Cover: Lantern PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND | spring 08 "I can use the computer and the abacus. I can do everything." - Logan Kelly This Issue Meet Logan Kelly Envisioning the Future Catalyst for Change LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT At Perkins School for the Blind, we are constantly working toward the future on campus, in the community and around the world. Every day, our staff makes a difference for students, infants, teachers, library patrons, people who lost their sight late in life, and those who use Perkins Products. Every day, Perkins is helping people prepare for a bright future. In fact, we are proving that the future is now. In this issue of The Lantern, you will meet students who use the best technology to prepare for the future, and you will learn how Perkins is making more technology available to everyone through our new relationship with Adaptive Technology Consulting, Inc. Perkins staff teach students on campus and regularly work with others in public school. We have taken the magic that happens in the Perkins classroom and brought it around the world. This year, our 179th, over 92,000 lives are brighter because of Perkins? work and dedication to the mission of education and independence for all. On behalf of our entire Perkins family, I am pleased to welcome Elizabeth Cabral Curtis, Edward G. Fey, Ph.D and Greg J. Pappas to the Perkins Board of Trustees. Their collective talents will help Perkins continue to transform lives here and around the world. Thank you for being part of the solution today. Sincerely, Steven M. Rothstein President, Perkins School for the Blind Officers of the Corporation & Board of Trustees Chair of the Board Janet B. James Chair of the Corporation C. Richard Carlson Vice Chairs of the Board Frederic M. Clifford* Linda DiBenedetto* Andrea Lamp Peabody Secretary Charles A. Cheever Treasurer Charles C.J. Platt Dr. Andrew W. Chapman* Elizabeth Cabral Curtis William J. Edwards Edward G. Fey, Ph.D Brenda J. Furlong Bill Gamelli Paul S. Goodof Corinne Grousbeck Philip L. Ladd William A. Lowell Greg J. Pappas W. David Power Paul A. Raia* * Appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth Contents THE LANTERN Spring 08 Campus 04 Meet Logan Kelly 06 Perkins Teacher and King's Roommate 06 The Halls Are Ringing 07 Art Around Town Community 08 Meet Grace Van Dyck 10 Taking Care of Our Children, Taking Care of Ourselves 10 Envisioning the Future 10 A New Horizon of Technology 11 Braille & Talking Book Library, Loud and Clear 11 Vision 5K - Join the Perkins Team Around the World 12 Meet Kiran and Sharanya 14 10 Years of Braille Literacy 14 Catalyst for Change Perkins 15 Family 16 Trust 18 Calendar 19 Everyone's Fund Save paper by receiving the Lantern by email. Sign up at: http://support.Perkins.org/lantern campus cover story >> Meet Logan Kelly. It's a new day for Logan Kelly. He takes from his carrying case a Braille Sense. He peels back the cover and starts typing. It's a new day for Logan Kelly. He scurries off the bus, uses his red-tipped white cane to walk through the Lower School courtyard and up the stairs to his classroom. He peels off his jacket, hangs his cane on a hook above his name in braille, hustles into his classroom and plops down at his desk. He takes from his carrying case a Braille Sense, a small electric device the size of a textbook. He peels back the cover and starts typing. Instead of 24 letters and a score of numbers and function keys, his braille note taker has the six keys of a braille typewriter. 13-year-old Logan immediately begins checking his email. When he finishes, he?ll check his daily schedule, download his homework and get ready for another day of classes. Logan loves his classes in the Perkins Lower School and he?s excited for next year when he?ll also take a class with high school students in Perkins Secondary Program. "I can use the computer and the abacus," says Logan, arranging materials on his desk. "I can do everything." It was not always clear that Logan would be proceeding so quickly and smoothly along an academic track. Like many children, Logan had difficulty adjusting to school when he was younger. When Logan started years ago in Perkins Preschool, he wasn?t so fond of sitting. But his parents and Perkins teachers in Preschool, then Lower School didn?t give up. Logan hit his academic stride around computers in the Lower School. He is totally blind and learned to use a computer with a voice that would read the screen. The computer led to reading, writing and the internet. He can type on a regular keyboard, listen to the voice translation, then print out in braille. His braille notetaker is his favorite and he takes it everywhere. He?s also a wizard on the abacus and is surprised that there?s even more to know about geometry. Logan's future is bright. He's looking forward to high school, new friends and more of the new technology that makes everything possible and fun. Photo caption: Instead of 24 letters and a score of numbers and function keys, his braille note taker has the six keys of a braille typewriter. Perkins Teacher and King's Roommate Professor Henry Santos spoke at Perkins to celebrate the life and message of The Rev., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his friend and one-time roommate at Boston University. Hank Santos had a front row seat for the work of King. Urged to leave his apartment because other tenants in the building complained that a black person was living there, he moved in with King. They studied together, debated and even double-dated. Santos then taught music at Perkins for 17 years before joining the faculty at Bridgewater State College, where he still teaches and still has a zeal for social justice, and an understanding of people with disabilities and their struggle for equality. Santos has lived his dream of doing exactly what he wanted to do. Thank you for returning to Perkins to encourage us to live our dreams as well. Thank you for making King's dream real for Perkins students. The Halls Are Ringing Every day at Perkins is a day of music. From the "hello songs" that start the day in Preschool, the Deafblind Program and some Lower School classrooms, to the piano practice rooms, to choir rehearsals in the chapel, to music therapy and musical instrument instruction everywhere, the halls at Perkins ring with music. It's no surprise, then, how melodious the holidays are at Perkins. All the campus programs hosted holiday concerts or open houses and everyone participated. If music is the language of the soul, then Perkins students are fluent. For a sample of this year's Secondary Program holiday concert, go to http://www.Perkins.org/culture/videos/. Art Around Town Recently, you could find artwork from Perkins students everywhere. 2008 Calendars as well as Holiday Cards purchased on-line featured quilts by students in the Lower School. The Arsenal Mall in Watertown hosted a holiday art exhibit of paintings, drawings and castles so imaginative they could have been straight out of Harry Potter. For the first time ever, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston displayed the works created by Perkins students. Through "A Feeling for Form" program, the MFA gave private tours and invited students to touch objects. The students then created paintings, sculptures, masks and reliefs based on what they experienced. The exhibit of students' work was stunning. It was a thrill for Perkins students to have their work on display at a world-famous museum and the perfect opportunity for the MFA public to learn what Perkins students can do. community Meet Grace Van Dyck. Today, Grace believes in herself. She plays piano, draws, loves the computer and has a collection of ribbons that mark every mile that she has swum in a community program. Years ago, Grace was famous on the Perkins campus for the plastic shopping cart that she pushed everywhere. The teachers in the Perkins Preschool decided that the cart was the perfect way to help Grace, who has low vision, gain the confidence she needed to learn to walk on her own. This non-traditional pre-cane skill worked. Today, Grace at age 12 walks independently with a cane through her public school among a sea of rushing sighted kids. "It's hard," says Grace, "but I'm learning what to do." Grace is still very much part of the Perkins family. An orientation and mobility teacher comes from Perkins every week to Grace's public school to help her increase her ability to navigate independently. They also explore town. Grace especially likes the local library and the bagel shop that she has heard people talk about but can't see from her parents' car. A Perkins teacher of the visually impaired works with Grace and her classroom teachers twice a week, ensuring that all materials are accessible. Grace also attends Perkins weekend Outreach Programs for public school students. Recently she has been begging her parents to delay their annual summer vacation to Nova Scotia so she can attend a one-week over-night summer camp at Perkins. "We've come a long way since we first came to Perkins. We arrived feeling a lot of anxiety about what the future would hold," says her mother Mary-Liz. "Perkins has always been there for us, providing valuable information and words of encouragement all along the way." Today, Grace believes in herself. She wants to be an author or an actor and has begun a short story about girls living in Copenhagen during World War II. She plays piano, draws, loves the computer and has a collection of ribbons that mark every mile that she has swum in a community program. "My door is covered," she says, smiling. "I've done a lot." Photo caption "Perkins has always been there for us, providing valuable information and words of encouragement all along the way." - Mary-Liz Van Dyck, mother of Grace Conferences at Perkins 25th New England Regional Seminar for Children with Visual Impairments and Families (Birth-7) Taking Care of Our Children ... Taking Care of Ourselves, May 3, 2008 Parents, grandparents, educators and other professionals come to Perkins for a day of speeches, workshops, panels and support groups. Often this is the only time in the year - or the first time ever - when people across New England have the opportunity to connect with others who have children with similar visual conditions. The information is transformative and the connections often life-long. For more information contact linda.cummings@Perkins.org Envisioning the Future Transitioning from school to college, employment or a supportive work environment can be complicated and challenging for anyone. For people who are visually impaired, blind or deafblind, the challenges are greater. Perkins was therefore proud to be one of the sponsors of the first conference, Envision the Future, Transition from School to Adult Life. Held at Perkins and co-sponsored by the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) and the New England Center Deafblind Project (NEC), the conference helped students, families, teachers, service providers and other professionals navigate topics of state resources, finances, housing, and college supports because everyone understands that the future is now. A New Horizon of Technology Building on our mission to help people build productive and meaningful lives, Perkins has acquired Adaptive Technology Consulting, Inc. (ATC), a Masssachusetts company providing high-technology adaptive devices, training and consulting services to people who are visually impaired and have other disabilities. The exciting integration of ATC into Perkins fosters: - Greater selection of high-tech adaptive devices - Expansion of adaptive technology services for students on- and off-campus - Access to more products worldwide through www.Perkins.org - Growth of technological expertise of Perkins staff and those who come to Perkins for training For more information contact gayle.yarnall@Perkins.org Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library, Loud and Clear Patrons of Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library rallied to Governor Deval Patrick?s call for letters of support. Here are some of their responses: "Please continue to fund the Perkins Library. I consider it my lifeline to the world ... I have always been an avid reader until diabetes made this impossible." - Martha, Norton, MA - "I lost my sight at the age of 36 ... Sighted people take for granted their libraries, but believe me the blind don't." - Donna Medeiros, Fall River, MA - "My son, who is severely dyslexic, has been listening to books on tape from Perkins over ten years. Because of this service he has had access to a whole world that would not be available to him." - Margaret Knight, Edgartown, MA Join the Perkins Team! Vision 5K What: A 5K Run and Walk When: Saturday June 7, 2008 - 9:00am-12:00pm (race starts at 10:00 am) Where: The Fenway; Race starts at Roberto Clemente Field Why: To raise awareness and funds for the blind and visually impaired The morning includes live music, food pavilions and, if you wish, an exciting blindfold running challenge. For more information, contact jennifer.volpe@Perkins.org, 617-972-7667. around the world Meet Kiran and Sharanya. In Chennai, India, 8-year-old Kiran and his classmate 6-year-old Sharanya hop out of rickshaws and run through the mud to school where they are learning to communicate for the first time. In Chennai, India, it's after a few rainy days that 8-year-old Kiran and his classmate 6-year-old Sharanya hop out of rickshaws and run through the mud to school where they are learning to communicate in one of the programs developed by the Hilton/Perkins Program. "I can't believe he's the same kid," says Kiran's teacher Dipti. "His mother once called me to say 'Kiran told me there was a birthday party at school and he ate cake. Is this true?' I told her yes, and she was astonished because before Kiran could not express anything." In many ways, the Deafblind unit in the Clarke School for the Deaf feels very much like a classroom in the Perkins Deafblind Program. The main classroom is divided into small learning groups of two to six students, organized around the students' ages and abilities. Photographs of each student doing the hand sign for his or her name are fixed to the back of their chairs. Students move objects on the tactile object calendar to signify their activities. The similarities between Perkins and Kiran's classroom are no accident, because that deafblind program of 38 students was begun in 2000 after one of the teachers spent a year at Perkins. When she returned to India and with additional support from Perkins through the Hilton/Perkins Program, the school introduced their first deafblind classroom. Today, Dipti not only teaches Kiran and the other students, she also coordinates a teacher of the deafblind training program in Chennai, India's third largest city. Sharanya is another star of the program. Her hearing issues are more profound than her sight and she has other disabilities. Similar to the students at Perkins, she is working on a "total communication" model. For instance the teacher will help her feel and smell an orange, then make the name in sign language, and finally write it down. There's even an extra step for Sharanya. Her first language is Tamil, so they also introduce the English word. Kiran and Sharanya are just two of the 38,000 people in 62 countries whose lives have been transformed by the international work of Perkins. The Perkins classroom is global. << Photo caption Kiran is so enthusiastic that teacher Dipti has had to ask him to stop doing the work of the other students. 10 Years of Braille Literacy To reach children in Africa, Perkins 10 years ago launched a collaboration with the South African Council for the Blind (SANCB) for the assembly of Perkins Braillers. Back then, Thabo Mbeki, then Deputy President of South Africa, said, "A Brailler is essential to a blind man or woman as a pen is to a sighted person." 10 years later, Mbeki is President of South Africa, all 9 of the original factory employees, including three who are disabled, are still working, and the factory has manufactured more than 20,000 Perkins Braillers. Thank you to SANCB and everyone who has helped create a new vision and new horizons for so many blind children in Africa and beyond. Catalyst for Change Since 1989, the Hilton/Perkins Program has helped develop programs around the world for children who are deafblind. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation recently hired an outside professional to evaluate the program. She interviewed program leaders, parents, government officials and other international nongovernment organizations. She visited 36 programs in nine countries. She also interviewed 244 stakeholders and 25% of all graduates of Perkins Educational Leadership Program that brings international educators for a year at Perkins. The results are something everyone can be proud of. "As the evaluation shows, since 1989 Hilton/Perkins has delivered intangible benefits that surpass the financial support that they provide to their partners." "Over and over again ... professionals and parents indicated that Hilton/Perkins gave them hope and motivated them to keep teaching, parenting and demanding equal rights for their child." "Whole communities have altered their thinking about multiply-disabled children ..." Perkins family Calling all Alumni Alumni are Perkins' past, present and future. We always want to hear from you. If alumni haven't received a braille or large print survey about how Perkins can better serve you, please visit the survey online, http://support.Perkins.org/alumnisurvey, or call 617-972-7335 to receive the survey in braille. You can also now find an email address just for alumni-Alumni@Perkins.org! Please share with us your thoughts on the Alumni Newsletter or the Annual Alumni Weekend and update us of any address changes. Perkins trust Greetings We hope you enjoy learning about the difference that your support has made to over 92,000 people on campus, in the community and around the world. Only with your support are we able to continue the Perkins tradition of thinking globally and acting individually. Only with your support are we able to make a difference in the lives of students like Logan, Grace, Kiran and Sharanya. Thank you for joining us to see how every day and every dollar make a difference. We also hope you'll be able to learn more about the difference that Perkins is making by joining us on May 1st on the Perkins campus for the Spring 2008 Perkins Possibilities Gala. Thank you to this year's co-chairs, Corinne Grousbeck and Joe O'Donnell for making this year's gala the best ever! Many thanks and best wishes, Ellie Starr Executive Director, Perkins Trust The PerkinsTrust Corinne Grousbeck, Chair Perkins Trust Katherine Chapman Frederic M. Clifford John J. Doran Eric Hamilton Janet B. James Philip L. Ladd David B. Mazza William Schawbel the Perkins Possi8ilities Gala save the date Thursday, May 1, 2008 6:00 - 9:30 pm enjoy music, fun and possibility at a cocktail reception and dinner hosted at our beautiful campus gala co-chairs corinne grousbeck and joE o'donnell perkins miracle award presented to For more information, visit www.Perkins.org/spring08Gala A Hero Among Us The Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation has named Perkins as a focus partner for their charitible works. The Foundation also called Perkins Spokesperson Jaimi Lard to center court at the TD Banknorth Garden to receive the ?Hero Among Us? award for making ?an overwhelming impact on the lives of others?. Jaimi was born deafblind and told she would never learn to communicate. Instead, her parents brought Jaimi to Perkins where she became a full-time student and graduated. Today, she is Spokesperson for Perkins with a busy schedule of visiting student and adult groups. She has also testified before Congress. Because Jaimi can neither see nor hear, at the Celtics/Toronto Raptors game, the crowd stomped their feet, allowing Jaimi to feel the vibrations of their applause for her hard work, perseverance and embodiment of possibility. Honor your Mother Julia Ward Howe, wife of Perkins founder Samuel Gridley Howe, planted the seed that in 1870 blossomed into what we know today as Mother?s Day. This year, honor your mother and support the life-changing work of Perkins. - $50 - personalized Mother's Day e-card - $100 - an e-card and a lavender and rose sachet made by Perkins students - $250 - an e-card, the sachet and a set of note cards of students artwork - $500 - the above and an inscribed brick in a Perkins walkway To honor the mom in your life, go to www.Perkins.org/give to make your gift. Perkins calendar Please join us for these upcoming campus events! May Perkins Possibilities Gala Thursday, May 1, 2008 New England Regional Seminar for Children with Visual Impairments and Their Families (Birth - 7) 25th Annual Regional Seminar Saturday, May 3, 2008 Volunteer Recognition Evening Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Educational Leadership Graduation Friday, May 23, 2008 JUNE Vision 5K Saturday, June 7, 2008 Graduation Exercises Friday, June 13, 2008 Alumni Weekend Beginning Friday, June 13, 2008 For more information, go to www.Perkins.org/site/calendar The Perkins Annual Fund A gift to the Perkins Annual Fund is one of the most effective ways to support Perkins. Your gift impacts everything. - A book in braille... - Sports equipment... - Subsidizing an outreach weekend for a public school student... - Providing specialized training to one of our teachers... ...a gift to the Annual Fund creates possibilities for every one of the 92,000 people we reach. Every gift. Every day. This spring you can double your money thanks to a donor committed to matching your gift. is Everyone's Fund Change lives, http://www.Perkins.org/give Photo: Perkins student in the Thomas and Bessie Pappas Horticulture Center Back cover: Founded in 1829 as the nation's first school for the blind, Perkins today serves over 92,000 infants and elders in their homes; school-age students on campus and in the community; and children in 62 developing countries. The school is an accredited member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Association of Independent Schools. It is licensed by the Massachusetts Departments of Education and Mental Retardation and by the Commonwealth's Department of Early Education and Care. Perkins School for the Blind does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, creed, nationality, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation. Lantern Tel: 617.924.3434 Fax: 617.972.7334 All we see is possibility. Editor: Robert Guthrie As we try to extend our reach, please let us know of any corrections of your name, address or email.