Spring 2011
Letter from the President
More than 180 years ago, a man named Samuel Gridley Howe – a leader of inspiration and integrity – agreed to serve as Perkins’ first director. In doing so, he not only helped establish what would become a standard of excellence for blindness education across the country; he took a stand for individuals who are blind and proclaimed their right to a quality education. He was an advocate, an ambassador and an impassioned trailblazer who changed the way people viewed those who are blind.
Since that time, Perkins School for the Blind has grown its legacy by following Howe’s cue. We continue to set the example by using proven educational strategies that connect our students to the world around them. We’re leaders in the use of technology, from incorporating iPads and SMART Boards into our curriculum and classrooms, to sharing webcasts and online trainings via the Internet to professionals in our own backyard and those oceans away.
Most importantly, we are developing leadership skills within the next generation. Our students on campus learn the academics of chemistry and mathematics, and practice the social skills and self-confidence necessary for life beyond the classroom. We offer assistance and support regionally to public school students who are blind or visually impaired to improve learning and bolster their chance for success. And we work with partners around the world to make education for all not just a possibility, but a reality.
An idea for change is worth little without a leader to see it through. Thanks to your support and leadership, we get closer every day to our goal of bringing equality and education to all those who are blind.
Sincerely,
Steven M. Rothstein
President, Perkins School for the Blind
Contents
Local
Regional
Global
Names and Faces
- New leadership for Perkins International
- Jett honored for lifetime of advocacy, achievement
- Congressman puts personal stamp on biography at Braille & Talking Book Library
- Rowley named Teacher of the Year
- MLK Day and hope for Haiti
- Charlson honored for advocacy
- Coakley makes Perkins’ cause personal
- Trustee Hehir named governor’s appointee
Perkins
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Lessons of Character
Deafblind Program’s Girl Scout troop teaches confidence, humanity
Troop Leader Sharon Stelzer looked around the room for a volunteer. Moments from now, the local Watertown Girl Scouts would walk through the door of the Hilton Building, and she needed someone from the Deafblind Program to lead the joint meeting through the Girl Scout Promise. Slater – a 12-year-old girl who is normally on the shy side -- jumped up without hesitation, and began signing the words.
“She really showed her leadership skills,” said Stelzer, who is also a teacher in the Deafblind Program. “It was so great, because normally she needs a little coaxing.”
Slater’s volunteerism was also a sign of courage, confidence and character – all qualities encouraged and celebrated by the Girl Scouts of the USA. Such are the goals emphasized every week by the members of Troop 71984. These girls – each with a variety of challenges including vision, hearing and cognitive disabilities – are eager to earn their merit badges and strengthen friendships. They wear their green vests to weekly meetings, pay dues and practice life skills that will serve them well into adulthood.
“We work on social goals and communication skills,” said Stelzer. “For our girls, it’s best to learn through routine. They come in and put their vests on. We do an attendance board. We pass the can around and they pay their dues, so they can work on fine motor skills like putting coins in the can and passing it to the next person. And we always do the Girl Scout Promise.”
And, of course, there are those decadent cookies. The girls sell Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties and more to students, teachers and staff across campus. In addition to raising money for activities, the process is an opportunity to improve vocational skills and work on social interaction. Most of the girls are nonverbal and use a variety of alternative communication methods to interact with their customers.
“One girl has a new iPad she’s been using to sell cookies. One of the girls has an alphabet board,” said Stelzer. “It’s a safe way for them to practice in a small setting.”
Perkins has been home to various Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops for decades. The first official Boy Scout troop was meeting regularly as early as 1952. It is unclear when the first troop for girls was organized, but they have been an active part of Perkins’ student life for years. The current troop, which Perkins believes is the only one in the country whose members are deafblind, continues to represent the Girl Scouts in proud fashion, participating recently in several activities that have a direct impact on the community including a clothing drive and a collection of canned goods.
“It’s having the girls participate in small ways, and having them know they’re doing something for other people,” said Stelzer.
Touch, taste and smell
For science teacher, tangible lessons make all the difference
When it came time to teach the food pyramid in his Secondary Program science class,Frank Mead knew the plastic molds of green beans that accompanied the threedimensional triangular models wouldn’t resonate with his audience.
So the teacher got to work brainstorming some real-life substitutions to make the lessons about nutrition meaningful. “A bunch of molded beans is nothing to my students except a lump of plastic,” he said. “They need to feel a real string bean, smell it, take it apart, maybe even taste it.”
The carbohydrates were fairly easy, with the shelf-life of bread, crackers and cereal long enough to last the unit. Oranges, apples and boxes of raisins covered the fruit category, and dried chips of rutabaga and carrots took care of the vegetables. Individually wrapped pats of butter illustrated the smallest category of fats and oils.
But protein?
“I finally resorted to dried, salted cod,” Mead said. “They found it fascinating – a smelly fish that was really pungent. And they remembered its category immediately. All I had to do was open it up, and they said, ‘Oh, that’s a protein.’”
The lesson about the food pyramid is one of many topics Mead teaches throughout the school year that help lay a foundation of basic scientific knowledge that his students will need well beyond their time at Perkins. Even though his particular class is not on an academic track, the state requires that all students be exposed to the standards of the Massachusetts Frameworks Curriculum, including science. That’s where it falls upon Mead to help the young adults in his classroom make the connection from lesson to real life.
“The challenge is to find ways to make those standards accessible to students who learn mostly through their own first-hand experiences,” he said. “They don’t necessarily absorb things on the theoretical level. Things need to be tangible for them, and those things need to reflect their own personal experiences in life.”
In addition to learning about the food pyramid, Mead has led his students through exploration of the human skeletal system, the respiratory system, the sense of hearing and more, all with the help of threedimensional models.
And, like most classes at Perkins, every lesson is structured to reinforce another class or concept the students are working on. Using the pyramid’s shelves, for example, is an opportunity to build upon vocabulary skills.
“We’re placing foods from the bottom up – on top of, inside and out,” Mead said. “These prepositions can be essential for someone who is visually impaired. That really is the key – they need to understand how these things apply to their daily lives.”
First-hand experience
Perkins’ decades of serving students with CHARGE syndrome has made it a destination for families – and for hope
Pamela Ryan had been working at Perkins as a school psychologist for several years when her eyes happened to land upon a photo advertisement for a conference on CHARGE, a newly identified medical condition that affected a small group of children.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. We have kids who look like this, but there was no name for it,’” she recalled.
With permission from her supervisor, Ryan flew to St. Louis, Missouri, to attend the conference. As soon as she walked in the door, she knew she was in the right place.
“Every kid in that room looked like all the kids we had, but didn’t know what their condition was,” she said. “Perkins was already a leader when it came to CHARGE. We just didn’t know it.”
Today, Perkins serves 24 children with CHARGE syndrome, the largest number of children with CHARGE in one place anywhere in the world. CHARGE is a complex, genetic pattern of birth defects that occurs in about one in every 10,000 births worldwide.
Parents and educators come from all over the country for evaluations and placement in the Deafblind Program, hoping to benefit from Perkins’ team approach. Thanks to constant collaboration between school therapists, clinicians and teachers, students receive education, vocational training, therapy and medical services – as well as the true understanding that only years of experience serving children with CHARGE can bring.
“A child may have a slight vision impairment, and it may not seem like much,” said Ryan. “But that child may also have a hearing disability, balance issues and anxiety disorders. Despite how resilient they are and how amazing they look, we know these kids have been through a lot. And I think the parents come to us for all those reasons.”
Perkins also shares its expertise on a national level, from co-sponsoring the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation’s annual conference in July, to partnering with the organization to reach a wider audience, including filming webcasts about CHARGE.
One of the most important offerings Perkins makes is the emotional connection with parents and their children. Ryan, who is also a board member of the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation, prizes her memories of children and their parents who discover the feeling of being “home” at Perkins. One special child, whose facial palsy was particularly severe, had come to Perkins with her family for an evaluation.
“I said to her mom, ‘Look at how adorable she is. Look at that little face,’” Ryan remembered. “And the mother burst into tears. No one had ever called her daughter adorable before.”
“We stood there crying for a while.”
A musical journey
Creativity and skill is the key to progress for Perkins’ itinerant teachers
To help a young musical prodigy learn braille, Susan Descarage had to hit all the right notes.
The itinerant teacher from Perkins’ Educational Partnerships Program used unorthodox tools – including a music keyboard from a tag sale – to break through with AJ, a 9-year-old from western Massachusetts.
“I knew he didn’t take well to new people,” Descarage said. “I had to find a way to let myself into his world.”
AJ, a slender boy with a thatch of brown hair, has bilateral microphthalmia, which left him blind from birth. He had some behavior issues, including temper tantrums and a habit of shutting down verbally.
AJ also has extraordinary musical talent, which his parents discovered when he received a toy organ at age two. After his mother played “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” the toddler played it back. Soon, AJ could play note-fornote renditions of songs after hearing them once.
Three years ago, AJ’s parents decided that he could be making more progress learning braille, and AJ’s elementary school turned to Perkins’ Educational Partnerships. The program provides itinerant, or traveling, teachers like Descarage for 840 Massachusetts infants, toddlers and school-age children.
When Descarage met AJ, the youngster repeated everything she said but otherwise refused to communicate. Descarage decided a creative approach was needed, so she played the “Braille Rap Song,” a catchy song that introduces students to braille.
“He started singing along,” she said. “That’s how he became excited about learning braille.”
Next, Descarage brought in a keyboard she got for free at a tag sale and used it to motivate AJ. For example, after he read a song’s title in braille, he could play the song on the keyboard.
As AJ’s braille and language skills grew, he became more outgoing. “He actually now jokes with me,” Descarage said. “When I get through to him, I feel my job is so worthwhile.”
AJ also works with Virginia Goodman, an orientation and mobility specialist from Perkins, who helped him develop his white cane skills and become more independent.
Heidi Strack, AJ’s mother, said the two Perkins instructors made a “huge difference” in her son’s life. “He’s really come a long way,” she said.
One sign of that progress is that AJ now initiates conversations with his classmates. “It’s really so great,” she said. “Before, he couldn’t get along with other kids – he couldn’t talk to them, couldn’t play with them.”
And even though AJ is musically gifted, his mother doesn’t necessarily dream of the day he’ll play Carnegie Hall. She wants for AJ what every mother wants for her child: “That he has friends and is happy. And I know he’s going to. Every year is leaps forward.”
Study abroad
Educational Leadership Program aims to strengthen organizations overseas by training teachers here
The English language does not come easily to Huong Nguyen, a Vietnamese nun and teacher of young children at Nhat Hong Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Ho Chi Minh City, who traveled to the US in September 2010 to participate in Perkins’ Educational Leadership Program.
But what she struggles to say with words comes pouring from her eyes in the form of love and passion for her life’s work.
“I wanted to come here to help the children I serve in Vietnam,” she said earnestly with the help of a translator. “I want to help the parents take care of their children.”
Nguyen is one of 12 participants in the Educational Leadership Program, a nine-month fellowship that enables educators and related professionals from around the world to come to Perkins’ campus for advanced training. The program combines academic lectures with student-teaching and assisting in residential environments. Participants also have opportunities to travel off campus to observe classrooms in community settings, as well as audit university graduate courses and attend conferences.
Perkins partnered with organizations in Vietnam in 2005. Since then, the country has steadily expanded its services to children who are blind or deafblind, said Nga Hoang, another participant in this year’s Educational Leadership Program class. But as services for that population have grown, the need for even more specialized training – to help children who also have additional disabilities, such as hearing, cognitive, autism and cerebral palsy – has become more pronounced.
“We realize now that there are more and more children with these disabilities,” said Hoang, a lecturer with the Faculty of Special Education at Ho Chi Minh City University who trains special education teachers to work with children who are blind. “(The children need) accessible education and they need highly qualified teachers. We realize that in our curriculum, we should have these subjects.”
Hoang recently spent eight weeks in Lower School teacher Kerri Trainor’s class. The time is a beneficial experience for both Perkins and the international visitor, Trainor said.
“It’s nice to have that fresh pair of eyes. It’s definitely a give and take where we both learn from each other,” she added. “And Nga’s energy is contagious.”
For Nguyen, the fact that Perkins students with all levels of disabilities can learn independence and be participating members of their communities is eye-opening.
“The students are (learning to be) independent,” she said. “They are respected. And the parents here, now they believe their children can do it. They believe in their children.”
While partnering with Perkins was an important step for advancing services in Vietnam, participating in the Educational Leadership Program brings those opportunities to a whole new level, said Hoang.
“When Perkins comes to my country and provides training, they can’t bring everything,” she said. “But when I come here, I can see everything. My eyes are opened a lot.”
Focused on the future
Perkins gives support, supplies to its Haitian partners as they start to rebuild
More than one year after the earthquake shuddered through the city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children is picking up the pieces.
Students who returned to the school last fall for the first time since the disaster are struggling to learn in the midst of the rebuilding. There is a lack of basic supplies like braille books and paper. There are not enough teachers with specialized training to go around.
Yet, there are students Remise and Roseline. Both blind, they lost their sister Aceline when the quake struck. Despite their personal heartbreak and the rubble still outside their windows, the girls are focused on their futures and are committed to their studies no matter the obstacles. Remise, 18, dreams of working as an interpreter. Roseline,16, wants to become a social scientist.
Perkins International, which has partnered for years with St. Vincent’s and other local organizations, wants to help make those dreams possible.
“The reason why Perkins International is in Haiti, or Russia or Africa is the same: to ensure that all kids in the world who are blind or multiply impaired receive the best possible education and services,” said W. Aubrey Webson, director of Perkins International. “Our mission is to see that every child – no matter their disability, where they live and what the circumstance – has equal access to education and the best possible future.”
Since the disaster turned Haiti’s way of life upside down, Perkins International has stepped up its involvement significantly at this particular school and elsewhere. Last fall, Perkins hosted Fr. Sadoni Leon, acting director at St. Vincent’s, for a two-week visit. The experience proved to be an opportunity for Leon and Perkins to share information and ideas, and for Perkins to understand how best to assist St. Vincent’s rebuilding process.
Efforts are planned to ship Perkins Braillers®, embossers, paper and other supplies to St. Vincent’s. And through its partnership with the Haitian Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted, Perkins will support efforts to rebuild Haiti’s services to preearthquake levels. Working together, Perkins’ focus will be on training teachers, providing tuition support for students and expanding communitybased rehabilitation services – as well as helping Remise and Roseline, and thousands of other youth throughout Haiti, achieve their dreams and aspirations.
New leadership for Perkins International
Dr. W. Aubrey Webson has recently been named director of Perkins International. Webson has devoted nearly 20 years to Perkins, leading initiatives that have grown programming and services in Africa and the Caribbean. He has also worked to support governments and service workers overseas by developing policy that protects the rights of those who are blind.
Webson created and implemented the Institutional Development Program, a capacity building project for organizations of the blind in Africa and the Caribbean. Webson, who was born on the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, brings his personal experience of being blind and growing up in a developing country to his new position. His focus will be working with policy makers, families and communities to create and expand services, and further Perkins International’s mission to improve the quality of life for children who are deafblind or blind with multiple disabilities throughout the world.
Jett honored for lifetime of advocacy, achievement
Perkins alumnus Chris Jett was celebrated as a “Hero Among Us” by the Boston Celtics, honoring his inspirational life and tenacious commitment to advance the rights of individuals with disabilities.
Jett, who was deafblind, passed away in October at age 24. His smile was infectious and his persona captivating — both attributes that helped make him a successful advocate for individuals with disabilities. Despite his youth, Jett published an autobiography, met Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush on separate occasions, and started his own business knitting and selling hats.
Established by the Celtics in 1997, the “Heroes Among Us” program honors individuals who have made an overwhelming impact on the lives of others.
<< Chris Jett (above left) was a guest speaker at the 2010 Perkins Possibilities Gala. (Bottom and from left) Velver Jett and Derek Dearborn posed with Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Nets Devin Harris and Brook Lopez.
Congressman puts personal stamp on biography at Braille & Talking Book Library
Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library patrons will soon have the opportunity to check out the audio book version of the biography of Rep. Barney Frank, with a special extra provided by the congressman himself. Frank recently visited the Library to record a personal introduction to the book, “Barney Frank: The Story of America’s Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman” by Stuart Weisberg, which was published in September 2009 and will soon be available from the Library.
“Democracy works better than people think,” Frank said during the recording. “Politics is essentially people trying to do the right thing. Yes, there’s a kind of messiness to it, but I think messiness is better for people to see than an inaccurate simplicity.”
The 584-page biography runs about 12 hours in the audio format.
Rowley named Teacher of the Year
Perkins teacher Rosalind “Roz” Rowley has been named Teacher of the Year by the Braille Institute. She was honored in Los Angeles at the National Braille Challenge, a competition that tests students’ ability to read and write braille.
Rowley was recognized for her pioneering work with the Wilson Reading System, a flashcard program for students with reading disabilities. She created a braille version of the program that is now available for students with visual impairments across the US.
Rowley, who has taught English, braille and reading at Perkins for almost four decades, is a proud advocate of braille literacy. “To know braille is to be able to go out in the world and be employable and independent,” she said.
MLK Day and hope for Haiti
Haitian poet and educator Joel Theodat brought a personal perspective about the ongoing struggle to rebuild his earthquake-ravaged homeland to Perkins students in a speech at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day assembly in January.
After describing the mixture of resilience, hope and despair that grips Haiti a year after the earthquake, Theodat recited a poem that echoed Dr. King’s vision of harmony and social justice. He urged students, “Let us break down the barriers/ and create an environment of unity.”
At the assembly, the Perkins Diversity Council collected donations to help rebuild St. Vincent’s school in Haiti. The school, which serves students who are blind, was reduced to rubble by the earthquake.
Charlson honored for advocacy
Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library Director Kim Charlson was presented the Exemplary Advocate Award from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Visual Impairments.
Charlson worked for 16 years as the service management librarian and assistant director of the Library before being appointed director in 2001. She has also served in a number of advocacy positions and committee memberships regarding issues that face individuals who are blind.
Recently, Charlson was involved in a study by the US Dept. of Transportation regarding potential hazards to individuals who are blind by electric and hybrid vehicles that are virtually silent. The Library opened its recording studio for sound testing, and many Perkins alumni participated as research subjects.
Coakley makes Perkins’ cause personal
For Attorney General Martha Coakley, convincing the three largest movie theater chains in Massachusetts to install descriptive and captioning technologies was just a warm-up.
At her swearing-in ceremony hosted by Perkins, Coakley promised she would spend her next four years continuing to advance the rights of individuals with disabilities, especially those who are blind. Her office, she said, will continue to be “a force for positive change.”
“The students [at Perkins] are not only the people for whom we fight, but the people who show us the way,” Coakley said to an audience that included Gov. Deval Patrick, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick Ireland and many distinguished lawmakers and newly appointed assistant attorneys general. “They demonstrate lessons that all of us strive to follow: that no obstacle is too great; that each day is an opportunity.”
Trustee Hehir named governor’s appointee
Thomas F. Hehir, a former director of the US Dept. of Education’s Office of Special Education, has been appointed to Perkins’ Board of Trustees by Gov. Deval Patrick.
Hehir fills the spot vacated by former Perkins Trustee and Vice Chair Linda DiBenedetto, who recently retired after dedicating more than 21 years to the Board.
Hehir, who is now one of four members appointed by the governor’s office, first joined the Board in 2009.
A strong advocate for the education of children with disabilities, Hehir served under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1999 and was responsible for implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as well as helping develop the administration’s proposal for the act’s 1997 reauthorization. Currently a faculty member at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Hehir has also served as associate superintendent for the Chicago Public Schools, and has held a variety of positions in the Boston Public Schools.
Letter From The Trust
There are so many ways that Perkins School for the Blind serves as a leader every day. From our dedicated teachers who bring their energy to the classroom week after week, to our partners around the world with whom we spread education and services, we strive to not only meet our students’ needs, but also set an example for others by promoting boundless possibility.
Today, the need for leadership is more important than ever. Across the country, schools for the blind are struggling with reduced funds and enrollment, and some are even faced with closing. It is vital that Perkins continue providing quality education and resources to students here, in public schools and communities and to organizations around the globe.
One aspect that makes Perkins special is its ability to offer students opportunities they might otherwise not have. These experiences – such as internships at local companies, specialty courses like our master cooking class or video class, or invitations for our music and chorus students to perform at local venues and events – are all made possible by our community and business leaders.
The leadership of our fundraising volunteers on the Trust Board, the Gala Committee, our Marathon Team, Parents Council, Taste Committee, Visionary Society, Corporators and Trustees is also crucial to making so many programs and ideas come to life. These individuals give their time and energy to help inspire the public to support our mission and take part in our cause.
Your support – from financial gifts to volunteering – enables us to be a leader in our field locally, nationally and internationally. Thank you for sharing our vision and for being leaders in supporting our mission.
Warm wishes,
Kathy Sheehan
Executive Director of the Trust
2011 Perkins Possibilities Gala
Perkins School for the Blind
Thursday, May 5, 2011 | 6:00 p.m.
Please join us on our beautiful campus for a magical, musical evening filled with hopes, dreams and new possibilities.
Gala Co-Chairs
Kevin Bright, Katherine Chapman and Corinne Grousbeck
Invitation to follow
For more information, contact Becca Rogers at 617-972-7579 or Becca.Rogers@Perkins.org
Support Perkins today
If you are 70½ or older, there is an easy wat to make a difference for children who are blind.
You qualify for favorable tax treatment if:
- The distribution check from your traditional or Roth IRA is issued in the name of the qualified charity, not in the name of the account owner.
- Your total charitable IRA contributions do not exceed $100,000 for 2011.
- The IRA funds are used to make an outright fit. The IRA funds cannot be distributed to donor-advised funds, supporting organizations or used to create a life-income gift such as a charitable gift annuity.
For more information regarding these ideas and other ways to benefit from the new IRA gift rules, contact Jennifer Volpe at 617-972-7667 or email Jennifer.Volpe@Perkins.org.
Calendar
April
25th Annual Volunteer Recognition Evening
Wednesday, April 27
Early Connections: Taking Care of Our Children... Taking Care of Ourselves Conference
Saturday, April 30
May
2011 Perkins Possibilities Gala
Thursday, May 5
Educational Leadership Program Graduation
Thursday, May 26
June
Graduation Exercises
Friday, June 17
Alumni Weekend
Friday, June 17 - Saturday, June 18
Inside Back Cover
MOTHER’S DAY.
A BIRTHDAY.
GRADUATION.
A WEDDING SHOWER.
OR JUST TO SAY
YOU CARE.
Throughout May, a portion of your purchase of the Perkins bouquet at Winston Flowers will support a new season of possibility at Perkins School for the Blind. To order, contact Winston Flowers at www.winstonflowers.com or 800-457-4901 beginning May 1st through May 31st.
Spring 2011 Parent/Alumni Challenge
DOUBLE THE IMPACT OF YOUR GIFT TODAY.
Make a donation to Perkins by June 30 and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000 by a generous group of Perkins alumni and parents.
To make a gift or learn more about the Annual Fund, visit the website or contact Jennifer Volpe at Jennifer.Volpe@Perkins.org or 617-972-7667. You can also send a check to:
Perkins School for the Blind
Perkins Trust
175 N. Beacon St.
Watertown, MA 02472
Back Cover
Founded in 1829 as the nation’s first school for the blind, Perkins today impacts more than 145,000 individuals, including infants and children in their homes; school-age students on campus and in the community; and children who are blind or deafblind in 65 countries worldwide. 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 Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Developmental Services. Perkins School for the Blind does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, creed, nationality, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.
Tel: 617-924-3434
Fax: 617-972-7334
All we see is Possibility.
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