General Colorado Center Information

Here’s a brief video from Comcast Cares Day 2016. It’s a 360-degree look at volunteers at work outside at the Colorado Center for the Blind on the morning of April 30.

(Editor’s Note: This press release was forwarded to us by the Community College of Aurora, and it is certainly worthy to be shared with all. Congratulations to Reem!)

DISABLED STUDENT RISES TO THE CHALLENGE TO GRADUATE

Reem Hamodi Graduates with 4.0 GPA

May 9, 2016 – Aurora, CO – When Reem Hamodi arrived in the United States five years ago from Iraq, she wasn’t sure what to expect.

She felt isolated because her English wasn’t perfect and communicating with others was a challenge, especially because Hamodi is also blind. Despite those challenges, Hamodi graduated from the Community College of Aurora on May 7 with an Associate of Arts degree in psychology and with a 4.0 grade point average with the intention of becoming a psychology professor.

Hamodi grew up in Iraq and lived in several countries such as Jordan, Syria, and Libya. “There were no services for blind people in my country,” she said, referring to Iraq.

This is Haylee’s speech for our short-term public speaking class, given last fall before she graduated. Not only did we learn about synesthesia from Haylee, we also learned during the question-and-answer segment (not shown) from Tabea how she and her sister Sarah argued as children over things like what color Tuesday was. They both had very different ideas. Here’s the speech though:

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:

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.

Petr was Residential Manager when Nikita’s brother Mike was a student at the Center. Nikita Reid was our special visitor at the Center today – all the way from Georgia. Her younger brother, Mike Parks-Reid was a student at the Center beginning with the 2013 Summer Program until the end of February 2014. That’s when Mike went home to resume medical treatment in Georgia. He passed away in June of that year.

Petr K. was Residential Manager when Mike was a student, and he gave Nikita a tour of the Center and showed her our apartments where Mike had lived.

The photos show Nikita and Petr in the lobby, and a grad photo of Mike smiling and holding his bell. He’s sitting down with Julie because he was so sick.

Nikita tells us she still has Mike’s Freedom Bell.

“It will stay with me for a very long time,” she says.

We’re glad about that. Mike’s memory has stayed with those of us who knew him here, and we appreciate the chance to remember him and talk about him with his sister today!

The Colorado Center for the Blind Youth Programs have been busy in 2016. Brent and others continue to make twice-monthly visits to the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind as part of our ongoing mentoring partnership with CSDB. In January, We worked with 22 students combined in both the Bridges to Life Program and in middle school. The focus for the month was about fitness and we had the kids moving while learning how the foods they eat affect them. Students Activities included jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups and running in the gym.

Julie Hunter and ITP student Kierra proctored the Varsity group for the 2016 Braille Challenge.