March 2016

Marcus arrived at the Colorado Center for the Blind and, as some have observed, “stirred things up.” With a resilient attitude and a can-do approach, he tackled every challenge in woodshop, the kitchen, travel, challenge recreation—and wowed us all.

Here are a few moments from his time at the Center:

As students near the end of their program, they must plan and execute a “Monster Route.” Listen to Vika talk about hers. She graduates in a week!

“James and I talked on the phone for months and months before he came to the Center,” Julie Deden told the 60-plus guests at James’ graduation ceremony on February 12. “And one thing we all know about you now James is that once you have your mind made up you go for it and make it happen.”

“It was pretty chaotic (when we brought you in), and pretty intimidating. But look how far you’ve come — you can travel anywhere, and what about this wonderful meal with a Southern flair!”

That meal featured his mother’s own recipe for pot roast, along with rice and, not surprisingly, sweet tea.

Fittingly, James’ Mom Elizabeth came from Tennessee, along with his sister Laura and her fiancé Chad, and James’ nephews Tyler and Carl. James’ new roommates were also present. He is staying in Colorado to look for work.

“James has earned his bell of freedom,” Julie told the audience. “He can now move forward with his life!”

“You really raised the bar,” Julie Deden said of Daniel’s graduation meal on March 4. “I think this is the biggest grad meal we’ve ever had.”

She didn’t mean just the number of guests Daniel served – there were 80 in all – but because he cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for those 80 guests.

The guests included family members such as his Mom and Step-dad, brother, Grandma and Pops (all live in the Denver area) and his Dad and brother who traveled from Mississippi to Colorado for the occasion, as well as close friends from church.

That’s not all though – there were a dozen students from Rice University and their faculty advisor who were at the Center as part of their Alternate Spring Break, several recent grads from the Denver area, as well as our Tech Instructor Chris Parsons and her one-month-old son Jackson (Chris is on maternity leave). Of course, there were all the current students and staff.

“Jenny is a woman who is very creative and unique, and you may find yourself experiencing things you’ve never experienced before when you spend time with Jenny.”

That was Julie Deden’s remark on January 20 as she prepared to present Jenny with her Freedom Bell. It’s very true, because it was elicited by the fact that Jenny had just served us all Brussels sprouts. Even more astonishing – we liked them!

“I know you’ll be able to do anything you put your mind to,” continued Julie.

Jenny became blind overnight about a year before coming to the Center for training. She felt lost, wondering what it meant to be a blind person and where her life could go.

“I couldn’t even think if I’d ever met a blind person,” she said.

“Jenny is a woman who is very creative and unique, and you may find yourself experiencing things you’ve never experienced before when you spend time with Jenny.”

That was Julie Deden’s remark on January 20 as she prepared to present Jenny with her Freedom Bell. It’s very true, because it was elicited by the fact that Jenny had just served us all Brussels sprouts. Even more astonishing – we liked them!

“I know you’ll be able to do anything you put your mind to,” continued Julie.

Jenny became blind overnight about a year before coming to the Center for training. She felt lost, wondering what it meant to be a blind person and where her life could go.

“I couldn’t even think if I’d ever met a blind person,” she said.

A lawyer, she characteristically didn’t wait for answers to come to her, but started researching and reached out to the National Federation of the Blind of Kansas weeks after becoming blind. She soon met many blind people, among them Diane Hemphill, who offered her information, support and advice.

"You encouraged me and you wouldn’t give up on me," she said after serving her grad meal to 60 guests, which included other family members and close friends from church, along with all the staff and students at the Center.

Richie’s been at the Center in our Independence Training Program for a couple of months now. A former student in our summer youth program, he hit the ground running in January. Here are two videos. The first about his gift to Locks of Love. In the second, he’s on the slopes at Lake Eldora, the footage captured by his skit guide with the Center’s GoPro camera.

Monday afternoons our art class meets with our long-time teacher and friend Ann Cunningham to make tactile are pieces from stone, clay, paper or whatever creative fancy strives to take flight.

Shelby will graduate next month, and she’s been a fixture in art class since last fall. Here she is with her latest art project, titled “Beacon”. She started out to make the two maroon ducks sitting on their lime green nest, but along the way got the idea of a kind of lamp, its light shining from one of their mouths. So after she fired and lazed the piece, she went out to the hardware store to get the wiring and put it all together. Creativity, we may observe, is a process.

And so, it is a beacon!

Alyssa recently finished her mini-meal. Let her tell you about it.