TCB members are always interested in any type of outreach possibilities. Our members are willing to speak to a group of elderly people about sight loss or to providing an educational experience with adaptive equipment, service dogs, and general information about sight loss to school age children.

Please contact Dan Dillon with any request and he will make the resource available, his contact information can be found on the home page near the bottom.

Each year in August, the Mid-Tennessee Council awards a $500.00 scholarship to recognize achievement by blind scholars. All applicants for these scholarships

must be legally blind in both eyes, and

must reside in the State of Tennessee, and

must be pursuing or planning to pursue a full-time, postsecondary course of study in a degree program at a United States' institution in the 2010 scholastic year, except that one scholarship may be given to a person employed full-time while attending school part-time, and

must participate in the entire TCB state convention, and attend the monthly local council nearest them, and in all scheduled scholarship program activities.

In addition to a scholarship, the winner is encouraged to attend the 2010 American Council of the Blind Annual Convention in July. The convention provides an excellent opportunity for high level networking with active blind persons in many, many different professions and occupations.

Download the scholarship application (PDF Document ) here. The deadline is June 15, 2010, 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time.

To demonstrate our support of braille as a vital means of communication for blind and visually impaired students, the Tennessee Council of the Blind encourages the acquisition of braille skills.

Each year as a part of the Tennessee School for the Blind's annual awards ceremony, we provide certificates of recognition as well as cash prizes to a number of students who have increased their proficiency in reading and writing braille.

Teachers select the students who have shown the most improvement and the TCB president, or his/her designee announces and presents the certificates and a small camount of cash.

TCB presents a student from the Tennessee School for the Blind (TSB) an award and small cash prize to the individual that submits the best essay about a blind issue or other type of issue affecting the blind and vision impaired community.