibly learning Braille, the BrailleNote is simple to learn and easy to remember. If anyone ever gets lost or confused in any of the BrailleNote’s menus, the help feature is always available. If that fails, the BrailleNote is organized in menus, and the main one is the easiest to find and get to. One of the best things about the BrailleNote is that, if anyone has a question about how anything works, the user guide and manual is included in the BrailleNote, and a simple command gets you there. We all now know that BrailleNotes are very simple, easy to manage, and fun to work with.

Press About the Press

grecia — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:44:31 +0000

On Wednesday afternoon, a press conference took place at the National Center for the Blind. It announced that the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) had filed a complaint against the Baltimore City Public School system with the Maryland State Department of Education. The complaint states that the Baltimore City Public Schools do not provide their students with the important, essential things such as the proper equipment, skills, or testing assessments. The NFB proposed that the school systems allow us to help determine appropriate services for blind students. We are still awaiting a response from them.
We interviewed the NFB’s press contact, Chris Danielson. We asked him questions involving both sides of the story. For example, we asked him why he believed the school system wouldn’t take the time to properly assess their students. His response was that most schools want to treat blind students as if they weren’t blind. However, other considerations like the lack of financial resources and qualified personnel play a major part as well.
We also asked him why most students are denied the right to a second assessment. The answer to that is simple: most students don’t know their rights.
Chris believes that over a hundred students in the Baltimore school system are not getting the proper tools they need. He admits he’s not sure how many students drop out per year but is certain the numbers are quite high. Though he knows Baltimore is a struggling school system, he feels that that is no excuse to sell their blind students short.
Finally, we asked him what the NFB planned to do to ensure that students receive a quality education in Baltimore City. He indicated that our plans include pilot programs to teach elementary school students Braille and mobility, and to educate the students and their families on their rights.

While sitting in the audience, I watched as my fellow blogger and native Baltimorean, Denzel Ferges delivered a speech. It seems slightly ironic to me that this would be happening in the city where the NFB headquarters are. I’m sure it’s nothing any of us expected and no one liked. For, I know Denzel personally and he always seemed so together, so collected. But underneath the surface, he struggles with things he cannot do because his school system failed to give him the proper resources and training. It was an honor for me to be able to support Denzel and all of our fellow blind students in and outside of Baltimore by attending the press conference.

Taking a Break with Goalball

grecia — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:18:55 +0000

Tuesday night was pronounced Sports Night, a change from our science and engineering track coverage. Right after dinner, everyone was separated according to the sport they chose before coming here. I was put into the Goalball category with most of my Georgia Girls team. Ah, the memories.
The walk there was a pretty long one but it was fun. None of us were in our usual pods or tracks so it gave us all an opportunity to interact with and meet some of the other 200 students we wouldn’t have met otherwise.
When we got there, we were sorted into groups of people that had played and groups of people who hadn’t. There were about ten of us who had actually played on teams, four of us from the Georgia team. Then, we were further split into two teams and handed knee pads and eye shades. Most of the players were girls and we were almost all wearing flip-flops. Therefore, pretty much all of us played shoeless, a practice that would result in some embarrassing moments.

After we were all outfitted, we needed a scrimmage game starter. I wasn’t a starter, but when I came into the game, our team was losing and they thought putting me in the center would solve things. Big mistake, guys!!! I was fine for about the first thirty seconds. Then, it was my turn to roll the ball. I stood up, backed up to take my roll, and tripped. The ball rolled smoothly down the court, but sadly, so did my face. No one laughed, except me, and for that, I was both happy and relieved. I felt like a fool, but at least I was a fool having fun.
Our team still lost, but it was fun nonetheless. At one point, the ball was passed to me, and in waiting for the game whistle, we got a delayed game penalty. It was really fun though.

I am now a high school graduate so playing Goalball with my team is virtually impossible, unless I want to do it on the national level. But for me, Goalball is a hobby and I love it. Being there that night reminded me of how much I’m going to miss my old high school game.

Meet marc Schmidt, a Blind Engineer

grecia — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:06:51 +0000

Marcus Schmid was raised in a family of three. He was the only blind ne in his family, but his parents still had the same expectations of him as his siblings, which he feels is the best thing they could have done for him as it helped him to start working on his blindness skills. Marc is now an engineering section leader in the marketing and trading organization of an electric utility company. His primary function is to project fuel and purchase power expenses for the traders.
But getting there took some time. The first step was a Bachelors Degree in science and electrical engineering at northern Arizona University. He went to work at the company directly after graduation. At first, he was doing computer programming in the engineering environment. However, after six years, he switched to the generation planning organization within the same company. He feels that his strong analytical skills and computer programming capability helped him get the job. Seven years later, he took a promotion in to marketing and trading due to the expertise he had gained and his love for tackling challenges.
When asked what made him want to pursue this career, he replied, “Well, my father is an engineer so I guess it runs in the family.” He says he always had a love for math and sciences so an engineering degree was the quickest way of getting gainful employment. Originally, he was intending to study atmospheric physics, but he had to get his PHD to get a job. However, he married young and by his junior year in college, there was a baby on the way. And, finally, Mr. Schmid says he wanted to prove to everyone, including himself, that he could be gainfully employed.
Mr. Schmidt was next asked to touch on some of the obstacles he had to overcome to be where he is now. He admits that getting his equipment was a little difficult. He did not have Vocational Rehabilitation, (VR), services, so financial aid was the first obstacle. He says that what helped him be most productive was being his own advocate when obtaining this equipment. And, finally, as a matter of personal preference, he had to find the best equipment, (speech software, scanners, Braille software, and so on.), that worked for him. On another side of things, he says he one of his other challenges was convincing people he knew what he was talking about in the sense of investments. He has also been denied some opportunities for continued professional growth because people thought learning something new would pose too many challenges. However, he says he had no real negative attitudes or opposition, and says that his ability to learn and perform has dispelled people’s misconceptions for the most part.
As previously stated, Mr. Schmidt says he never used Vocational Rehabilitation, (VR), Services, but instead occasionally used Disabled Student Services, which the campus offered. They gave him a Braille note taker, orientation to the campus, and helped him find readers. What he liked most about those services was that they only jumped in when he needed him, which, he believes, most helpful because it showed him how important it was to be his own advocate. He feels that he wouldn’t go to a training center and that the help he received was enough, as he went to a school for the blind and was therefore pretty proficient in his blindness skills.
As Marc Schmidt is almost totally blind, blindness skills were a pretty important thing to have, especially in his profession. When asked about the techniques and skills that were the most important, his biggest emphasis was Braille literacy, which should be everyone’s first priority to learn. To be proficient in reading and writing Braille is to be independent and competent in your jot. A close second to Braille literacy is proficient mobility skills. He says, “You need mobility skills so you can get around and talk to your customers and experts in the field without depending on others.”
The biggest piece of advice Mr. Schmidt could offer blind students wanting to pursue an engineering career was to not be afraid to stray from their comfort zone. It would also be advisable to take as many math and science courses as possible while in high school. Another helpful hint is to ever sell yourself short, and to be creative in figuring out how to solve your problems, as, “you’ll need it. You may be the only blind student wherever you are.” Being proficient at blindness skills is huge, and he advises students to be pretty proficient at them before going to college. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this question is that, although Mr. Schmidt never went to an NFB training center himself, he strongly recommends that students go to one before entering college.
Though engineering runs in Mr. Schmidt’s family, none of his four children ended up being engineers. Mr. Schmidt married a sighted lady while in college. They now have four children together, ranging in age from nineteen to twenty-five. And, though none of them are engineers, all of them inherited their father’s love of music.
Mr. Schmidt has a wide variety of interests besides his love of sciences. For instance, he is a lover of music and thus, is a musician. He enjoys the outdoors and any recreation that can come as a result of being outside such as swimming, hiking, and jogging. But, what gives him a sense of pride and happiness is improving the lives of other blind people.
Overall, Mr. Schmidt says he is very pleased with the twenty-four years he’s been in the company. He is now in line for management and feels that he is well-respected among the other employees. And, he is thrilled to say that the people around him do not make a big issue about his blindness. Although I do not personally enjoy the concepts of math, science, or any combination of the two, Mr. Schmidt made me see that it is possible for me to pursue a career in that field. He made the topic interesting and fun. The way he spoke about his job made it seem as if everything were a new concept or idea to explore and that, above else, is the energy that’s needed for any job.

Getting to Know an Instructor: Ronza Othman

grecia — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:41:56 +0000

Born to Palestinian parents in Chicago, Illinois, Ronza Othman moved to Maryland, where she currently resides. Her hobbies include cooking, reading, hanging out with friends, spending time with her family, shopping, and playing online games.

She is a Civil Rights lawyer with the Department of Homeland Security. This is a job she enjoys very much. Her favorite part of the job is making sure every American gets the benefit of Civil Rights protections, while also keeping the country safe. However, there are a few things that could do with some improving. For example, government employees use Blackberry, which is not accessible yet, making checking emails on the go slightly more difficult. Sometimes, she also finds it hard to recognize people, making it an awkward situation if she introduces herself to people she’s already met. She admits that new layouts still make her nervous. But, perhaps the most intriguing and odd part she finds challenging is nothing more than deciphering bad handwriting.

Although Ronza is now a successful Civil Rights Lawyer, it wasn’t always like that. She originally started out as a pre-med student. However, she was introduced to an advanced inorganic chemistry course, which she hated. From that moment, Ronza began questioning whether or not she wanted to go through all of that pain and deal with it for the rest of her life. She ended up finishing the major however and, n the process, discovered that she was very good at arguing and debating. So, she picked a career that would allow her to use those skills and still fit in her love of science.

Ronza began teaching high school biology. There is an area of study called Bio-Ethics. Bio-Ethics is the social, ethical and economic implications of science. Ronza wanted to be effective in creating good Bio-Ethics policy, for which law school was necessary. But as she finished up her courses in law school, she fell in love with Civil Rights and decided that that was what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

Ronza feels that blindness skills and techniques were essential as she progressed further and further in her career. Although she didn’t learn Braille until 20’s, learning Braille was probably one of the most important things Ronza did. The long white cane at her side also helped her out tremendously, as it allowed her to travel independently and confidently. Her family, friends, and the NFB’s moral support were the most important tools.

Ronza’s future plans include staying in the job she’s in, as she deeply loves it. She also wants to settle down and start a family. And, finally, she hopes to publish a book. When she was younger, she worked on several literary magazines and newspapers as editor, and still enjoys writing and analyzing it.

Getting to know Ronza was both a pleasure and a privilege. Now, she is not only one of my instructors; she has more of a connection with me, as I can relate to some of the things she went through. I hope we will continue getting to know each other and look forward to the rest of our time together.