General Colorado Center Information

Thirteen is our lucky number when you look at the Rogue’s Gallery in this photo. These are thirteen volunteers who contribute so much to the Colorado Center for the Blind and to our students. Yet they humbly protest that they get back more than they give. We suppose that’s their call, but we’re telling you they give a lot.

There are lots of opportunities for students at the Colorado Center for the Blind. Some are part of the formal program, others staff and students develop out of their own interests and contacts. This fall activities like motorcycle rides and rock climbing were mixed in with graduations and the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Convention, to name a few.

Pictured above: On September 9 students had a chance to go for a motorcycle ride into the mountains. Members of the Sentinels Motorcycle Club loaded up students and took a tour as far as Indian Hills before returning for lunch at Wrigley’s Chicago Bar & Grill in Golden. We thank Dishon Spears for organizing this each year.

Movie and Pizza for our first FAST Friday!
That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Even better is that we’ll be watching an audio-described version of the all-time favorite, “Toy Story.” It’s Martin’s favorite movie!

Audio description provides information to blind and visually impaired viewers that would otherwise be inaccessible to them – short descriptions of on-screen scenes, action, gestures and facial expressions slipped in during gaps in the dialogue.

What:

Toy Story and Pizza

When:

Friday, September 21, 5:30 p.m.

Where:

Colorado Center for the Blind
2233 W. Shepperd Ave.
Littleton, CO 80120

How:

Brian organized the scuba experience at A-1 Scuba in Littleton. A certified diver himself, he found satisfaction in sharing the sport he loves with his friends and fellow Center students.

A group of seven Colorado Center for the blind students took a scuba lesson on August 31, thanks to the enthusiasm, organization and experience of one of their peers, Brian Bussard and A-1 Scuba and Aquatics Center in Littleton. In fact, A-1 donated the lesson, including gear and instructor time!

This is Chaz Davis’ final week as a Social Work Intern at the Center, and Director Julie Deden marked the occasion with a short ceremony and presentation of a thank-you card, followed by cookies.

“I joined the blind community four years ago, though not as a blind person,” Chaz said. “I was a social work intern at the Colorado Center for the Blind, and I learned so much. I learned that blind people are just people. They do everything that sighted people do, and they do it well. I also learned that I wanted to be a part of this community.”

He was in the neighborhood, so he stopped by for a visit. Eric Duffy, a long-time member of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), spoke to our Philosophy class recently when he came to visit the Center.

Duffy, who was visiting his brother and family in Colorado Springs, previously served as the President of the NFB of Ohio and, most recently, directed the Access Technology department at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute (NFBJI) in Baltimore.

We hope you’ll bear with us this summer with a project that will result in some dust, noise and truck traffic on neighborhood streets. Construction caution fencing is already going up around our parking lot as a projected 87-day construction project begins today.

As the photos show, the Colorado Center for the Blind’s parking lot has deteriorated badly in recent years. Rather than simply repave, we decided to use the opportunity to do more than just lay new asphalt. The total project will put utilities underground, upgrade parking lot lighting, provide more walkways and landscaping around the parking area, build a concrete dumpster pad to withstand heavy trucks, and reconfigure the front of the building and the sidewalk approaches to it. Time to complete the planning and permitting processes for this project are the reason we let it go so long.

The NFB of Kansas President dropped by for a quick visit and tour this afternoon. Tom Page and his friend Nicole are in the area with Tom’s string band, the Haymakers. They played in Colorado Springs last night and will be in Denver at Cervantes’ Other Side tonight. Though a number of Kansas students have come to CCB for training over the years, this was Tom’s first chance to see the Center.

“The energy is amazing,” he said.

Tom and Nicole bumped into another Kansan this afternoon while visiting. Luther Fuller is part of the Summer for Success (College Prep) Program this summer. He’s just graduated from high school and is off to college in the fall to major in Music and Computer Science on the side.

Yesterday we gathered 106 people into the meeting room for an ice cream social. It’s an event we hold every June because of course it’s summer and it’s hot and so ice cream tastes great! But we also do it to mark how exciting June can be with our usual Independence Training Students and staff in the building with our Seniors, who are joined by the Confidence Camp kids and the older summer students in the Middle School, High School and College Prep programs.

And since this is the year that the Colorado Center for the Blind turns 30, it’s a moment to reflect on how far the Center has come, and how far our many students have gone since leaving.

As Julie Deden pointed out, Diane McGeorge started the Center in 1988 with just five initial students.

“It’s amazing to think that we started with five students,” said Assistant Director Brent Batron, “and today we have six programs running in the building at the same time!”

That was one of the first lessons of the first day of summer for Confidence Camp kids this morning.

“If someone asks you what your backpack looks like, what are you going to tell them?” the lesson continued.

Yes, Monday began with learning for the 10 5 to 12-year-olds. It went on from there, including making lunches, and there will be plenty more lessons in independence and fun over the next two weeks. Lots of fun too – their day ended with a trip to the pool for a swim. Now that’s summer!

And then there were the 23 teenagers in our Earn & Learn and College Prep programs in their first day of classes. they will be with us for 8 weeks, including a trip to the National Federation of the Blind 2018 Convention in Orlando!