The lobby of the AIU was buzzing with excitement on Friday, March 14 as students of all ages gathered for the Regional Braille Challenge, hosted by the AIU Blind and Visually Impaired Support Program (BVISP). Some students were guided by teachers, others navigated their way with canes, and all were thrilled to collect braille agendas and tactile maps of the building created just for them.
Everleigh Moore, first grader from Elizabeth Forward School District, was especially delighted to have her nametag embossed in braille and attached to her very own lanyard. She raised the plastic sleeve to tap with everyone she passed. “We match!” she said with each clink.
The materials were created by Patty D’Ascenzo, Accessible Instructional Materials Coordinator for the AIU BVISP. She, along with Melissa Kenderes, AIU BVISP Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) and a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), organized the event in collaboration with the Braille Institute to encourage students to practice their braille literacy skills and connect with peers in their community. This is the first year that the AIU BVISP hosted a regional competition and invited students from neighboring intermediate units to join. The help and support of the AIU BVISP TVI and COMS volunteers helped to make the day a success
Before the competition kicked off, D’Ascenzo welcomed the students, their teachers, and their families. “This is a day to celebrate you and what you’re learning,” she said. “Do your best and have fun!”
The students were divided into groups, based on their skill level: Foundational, Apprentice, Freshman, and JV/Varsity. They were instructed to complete a variety of challenges created by the Braille Institute. The foundational group worked on their finger strength and coordination by identifying and sorting objects. While the more advanced students focused on reading comprehension, spelling, speed, and accuracy.
In one room, Jackie Bearley, AIU BVSIP TVI and COMS, read words to Jaxon Olson, third grader from Mon Valley School, and he used his Perkins Brailler to spell them. The braille writer contains six keys and a space bar. Each braille character, or cell, is formed by pressing a combination of the keys. Paper is fed into the typewriter, and an embossing mechanism punches an arrangement of six dots into the paper that can be read by touch. As students become more advanced readers, they learn to use contractions. Contractions are shorthand representations of words or groups of letters, used to reduce the number of cells needed to write a passage and make it more compact.
In another room, Abigail Zwick, 10th grader from Avonworth School District, and Alysa Yuschak, 12th grader from Derry Area School District, read tactile maps and answered multiple choice questions. For example, they were asked to identify which building is in the northwest area of the map.
Greg Lazur, AIU BVISP TVI and COMS, guided the girls through their challenge. During a break, Lazur explained that braille is more like a code than a language. “They are using a language they have already learned and assigning code to it,” he said. Braille can be used to transcribe many languages like English, Spanish, Chinese, and others.
In addition to the organized challenges, the AIU staff was excited for the opportunity to bring students together in a supportive and engaging environment. D’Ascenzo said, “The day was filled with excitement, teamwork, and confidence-building activities that made learning both meaningful and enjoyable.”
The AIU BVISP provided lunch and a variety of activities to promote socialization, including tactile coloring with scented markers, braille beads, and LEGOs with braille to spell their names and take home.
To conclude the afternoon, Ava Pacheco, a recent graduate of Bethel Park School District, presented certificates to each of the students and acknowledged their completion of the challenge. The series of challenges will be scored by transcribers using national guidelines, and qualifying students will be invited to compete this summer at the Braille Challenge Finals in Los Angeles. Pacheco qualified multiple times for the national competition and now works at a local preschool.
Lazur, whose birthday was the day of the event, said it best, “This is the best birthday ever. I’ve been waiting for this as long as these kids.”
