(Editor’s Note: We are delighted to be partnering with the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind on this year’s Braille Challenge, a nationwide competition sponsored by the Braille Institute. It’s the first time that a test site has been located in the Denver Metro area. Below is the press release.) We’re all going to have a great time with Braille!
Braille Competition to Test Skills of Metro Kids:</h2
CCB Partners with CSDB to Host Nationwide Program
Contact: CSDB: Diane Covington, dcovington@csdb.org or 719-661-0941
CCB: Brent Batron, bbatron@cocenter.org or 303-778-1130 x222
Littleton – More than 20 students from across the state who are blind and visually impaired will test their Braille skills in an academic competition unlike any other at the Colorado Center for the Blind in Littleton on Thursday, February 5. The students will compete in The Colorado Regional Braille Challenge, which is one of more than 40 partners participating in the Braille Institute’s North American Braille literacy program.
The two-stage contest is designed to motivate blind students to give strong emphasis to their study of Braille while rewarding their success with fun-filled, but challenging, local and national events. Braille is key to literacy for blind and visually impaired students, with strong implications for employment success for blind adults.
This year, the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB) is partnering with the Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB) to offer a metro area testing site for the first time. CSDB has coordinated the competition in Colorado for years, and held another Braille Challenge event on its Colorado Springs campus on January 29.
“We’re so excited to partner with CSDB and to host the Braille Challenge here,” said CCB’s Executive Director, Julie Deden. “Braille is the key to academic success for blind kids.”
At the daylong regional event, students ages 6-19 will compete in five challenging categories – reading comprehension, Braille spelling, chart and graph reading, proofreading and Braille speed and accuracy. Regional prize sponsors include Humanware, National Braille Press and Seedlings Braille Books for Children.
The Colorado Regional Braille Challenge is the first step on the road to the national competition which will be held in June at the Braille Institute headquarters in Los Angeles.
What: Colorado Braille Challenge
When: Thursday, February 5, 2015; 9:00-9:30 a.m. or 12:45-1:00 p.m. will be the time that students would be available for interviews or comments. Diane and Brent will be on hand all day.
Where: Colorado Center for the Blind, 2233 W. Shepperd Ave., Littleton, CO 80120
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