General Colorado Center Information

Students at @cocenter4blind got a chance to experience science in all its disgusting glory.

By Ramsey Scott
November 18, 2014
Columbine Courier

“Yucks!” blended with yucks as the students probed the stomach contents of the dogfish sharks they were dissecting

“I found a claw,” said one student, as he waved miniature pincers in the air.

“I found a fish,” another student said as she held high a half-digested fish body.

A biology class cutting open a formaldehyde-soaked animal isn’t necessarily a unique event. Yet for most of the class at the Colorado Center for the Blind in Littleton on Nov. 14, it was their first chance to experience what most students take for granted.

“This is my first time doing anything like this. It’s really interesting and a little nasty,” said Nick Crowell, 17, a student at the Colorado Springs-based Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind who came to Littleton for the class. “It’s interesting because we get to see how similar humans are to some animals. And they’re letting us use sharp instruments, and we don’t really get to do that.”

… or just do it now and schedule it for Tuesday!

December 9 is just two days away, and it’s Colorado Gives Day! Once a year Coloradoans support their favorite nonprofits with an annual gift … or a recurring gift. We are thankful to you for all your previous support, and as the holidays approach we ask that you think of us one more time on Colorado’s largest one-day online giving event.

You don’t have to wait till Tuesday though. You can go to our Center’s giving page and schedule your donation to post on December 9th.

Maybe after church this morning and before the Broncos game this afternoon?

By clicking on the Give on December 9 button, you still add to our one-day total that qualifies us for a portion of this year’s $1 million incentive fund!

The Center’s own “Breaking Bad” YouTube star, Maureen, talks about the Center and Colorado Gives Day in her latest video … you wish you were there!

Our FAST Saturdays program for youth will meet the second Saturday of each month and involve a variety of activities. FAST stands for FUN ACTIVITIES and SKILLS TRAINING

We at the Center are excited about new or strengthened collaborations with Rocky Mountain Goal Ball, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR in Boulder is sometimes referred to as NCAR), and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Sports, STEM, and the arts it’s just the balance we’re seeking with our FAST Saturdays!

RSVP to Brent Batron 303-778-1130 x 222 or bbatron@cocenter.org

Saturday September 13 – Rocky Mountain Goal ball

2 – 6 pm

Come and learn the sport of Goal ball with Matt Simpson, para-Olympic goal ball star

Goal ball will be played Saturdays at the Colorado Center for the Blind nearly every week this fall!! A complete schedule will follow shortly.

Saturday October 11 – FAST Saturday Science

10 am – 2 pm

(Mosaic, our 2014 fund-raising event, will be held from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, September 5 here at the Center. We’re especially excited out our main musical guests, Café Americana, and we want you to be excited too! Here’s a bit more about them, and don’t forget to buy your tickets using the link on this page!)

We’ve captured a few strays from the Denver area acoustic roots band Stray Dog: Eric Woods, Zac Cottrell & Anne and Joe Rigley. From numerous original songs, acoustic interpretations of classic rock tunes, 1940’s jazz standards, all the way to bluegrass and blues, they put their own mark on a broad, eclectic mix of music. Eric’s unique touch on the guitar over Joe’s classy bass backs Anne’s remarkably sweet, pure and honest voice, all while riding Zac’s magical percussion on the Cajón.

Audiences consistently remark that the unique hallmark of this group is their ability to make you feel as if you are sitting around the coffee table with them in the basement making music, with as much focus on enjoying the music as playing it.

Colorado artist Ann Cunningham has been teaching art to blind students at the Center since … well, it feels like she’s always been with us! That’s why we’re excited to spread the word. For the next two weekends, Ann will be demonstrating stone carving at the Denver Art Museum as part of their weekend artist demonstrations. We’re reposting some of the info explaining what that’s all about from DAM’s web site. If you want to find out what other artist demonstrations are coming up, follow the link.

Sculpture Studio and Weekend Artist Demonstrations

Every day the museum is open, visitors can explore the creative process behind assorted techniques and mediums in the Sculpture Studio.

Every weekend, visitors will have a chance to pull back the curtain and immerse themselves in the artistic process as local artists demonstrate a variety of sculpting techniques.

Weekend demonstrations will take place Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 pm.

August 23 & 24, 30 & 31: Ann Cunningham — Stone Carving (outdoors on Martin Plaza)

An Evening of Art, Cuisine and Entertainment

Purchase Tickets for Mosaic

Tickets are just $30, $10 for children under 12.

Proceeds benefit the programs at the Colorado Center for the Blind. From youth to seniors, we teach our students that blindness is just a characteristic. It’s all about confidence!

Join us at the Center:

Friday, September 5th
5:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Taste a wide selection of foods from some of Littleton’s best restaurants. Learn how blind students create sculpture and stone carvings, and how they build a final project in woodshop.

Pick up some basics in Braille.

Cap off the evening with Cafe Americana’s own blend of American roots music – everything from jazz, bluegrass and folk to originals!

Watch the video of the July 30 Talent Show finale:

Summer Youth Programs ended July 30 with a student talent show featuring solo singing and duets, Native American flute, songs in Spanish, Mandarin and Thai, as well as lively and funny Emceeing.

The finale of the show – and the summer – was was ‘You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful’ sung by all summer students and staff.

Why this song? Youth Services Director Brent Batron decided it was the theme of the summer after hearing it almost every day for month at 7 a.m. Early-arriving students took advantage of the baby grand piano in our lobby to play and sing before the start of classes. ‘You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful’ was a daily favorite.

This year’s shark dissection, sponsored by Arapahoe Community College and directed by its Terry Harrison, attracted more than 30 local blind middle school and high school students to the Center on November 22. Oh yeah, the kids brought teachers and parents, too. It’s all part of our ongoing commitment to make STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects accessible to blind students.

Nelson Garcia, 9News Education Reporter also showed up with a camera crew, and here’s the short video clip that appeared that evening on KUSA in Denver: