Independence Training Program

  The Colorado Center for the Blind received word in May that we had been recertified by the National Blindness Certification Board for another three years, and that we received the first-ever score of 100 percent following the onsite review. That news was reported last week to the CCB Board of Directors!

Our distinguished Board of Directors met here at the Center on June 2 and 3 to hear how things are going, to discuss both the immediate and the more distant future of programs and growth at the Center.

David did it – he completed his Support Drop today with his Travel Instructor Daniel! Congrats David!

Who can resist a 2-for-1 deal? Steve called it out at morning announcements – Ashley for her support drop (meaning she spent the morning with Steve), and Julie M. on her solo drop! What a great deal – and they both made it back successfully, and with more confidence in their independent travel skills!

Limit one coupon per Travel Instructor, please.

While Center staff hold an educational and planning day, students are excused from classes, though not from learning.

No, it’s the annual scavenger hunt that CCB alums will recall. Students are divided up into groups and given a list of 30 items they must find or produce today, and bring to the Center tomorrow. Items on the list involve a lot of Braille, traveling to various locations to get such things as menus or business cards or other unusual items. There’s also a baking item on the list, and some research on the Internet can help, but everything is required to be in Braille or have a Braille label.

That way, there’s something that everyone can do. Thus, students work together and use the skills they’ve been practicing in class.

And yes, it’s a competition. The winning group will receive a gift card for a popular place to eat.

Spring rock climbing with NSCD is underway, and Group 2 made their way on Tuesday to Denver PAL’s indoor climbing wall for their introductory climb, and lessons in harnessing up, tying knots and belaying. NSCD fittingly hung a bell at the top of each route so climbers can ring it loud and proud when they reach the top! We’re good with ringing that bell with confidence!

In addition to the introductory indoor climb, each group does two outdoor climbs in Clear Creek Canyon as well, though Group 2’s scheduled outdoor climb on Friday has been rescheduled because … Well, it’s snowing again in Colorado in May!

Ashley took the practical desire to know how to sew on a button several steps further after signing up for the after-school sewing class, and turned her new sewing skills into tactile art!

Last year’s gardening season, with the Arapahoe County Master Gardeners from first to last spade, and Kimberley giving us historic background.

By Thursday, Jessica was challenging herself to travel independently between classes while wearing sleep shades.

We want to give a farewell wave to Jessica Edmiston, who spent Monday through Thursday here at the Center, not just observing, but working under sleep shades all week, going to classes with student mentors and working on the basics of Braille, Assistive Technology, cooking and travel. And as it happened, she was here to witness three graduations, including partaking of the meals prepared for 60 by the graduates, and the awarding of their Freedom Bells!

It’s no small deal for Jessica to take a week to do this, since she’s the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind Birmingham Regional Center Director. That’s a long title, and it has a lot of responsibility to go with it, but her center contains a recently established Structured Discovery program, which is (the methodology and philosophy we employ here at CCB, called the Alabama Freedom Center for the Blind.

Well, yes! And a geek who is blind can be too, as David describes how he’s come from being only able to warm up frozen French fries to making Shepherd’s Pie for fifteen people.