2011 Teacher of the Year Award Winner and Nominees

2011 “Teacher of the Year” Winner

Trina Britcher, Teacher of the Visually Impaired for Harrison County Schools, West Virginia

Ms. Britcher was nominated by three associates, demonstrating she’s not only an accomplished teacher, but also a braille advocate, mentor to new teachers, adjunct professor and braillist for a science-based summer program. Ms. Britcher has been a TVI since 1981 and has worked in public schools in South Carolina, Maryland, and West Virginia. She is dedicated to sharing her expertise, having published an article on motivating students to learn braille in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness in 2009. In it she outlines her creative, hands-on approach, including having all her students take a short “interest inventory” to find out what they want to read about. She describes other tools, such as creating adapted games to share with sighted peers and bookmaking activities for younger students. For older students, she has them create a braille notecard file to use as a resource reference. Beyond the classroom, she’s been associated with Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students (SCIVIS) for more than 15 years, serving as their braille materials specialist. She’s also a state mentor to new teachers needing help teaching braille, providing assistance in developing an educational plan that best suits each specific learner’s needs and personality. As an advocate, she consults with the West Virginia State Department of Education regarding standardized testing for braille readers, reviewing questions to be sure they are appropriately presented for a student who is visually impaired. She is also an adjunct professor, teaching braille at two university teacher prep programs. She has given multiple presentations on braille literacy techniques and assessment tools at the local, national and even international level, and is a member of several state and national professional associations. Ms. Britcher earned her bachelor degree in education for the visually handicapped at Michigan State University and master’s in learning disabilities at West Virginia University.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “In her approach with her students, she cultivates and enourages her students to participate in extra currricular activities and civic organizations. Not only does she give to her community but she instills the same qualities in her students…..Trina has a passion for braille and passes this on to her students.”

2011 “Teacher of the Year” Nominees

Jesse Brantley, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Atlanta Public Schools, Georgia

Mr. Brantley was nominated by Georgia Regional Coordinator Kathy Segers. He has been teaching blind and visually impaired students since 1982, and has been itinerate since 1985. After seeing the effort necessary to support one of his student’s with all their braille needs, he decided to earn his National Library of Congress literary braille certification. He has since been an active member of the Atlanta Braille Volunteers and has transcribed several textbooks and test preparation books. His philosophy is to braille as many books for pleasure for his students as he is able. He also creates tactile graphics for his students using the collage method. Ready to tackle the next challenge, he’s currently working on his Nemeth certification and has focused on brailling math. He’s been a strong supporter of The Braille Challenge, and has been a scorer at the Georgia Regional Challenge for five years. This year he was in charge of the below grade level contests scoring room.

Quoted from his nomination statement: “I believe the braille student should have all the materials necessary to keep up with their sighted peers.”

Bonita Campbell, Teacher of the Blind and Vision Impaired, Chesterfield County Public Schools, Virginia

Ms. Campbell was jointly nominated by her student and their parent. She was a mainstream history teacher until a blind student in one of her classes inspired her to continue her education and redirect her path. She’s been a TVI for the last 25 years. Her commitment shows in how she often seeks personal instruction from the classroom teacher to more effectively adapt visual information herself. It shows in the way she is invested in the whole child, regularly participating in Orientation & Mobility outings. She’s an advocate for adaptive technology for her students, and invests time in learning how to use it. She also organizes public events to promote braille, including creating a braille contest for general education faculty and staff and giving presentations about the importance of braille to local service clubs. To celebrate Louis Braille’s birthday in 2009, she organized a literacy event at the local Barnes & Noble bookstore, with blind teens and adults on hand to display braille materials and answer questions. She also organized an event to create braille books for the National Federation of the Blind’s “Flea Market” at their national convention. She’s attended The Braille Challenge finals twice to support her student. There she participated in the Teacher’s Roundtable to give feedback on students’ experience and served as a proctor. Ms. Campbell earned her bachelor’s degree in History/Government from Virginia Union University, and her master’s in American History from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pennsylvania. She completed coursework in visual impairment and blindness at the University of Virginia.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “Ms. Campbell is the most enthusiastic, dedicated teacher I have ever met. Her dedication to the success of blind students is unwavering.”

Anita Forbes, Vision Itinerant Teacher, Special Education District of McHenry County, Illinois

Ms. Forbes’ nomination was spearheaded by a student and the student’s mother, but included a whopping 19 professional testimonies. Several came from itinerant VI teachers familiar with her work ethic, and others from new teachers she has directly mentored. The director of her state’s Instructional Materials Center, who coordinates the distribution of braille, large print and audio textbooks, commended her for her organizational skills and commitment to ordering materials early to benefit her students. Many statements came from regular education teachers in her district who see first hand the essential role she plays. She goes the extra mile by attending her student’s math classes so she can transcribe the math symbols and complex charts and graphs needed. She even makes time to join her students during social activities. She keeps abreast of new technology, and arranges for vendors to come and provide in-service training for her fellow teachers. She writes “nursery rhymes” to help children learn their braille letters and contractions, creates games with brailled cards, and gives older students brailled books as birthday gifts. She even reaches out to parents of very young children to demystify braille. When a blind student starts a new class, she creates activities in braille to give sighted students a better understanding about what life is like as a blind person. Beyond the classroom, she’s organized a panel of young blind adults to speak about their transition from school to adult life, and successfully secured a $5,000 grant to purchase braille production equipment for her district. Ms. Forbes earned her bachelor’s degree at Illinois State University, and has completed various master’s level courses in special education and technology.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “If it wasn’t for Mrs. Forbes, I would never be where I am today---a strong, independent, successful high school sophomore. She has not only educated me with braille literacy, but has given me the power to feel secure within my own skin, and to know that there is nothing wrong with being blind..”

Julie Gaynor, Vision Resource Teacher, Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland

Ms. Gaynor’s nomination was submitted by the Vision Services Team Leader in her school district. She began her teaching career at The Maryland School for the Blind, then took a position as a special education teacher before returning to the field as an itinerant TVI in 2006. In the interim years as a special education teacher, she was an accomplished presenter and staff development trainer, and earned multiple awards for her teaching skills, including the Maryland Council for Exceptional Children Teacher of the Year and the Baltimore County Commission on Disabilities Teacher of the Year. As a TVI she’s equally committed. She encourages her young braille readers by focusing on what interests them. She created Math and Language Arts games in braille that can be played with friends and family and transcribed a songbook with tactile illustrations for a child who plays bells. To build a broader awareness of braille, she presents braille lessons to sighted children, including a local Boy Scout troop. She’s encouraged and mentored at least four instructional assistants to complete a beginning course in braille. She encourages her students to participate in The Braille Challenge and last year served on the planning committee for the Maryland Regional. Always seeking to learn, she has taken transcribing courses in the Nemeth code and braille formatting, and technology courses on use of the Victor Reader Stream audio player and braille notetakers. She earned her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education from The Defiance College in Ohio, and her Master’s in Special Education from the George Peabody College for Teachers in Tennessee, with an advanced professional certificate in special education for the visually impaired.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “Julie has given her students the greatest gift a teacher can give---a love of learning and a love of braille.”

Wendy Hardy, Elementary VI Resource Room Teacher, San Diego City Schools, California

Ms. Hardy was nominated by a peer from the San Diego Unified School District, where she has been employed since 1991. She is clearly “hands on” when it comes to braille. To ensure her students’ texts include only the braille contractions they have learned, she takes on the task of customizing the District’s Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) program. She also holds Saturday workshops for parents, giving them the opportunity to explore myriad tools. She introduces them to code basics, how to use a braillewriter, accessing a notetaker file, setting up a math problem with an abacus and navigating with a screen reader under blindfold. She embraces technology and emphasizes keyboarding and notetaking skills. She’s also taught a braille transcribing class for credit to general education high school students. Beyond the classroom, she’s also an advocate for her students. When they participate in school activities, she is there to provide appropriate support. She’s even secured a grant to build a specially designed playground to meet the needs of her visually impaired students. During summers she partners with an orientation and mobility instructor to teach a community-based Expanded Core Curriculum program. She earned her Master’s of Education in Visual Impairment at the University of Virginia.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “All of Wendy’s colleagues in the VI program, supervisors and administrative staff, general education teaching staff, parents of her students, and the students themselves hold her in the highest regard.”

Ellennie Wong Lee, Itinerant O&M and Teacher for Visually Impaired Students, San Francisco Unified School District

Ms. Lee was nominated by a fellow member of the Braille Revival League, herself a braille reader and ardent supporter of braille literacy. Ms. Lee has been a TVI for more than 20 years. A true itinerant, her supply room is the trunk of her car. But despite her lack of permanent storage space, she and her handcart ensures she has the needed equipment, games, manipulatives and lessons on hand. She creatively employs seasonal activities to teach basic concepts, such as using apples to build braille cells. She also makes handmade braille board games to reinforce contractions. To engage families, she encourages her students to teach them braille. She also has successfully used strategies to teach functional braille to students with developmental delays, and developed her own tactile communication system by labeling the classroom with braille symbols that represented an activity to be done. Ms. Lee earned her Masters in Special Education at San Francisco State University. She is a Board Member of the Braille Revival League, the California Association for Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and the Human Services Foundation.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “There are examples of students who continue to use large print and magnification longer than they should. This desire to stay in the sighted world is understandable, but may create a psychological barrier to learning braille. This barrier is less likely to occur in Ellie’s students because of the early foundation she is giving them.”

Barbara Remmen, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Educational Unit #3, Omaha, Nebraska

Ms. Remmen was nominated by her student and his mother, and an associate who has worked with her in the classroom as a para-professional. She is both a TVI and a Technical Assistance Consultant for the Nebraska Deaf-Blind Project. She is credited as being very “hands-on,” available to her students all hours for homework questions—especially, her student said---when he had to learn to use  an abacus. When lessons were needed for band class, she took the extra time to help him learn music braille. To prepare him for foreign language, she taught him the special braille symbols ahead of time. When it came time to transition to a new school, she served as a team leader, making sure teachers and administrators all were prepared. As a Technical Assistance Consultant, she developed a team of professionals to coordinate training sessions and conferences to serve the technology needs of both professionals and families of deaf-blind students in her area, including organizing the Deaf-Blind Summer Institute. Ms. Remmen earned her Bachelor’s in Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and additional Endorsements in Specific Learning Disabilities and Vision.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “Ms. Remmen didn’t just teach me the braille. She made sure I understood it, knew what it was for, and how important it was for me to learn.”

Dee Sawyer, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Lincoln, Nebraska

Ms. Sawyer was nominated by the family of one of her students. They credit her for motivating their daughter to overcome her reluctance to learn braille, build confidence, and ultimately persevere to earn an award at a regional Braille Challenge. Seeing a specific need to build reading speed, Ms. Sawyer developed curriculum that helped their daughter improve her pace. She kept the parents informed, and helped them encourage their daughter to attempt the Challenge a second year after becoming frustrated and quitting the first year. She holds a bachelor of arts in Elementary Education from Ottawa University, and a Masters of Education in Learning Disabilities from the University of Nebraska.

Quoted from her nomination statement: “Rachel has developed such a fondness for Dee that I think she would endure eating broccoli just to keep Dee as her teacher.”