California Offers Scholarships
The California Council of the Blind is offering scholarships to college, university, and vocational school students who are legally blind and are either residents of California, regardless of where they attend school, or non-residents of California attending school in this state. Scholarships are for entering freshmen, undergraduates, and graduate students. Applications must be submitted by July 1, 2016. The application can be found online at www.ccbnet.org/scholar_intro.htm.
Teachers’ Features for the 2016 Convention
As you fill out your pre-registration forms and make your plans for the 2016 ACB convention, be sure to allow plenty of time for the American Association of Blind Teachers, because AABT has several exciting and fun activities planned for convention week. Read on to find out more!
The theme of this year’s AABT convention is “Employment Matters.” We kick off the week on Sunday, July 3rd at 8 a.m. with the annual AABT breakfast and program. Our program topic and keynote presentation for the week will be “Skills for Work That Work.” What skills lead to successful employment? Come and learn what recent research reveals. Our presenter, Tabitha Brecke from Auburn, Ala., will share her extensive research on this topic. Immediately following this program will be our business meeting. Sunday afternoon, we will co-sponsor the Friends-in-Art Writers’ Workshop on children’s literature presented by Leslye Orr, a blind playwright, performer and children’s author.
On Monday, July 4th, at 1:30, we will join forces with the Audio Description Project (ADP) for a workshop titled “Teachers and Audio Description.” Several panelists will discuss how using audio description in the classroom can be helpful to teachers and promote literacy.
Tuesday, July 5th will be another very busy day. At 1:15, we will conduct a panel discussion on “The Teaching Job Interview.” What are administrators looking for in candidates for teaching positions? What kinds of questions can you expect when you are interviewed for a teaching position? What can you do to make your teaching job interview a success? These and other questions will be answered during this discussion. One of our panelists will be John Davis, the principal of the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind. This will be followed at 2:45 by an interactive workshop on the EQ Test: An Assessment Tool for Blind Job Seekers. You may know your IQ, but what is your EQ (Employability Quotient)? Come and take an abbreviated version of the EQ Test and assess your own job readiness skills. Be sure to bring writing materials to this workshop.
On Wednesday, July 6th, we will co-sponsor the program session with Library Users of America (LUA) which will feature a talking book narrator. Finally, we will end the day on a musical note by co-sponsoring the Round and Harmony Sing with FIA.
We hope to see you in Minneapolis!
Getting Down to Business with IVIE at the 2016 ACB Convention
Are you a business owner, or are you considering the possibility of starting your own business? If you answered “yes,” the Independent Visually Impaired Entrepreneurs (IVIE) is planning activities at the 2016 ACB conference and convention which will be of interest to you.
Our convention programming begins on Sunday, July 3rd at 10 p.m., when we join our friends from RSVA for a mixer. This will give you a chance to relax after the opening general session, have a few refreshments and mingle with friends from IVIE and RSVA.
Our annual breakfast and business meeting will take place on Monday, July 4th from 7:00 to 8:15 a.m. Bring a hearty appetite and your creative ideas for making the IVIE affiliate the best that it can be!
Wednesday, July 6th will be a busy day for IVIE. Are you looking for innovative methods for setting your business apart from your competition? Then you will want to attend our luncheon and program from 12:15 to 2:30 p.m. The title of the program will be “Finding Your Market Niche.” The strategic use of niche marketing can spell success for your business. Learn how to use niche marketing strategies to your advantage, how other business owners do it, and come prepared with examples of how you have found your niche in the marketplace.
This year we are trying an experiment. The IVIE Expo will take place Wednesday afternoon from 2:45 to 5:45 p.m. immediately following the IVIE luncheon and program. It is our hope that having the Expo on Wednesday will encourage more participation. Blind and visually impaired business owners will showcase their products and services and answer your questions.
Browsing at the Expo is free; you don’t need a ticket to get in. However, if you would like to have a booth at the IVIE Business Expo, you must reserve it in advance. The cost will be $10 for IVIE members and $25 for non-members, with the option of applying $15 of this cost toward annual IVIE dues. You can reserve your expo booth and/or pay your annual dues online by visiting www.ivie-acb.org. Or you can make a check payable to IVIE and send it to our president, Ardis Bazyn, 2121 Scott Rd. Apt. 105, Burbank, CA 91504. Please designate whether your check is for annual dues, an expo booth, or both. If you are submitting your dues, be sure to fill out and include the IVIE membership form, which can be found on our web site.
If you have any questions about the IVIE Expo or this year’s program offerings at the ACB national convention, contact Carla Hayes at (724) 941-8184 or by e-mail at [email protected].