Current location:
Iowa Braille Challenge promotes youth literacy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Shoshana Hebshi 515.281.1338
Jan. 11, 2010 Gail Stricker, Librarian 515.281.1296
Iowa Braille Challenge promotes literacy for blind youth
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 23
WHERE: Callanan Middle School, 3010 Center St., Des Moines, IA
DES MOINES— Blind and visually impaired students from across Iowa will head to Des Moines Jan. 23 to participate in a special competition that encourages and promotes Braille literacy.
The Iowa Braille Challenge is a two-stage contest designed to motivate blind students from 1st to 12th grades to emphasize their study of Braille, while rewarding their success with a fun-filled, but challenging, day of events. The Challenge combines skills in transcription, typing and reading in five categories of competition to test reading comprehension, spelling, chart and graph reading, proofreading and Braille speed and accuracy.
Iowa’s Braille Challenge is part of the Braille Institute of America’s Braille Challenge™. It is the only national academic competition for blind students in the United States, and is co-organized in Iowa by the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and the Iowa Braille School. Organizers expect more than a dozen participants and close to 100 parents, volunteers and educators from across the state.
“The Iowa Braille Challenge helps raise awareness about Braille, celebrates Braille readers and encourages blind and visually impaired students to hone their Braille skills,” said Gail Stricker, a librarian at the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. “There are clear associations between Braille literacy and academic success, which leads to employment success down the road.”
According to the Braille Institute of America, studies show that only 30 percent of blind adults gain full-time employment, but 90 percent of those who beat the odds are Braille readers.
During the competition, parents will have the opportunity to share information and resources. They will also attend a Braille technology and book fair, which will feature demonstrations on the latest in Braille note-taking devises and software.
The 2010 Iowa Braille Challenge is the first step on the road to the national competition, which will be held in June in Los Angeles. Students from across the nation are hoping to qualify for the 60 spots available there. Last year, four Iowa students advanced to the national competition.
Braille, named after its creator, Louis Braille, uses a system of raised dots to form letters and words. These Braille dots are read with the fingertips and provide blind and visually impaired students a system of reading and writing independently.
“Braille literacy is overlooked in America,” said Stricker. “Technological advances have not replaced the need for blind and visually impaired children to learn to read and write. As the rate of Braille literacy continues to decline, the Braille Challenge offers a way to promote it and highlight the children and parents who see its value.”
For more information about this event or the Iowa Department for the Blind, contact Shoshana Hebshi, communications specialist, at (515) 281-1338 or Shoshana.Hebshi@blind.state.ia.us.
