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.
Archive for the ‘My Journal’ Category
Working Wednesday
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 08:56 AM By greciaA Slammin’ Tuesday
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 08:51 AM By greciaTuesday 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
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 08:29 AM By greciaThe 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
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 07:35 AM By greciaYesterday 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
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 07:24 AM By greciaLast 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
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 07:07 AM By greciaThere 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.
An Overview of the Pac-mate Omni
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 12:01 AM By KaylaPac-mates come in two different varieties. One has the Perkins style keyboard, while the other has a computer keyboard. This gives users the opportunity to choose their preference. The machine operates similarly to a computer with jaws.
I have been using the Pac-mate Omni for about two years. I was constantly frustrated because I kept losing my work and the machine kept crashing before I upgraded the software. The battery life wasn’t very long either. I felt like throwing the thing out the window!
After I got the upgrade things changed drastically! Battery life could last me as long as four days before having to be recharged. I know longer had to worry about losing any of my work. The omni also has pocket excel and the ability to read text that is on power points, as well as many other different features.
I use the pac-mate for everything! I use it to take notes, read and complete tests, record notes, read books that are in electronic format, do mathematical equations, listen to music or other mp3 files, brows the web, and print or emboss my school work.
If you are interested in Braille note-takers you should definitely give the pac-mate a try. I encourage any one to try the device before selecting a different brand. I could not survive without mine.
A Speech to Remember
Thursday, July 30th, 2009, 11:48 PM By DenzelI was honored to have been chosen to make a speech on be half of The Maryland Association of Blind Students. “Why,” you ask? The Baltimore public school system is not giving blind students the materials we need in order to be successful in school. MABS is therefore working with the NFB of Maryland to ensure that the next generation of blind students will have proper Braille and cane training, effective assessments to determine appropriate services, and functional assistive technology. I strongly encourage each and every one of you to make sure you and your peers are getting what you need.
While on stage, I was thinking, “God, how am I going to top these two great leaders? Is my hair okay? Are my pants zipped? Oh no! I forgot my speech.” When my name was introduced, I made my way up to the mic telling myself, “Alright Denzel. Remember just like we practiced.” As I began to speak I got extremely nervous, and some of my friends told me I sounded like I was about to cry. But by the time I realized that I was nervous, I was done speaking. I got through it because my pride took over. As I walked off the stage, Ms. Rosy congratulated me, and it was on to the interviews. I felt like my favorite football player, Derrick Mason. The reporter asked me a series of questions, and I did my best to answer them.
I would like to thank my NFB family and all who support me and other blind students. Without your support, blind students in Maryland and all over the United States would have no hope for an education equal to that provided to our sighted peers.
A few Hours at the National Center for the Blind
Thursday, July 30th, 2009, 09:11 PM By TarikWhen I went to the NFB’s headquarters I listened to a press conference on the crisis of poor Braille instruction in the Baltimore City school system. I am proud of the actions that the NFB is taking by filing a formal complaint. This is one step to make sure that every blind or visually impaired student should and will learn Braille.
After the conference I went to see the remarkable technology exhibited in the NFB’s International Braille and Technology Center. Afterwards
We went to the talent show and it was pretty good — I can’t exactly tell you who was my favorite. All of them were.
The trip to the NFB National Center was a great experience and I can’t wait to see what else is in store.
A Sports Night at the Slam!
Thursday, July 30th, 2009, 08:49 PM By TamasHello to all readers!
Once again, it is Tomi journaling directly from the one and only, extraordinarily slammy Youth Slam! Well, a lot of people do slam into me with their trays during meals, but perhaps that’s a story for future article.
We had a sports night two days ago, and I thought I’d record my experience.
Each of us was assigned to a sport based on our top five choices, which we all selected during registration.
I was assigned to goalball. As a longtime goalball player, I already knew how to play this sport.
Readers who are not familiar with Goalball can watch several YouTube videos like the
U.S. VS. Japan competition
But I will also explain the sport.
We went to the Armory, the loud, echoing building where we had our dance. The goalball field was set up there. Tactile tape on the floor outlines the three wings (Left, center, and right) on each side of the court. Each team consists of three players, so a total of six are required to play.
Our group was divided into two subgroups: Those who already knew how to play goalball and those who didn’t. I was part of the players group, so for us they recapped ball blocking techniques.
Goalball is a special sport because you use your body a lot to block the ball. In addition every player is blindfolded. When you are blocking, you must carefully observe where the ball is rolling. You throw your body to either the left or right, depending on where it is coming from. Protecting vital body parts such as your face is also important, so you can shield your head with your hands. If you do not block the ball, it scores a goal by rolling and staying in the field. Sometimes the ball bounces out of bounds simply by hitting something like your leg, and that is still considered a block.
On the other side of the room those new to the sport learned how to throw the ball because that task is also quite an experience. A highball is one that is thrown too high and flies across the court. When throwing, it’s important to face the field and throw as if you were bowling the ball, sort of rolling and throwing at the same time.
Although we had time to play for only half an hour, Goalball gets very intense, with fast throws and blocks. It’s a fun sport, and I encourage both blind and sighted readers to check it out and play on a team if one is in your area. One future project I’m considering is setting up more teams across my city. I believe that both blind and sighted players would enjoy this sport equally. It’s fun and intense!