Overbrook Blog

Mr. Jim Palmer, the Elementary Junior Chorus, Mixed Ensemble, Mr. Sapienza and Soloists treated Overbrook to an incredible concert this morning. Songs like December Nights, December Lights, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, Jingle Bell Jammin, and Miracle by Maurice were performed, and every face in the audience lit up. The show ended with an audience sing along and the perfect start to the holiday break. Thank you to all the incredible performers today for a job well done!

A Holiday Poem

The simplest gift
by miah

A card for a friend
Or a game for your brother
A tie for dad
A coat for your mother
The gift can be so simple and sweet
Even a merry Christmas to someone on the street
Whatever the gift may be simple or complex
You could even send a Merry Christmas in a phone text
Simple is sometimes better
Send your best wishes in a Christmas letter
Spending quality time or even going out
Making someone’s day so they don’t have an ounce of doubt
Among young faces are smiles and cheer
For they await a brand new year
Sometimes simple is best
Do your mom a favor and give her a day to rest
Make it simple and make it last
For after 12am Christmas day will be in the past

Happy Holidays to you and your families, from the Overbrook family.
May each of you in our wonderful community have a joyous holiday season and a Happy New Year.

The Artful Tree at the State Capitol in Harrisburg includes some Braille-A-Wear sponsored ornaments that our students made. This semester art students gave their time and talents before Thanksgiving to make ornaments for this tree. These ornaments will be sold for donations that will be given to charities that support folks with special needs. Many thanks to all who helped with this project.

Tuesday, December 23rd — WINTER VACATION begins at the end of school day
Monday, January 5th — All students return. Classes resume at 9:00 a.m.

This year’s Early Childhood Winter Program was incredible! The students and the staff worked incredibly hard to make sure that everyone was entertained and found a bit of the holiday spirit! Congratulations to everyone who made the show special, and made our holiday season brighter!

Tom Babinszki, PMP of Even Grounds Accessibility Consulting

Alexandria, Va., December 16, 2008 - Even Grounds, a leading provider of accessibility consulting and services, announced today that company has received Alexandria’s 2008 Disability Awareness Award for its efforts in helping local businesses meet the needs of people with disabilities.

Awarded jointly by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and the City of Alexandria’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities, the annual award was presented to Even Grounds for its “exceptional commitment to promoting awareness of the needs of persons with disabilities in the Alexandria community and beyond.” Among its contributions, Even Grounds has been active in helping local organizations create accessible websites.

Read the full press release

Congratulations Tom!

Overbrook School for the Blind is a beneficiary of this year’s Rittenhouse Square Flower Market for Children’s Charities (RSFMFCC) taking place on May 6th and 7th.

As an additional fundraiser for this event, the RSFMFCC is hosting an afternoon at a Sixers game.

Sixers basketball game will take place:
Sunday, March 15, 2009
1:00 p.m.

Sixers v. Miami Heat
Tickets are $25 each (with a portion of each ticket sale going to the charity)

As a bonus, our students (if a ticket is purchased for them) will have the opportunity to go on the court prior to the game and shoot the basketball.

If you are interested or for more information, contact Kathe Archibald in the Development Office at 215-877-0313, ext. 264 or karchibald@obs.org.

On January 7th, Overbrook is participating in a Bookfair at Barnes & Noble at 18th and Walnut Street in Center City. We have been given vouchers to distribute and if someone makes a purchase that day (at any Barnes & Noble) and presents the attached voucher, Overbrook will get a portion of the sale. If you know of any B&N shoppers, please pass this along to them. Also, our bell choir will be performing that day at noon so let your friends and family know if they are downtown, to stop by and support our students! If you have any questions please contact Kathe Archibald at karchibald@obs.org.

The middle school students and staff sponsored a food drive through the first few weeks of December. Each classroom decorated a food collection box and placed it in their classroom. On Dec. 18, staff members Jen Larkin and Juanita Bowie and students Jon, Shawnae, Joey, David, and Michael delivered 4 big boxes of canned and boxed food to Philabundance. Jen Larkin and Pam Kuzmicki coordinated this effort.

Dean Martineau provides tech tidbits weekly.
The Week’s News in Adaptive Technology

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LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA!
Robert Betts is the offer of eight accessible self-voicing games: Accessible Battleship, Accessible Blackjack, Accessible FreeCell, Accessible Memory, Accessible Simon, Accessible Word Play, Accessible Word Scramble, and Accessible Yahtzee. These gtames now sell for $9.95 each but their prices will rise to $12.95 each after the first of the year. http://www.GamesForTheBlind.com

Fred’s Head Companion informs us about docx-converter.com, a site to which you can upload Word 2007 .docx files and receive via e-mail a html conversion of the original that will play on almost all computers. http://www.docx-converter.com/