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The Braille Challenger
News and Information from The Braille Challenge®
Volume 1, Issue 2 - October 2009
Click here for a BRF version of this newsletter
Where Are They Now?
Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 . . .
It’s Not All Swimming Pools and Movie Stars — It Starts in Your Hometown
Cinema Without Sight: Braille Challenge Film Festival
Take The Braille Challenge with Your Peers
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Dates to Remember
In honor of the 10th anniversary of The Braille Challenge®, we thought we’d check in with some of our Challenge participants from the last decade. Here’s a look at where some of them are now and what they are doing.
Deepa Goraya during the Speed and Accuracy contest at the 2002 Braille Challenge Finals in San Diego, California.
Deepa Goraya from Diamond Bar, California, competed in the local Braille Challenge in 1999 and the first bicoastal event in 2000. In 2008 she graduated from UCLA and is now in her first year at the University of Michigan Law School. This past summer she interned with U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd from Connecticut. She ultimately would like to pursue a career in public interest law.
Deepa said that The Braille Challenge “showed me how important knowing braille is. I use it on a daily basis—in school and at work. It’s an essential skill to pass on to future generations of blind students.”
Christine Parsons is all smiles during the Opening Ceremony at the 2005 Braille Challenge Finals in Los Angeles.
Christine Parsons from House Springs, Missouri, is currently in her senior year at Webster University in St. Louis. She is an English major with emphasis in creative writing. She is passionate about playwriting and creative nonfiction, and has also become proficient in Web design. After graduation she would like to combine her talents in a multimedia venture involving Web design and writing.
Christine participated in The Braille Challenge four times, winning the national title once at the Junior Varsity level and twice in Varsity, so her name appears two times on our Perpetual Trophy!
She remembers first hearing about The Challenge from her VI teacher in school. “It sounded great from the start,” Christine said. “I made a lot of really good friends who I still stay in contact with. And I love braille. It is definitely my preferred medium. Preparing for The Challenge gave me a reason to practice and keep up my skills.”
A 9-year-old Carlos Martinez at the 2001 Braille Challenge Regional event in Anaheim, California.
Seventeen-year-old Carlos Martinez is in his senior year at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles. He is preparing to apply to college, his first choice being the University of Southern California where he would like to double major in cinema and child psychology.
Carlos has participated in The Braille Challenge since it started 10 years ago when he was just 7. In that time, he has won the California regional event several times within his age group, and made it to the Finals numerous times.
He credits The Braille Challenge with helping him socially as well as academically. “Meeting all types of personalities from all different geographic areas has been a great experience,” he said. And as someone who has been a participant since the very first competition, Carlos has seen the growth of The Braille Challenge firsthand. “What started out as a small event has grown so much…and gives opportunities to so many more kids. It inspires blind kids to become more self-aware and to excel.”
Robert Jung takes home the first place prize in Junior Varsity at the 2005 Braille Challenge finals in Los Angeles.
Robert Jung from Mississauga, Ontario, is currently in his freshman year at the University of Ottawa where he plans to major in history and minor in French.
He participated in The Braille Challenge in 2005, 2006 and 2007, winning in his age group in 2005.
Robert credits The Challenge for giving him valuable test-taking experience. “I learned how it felt to take a few tests consecutively—against the best of the best—in a new environment. The Challenge also reinforced the importance of braille proficiency in an age of increasing technology and e-text. There is still no substitute for knowing braille. It’s like knowing another language.”
Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 . . .
Have you ever wondered what The Braille Challenge® participants face each year? Well, here’s a sample of some of the preliminary tests at various levels, taken from past contests:
For this Reading Comprehension test at the Apprentice level, contestants read a story, then answer 6-10 questions about it.
Jump or Jiggle, by Evelyn Beyer
Frogs jump
Caterpillars hump
Worms wiggle
Bugs jiggle
Rabbits hop
Horses clop
Snakes slide
Seagulls glide
Mice creep
Deer leap
Puppies bounce
Kittens pounce
Lions stalk
But—I walk!
Questions for Jump or Jiggle
At the Freshman level, here is a Braille Spelling test. Fifty sentences with words to be spelled are read to the contestants, then they write the emphasized words in braille.
- western
- We will go to the western states for our vacation.
- monster
- The monster was frightening and scary.
- multiplication
- She knows all of her multiplication table.
- sprain
- His sprain is causing him a lot of pain.
- giraffe
- The baby giraffe was born in May.
- skeleton
- The skeleton is used for science displays.
- meteor
- Scientists are studying the meteor to learn about our solar system.
Now here is a Speed and Accuracy test for the Varsity level. Contestants listen to a narrator read paragraphs from a book, in this case The Glory That Was Aksum. The reader spells out all proper nouns and indicates when to include punctuation and capitalization. The contestants write out the paragraph in braille as they hear it spoken, as rapidly and accurately as possible. Then they proceed to the next paragraph. Here’s a sample from the tape for future Challengers to try at home:
When people think of ancient civilizations, certain ones come to mind. In Europe, there is Greece and Rome. In Asia, China and Persia. In the Americas, there is ancient Mexico and Peru. And in Africa, there is Egypt and Aksum.
Well, maybe Aksum hasn’t gotten as much attention as it should.
Today, Aksum is a small town in northern Ethiopia. But centuries ago, it was a wealthy kingdom on the Red Sea that conquered Nubia and traded with the Roman Empire. It is mentioned in ancient documents from India and China. Aksum’s location on “the horn of Africa”—the peninsula at Africa’s northeastern corner—placed it on the map of trade routes between Africa, Arabia, and Asia.
So there you have it: a taste of what The Braille Challenge contestants face each year. Year after year, with practice and persistence, they continue to improve their scores on these tests and prove themselves winners. We congratulate you all!
Remember, practice makes perfect! For more sample contests for each of the contest categories by group, visit the Contest Categories and Sample Questions page on our Web site.
It’s Not All Swimming Pools and Movie Stars — It Starts in Your Hometown
The Braille Challenge® is best known for its “Big Day in June,” punctuated by movie stars, palm trees and the fastest fingers in the country pounding out embossed dots at ticker-tape speed. But the soul of the contest takes place in the cool winter months at 30 or more separate events all across the country and in Canada. For every one of the 60 finalists who came to L.A., 10 students back home took just as important a personal challenge: to do their best at a Regional Preliminary Contest. The program’s real success is due to folks at the local level who pinch pennies and plead for prizes to host a special day of their own.
All regional events follow a basic pattern outlined in Braille Institute’s program handbook, but each local coordinator finds their own fun way of motivating students and educating the public.
Long Island, New York, demonstrated a braille loom that teaches braille through weaving dot patterns and hosted a demonstration by the Long Island Bombers Beep Baseball Team. Batavia, New York, encouraged the newest braille readers by awarding a “Rookie of the Year” prize to a contestant taking a contest below their academic grade level.
Regional events come in all sizes, with a few larger ones fueled by individual grant writing and local efforts. Illinois welcomed more than 200 guests. Every participant received a backpack emblazoned with the Illinois Braille Challenge logo. They even had a costumed Louis Braille visit for his 200th birthday celebration and awarded cash prizes, up to $500 for the first place Varsity winner.
Many are small but mighty. Iowa had just 15 contestants, but hosted an exciting day. Every student went home with a half dozen prizes. Winners took home a medal with the Iowa Braille Challenge logo engraved on it. Their day was covered by the Des Moines Register, and they posted their own rendition of the song “Louie, Louie” on YouTube. More importantly, their event built a coalition of eight different local clubs and agencies from outside and inside the blindness community. It must have been an inspirational day, because four Iowans made it to the Finals!
In Indiana they offered table-top games adapted for visually impaired children and engineered cooking and art projects to engage their guests. At the Carroll Center in Massachusetts, visitors went to a workshop on the Expanded Core Curriculum, then heard sage advice from parents of a graduating senior. Missouri, like many of the regions, used The Challenge as a way of demonstrating many of their newer programs and products. It gave them the opportunity to showcase several orientation and mobility tools and the latest in assistive computer technology.
From newspaper articles to community participation to proclamations from the governor, each and every regional event provided the perfect forum for educating a sighted public about the accomplishments and abilities of blind and visually impaired children as well as the role literacy education plays in creating the right opportunities.
Cinema Without Sight: Braille Challenge Film Festival
In celebration of The Braille Challenge’s® 10th Anniversary, we are hosting Cinema Without Sight, Braille Institute’s own film festival celebrating the abilities of young people who are blind or visually impaired. Yes, it’s our very own Sundance. And you will be in the spotlight.
We invite all of you, past and present Challenge participants, to submit a short video on the theme, I am more than what I see. We want to showcase stories from a youth’s perspective that show how blindness doesn’t define you. The top shorts selected by our committee of BIA staff and Hollywood film industry professionals will be premiered during the June Challenge Finals. The winner (drum roll, please) will receive a cash award of $1,000 at the ceremony and be flown to Los Angeles as our guest.
So for all you future Steven Spielbergs, here’s what you need to know. Your short film or video must be less than five minutes. You, the Braille Challenger, must be an integral part of the filmmaking process and the storyline. No copyrighted or plagiarized material, please. And keep it clean—no foul language or unsuitable content allowed.
An application form will be available on The Braille Challenge Web site in November, but you can begin your casting and power lunches now. You’ll have until April 1 to submit your masterpiece. Lights, camera…action!
Take The Braille Challenge with Your Peers: Regional Preliminary Events Scheduled for Winter 2010
Want to make taking The Braille Challenge® preliminary contest even more fun and exciting? Blind service agencies and state schools for blind and visually impaired children throughout the United States and Canada host their own fun-filled Braille Challenge regional events each year between January and mid-March.
A regional event offers students of all reading levels a broad and enriching experience. Most include parent workshops, entertainment, speakers or access technology demonstrations. But more importantly, the regionals give parents of blind children the opportunity to meet each other and set the stage for students to experience the exhilaration of live competition and receive acknowledgement for their hard work.
We have a list of all the agencies across the country that have already committed to hosting preliminary regional events. Please visit the Regional Preliminary Events page on our Web site for up-to-date information about these events. Remember, to participate in a regional event, please contact the agency directly to register.
The Braille Challenge® would not be possible if it were not for our sponsors and donors. We would like to thank the following 2009 major sponsors once again for their dedication and generosity:
Finals Competition in Los Angeles, June 19-20
Major Prize Sponsors:
Freedom Scientific – PAC Mate™ devices with a refreshable braille display to each of the five first place winners and the Teacher of the Year
Walter Lantz Foundation – U.S. Savings Bonds for the first-, second- and third-place winners in all academic levels
Major Donors:
Platinum Circle Sponsors
The Dockweiler Foundation in Memory of Marcus E. Crahan, Jr.
dot.dat.inc
Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg
Dot and Rick Nelson
Gold Circle Sponsors
Paul and Lois Vaughan
Silver Circle Sponsors
Franklin D. and Phyllis M. Halladay
Bronze Circle Sponsors
Alpha Nu Chapter of Delta Gamma Fraternity at the University of Southern California
Anonymous
Mary Burson
City National Bank
Delta Gamma Foundation
Dowrene Hahn
Gerrit and Nancy Vaessen
Student Sponsorship Partners
Anonymous
Braille Revival League
Gerald and Mary Jo Brown in memory of Katherine M. Krupa
Randy Brown
Herb Friedenthal
Charles and Margaret Murphy
Homer Ralles
John and Alice Wallace
Additional gifts to students generously provided by National Braille Press and the PR Store in Santa Barbara.
Preliminary Regional Events, January-March
Major Prize Sponsors:
Perkins Products at Perkins School for the Blind – A Next Generation™ Perkins Brailler® awarded at each of the participating regional events
Freedom Scientific – Copy of the FSReader Daisy Book-Reading software for each regional event winner
The National Federation of the Blind – A certificate redeemable for one U. S. Louis Braille Commemorative Silver Dollar for each preliminary event
Seedlings Braille Books for Children – A gift certificate for either one free book or a T-shirt from their catalog for each preliminary event
independent living aids, LLC – One key chain with Pocket Brailler for each preliminary event.
We would also like to express our gratitude for the many other donors whose gifts of cash, prize items or volunteer time helped to make The Braille Challenge a success.
For 2010, we have already received commitments from the following sponsors: Major Sponsor Freedom Scientific, and Regional Sponsors National Braille Press and Seedlings Braille Books for Children. The National Braille Press is a new sponsor for this year. They will be donating gift certificates for free braille books for each of our regional preliminary events.
Registration Period: November 2 - December 18, 2009
Preliminary Contest Period: January 23 - March 12, 2010
“Teacher of the Year” Award Nomination: Deadline March 26, 2010
Notification of Contest Results: May 3, 2010
The Braille Challenge Finals: June 25-26, 2010
