Winter 2012 Message from the Director
Having recently seen Beyond These Walls, the documentary movie about our students and our school, I can tell you that the Villanova undergraduates who made the film with the guidance of Villanova faculty did a magnificent job. They captured who we are and what we do in a moving, meaningful, and respectful way by focusing on three representative students and their families.
But rather than telling you more, and there is much more to see and to tell, I hope that you will join us on the evening of March 15th when Beyond These Walls is shown on campus. The event is a fundraiser for the school. Additional details on how you can participate will follow on our web site and through mailings.
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As you know, we have occasional fundraisers to enable us to do the things we do with and on behalf of the students. We offer a broad variety of extracurricular activities that help students to develop as individuals, to practice working together, to test themselves in additional ways, to achieve and maintain parity with their sighted peers, and just to have fun (sports and concerts and field trips immediately come to mind).
We are a community of like-minded and diverse individuals, dedicated to the education of our students. We are a school and, as such, the heart of who we are and what we do is reflected in the classrooms.
So, I’d like to offer you a brief glimpse of a recent classroom activity.
The themes included justice, peace, equality, and fairness. The specific topic was the public life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. The academic perspectives were grounded in history, social studies, and ethics. Reading, writing, and research skills (braille, print, and computer) were included in the lesson as well as listening, tactile, and analytic skills. Students listened to the teacher read to them about Dr. King and responded to questions. Some created tactile peace symbols. One student brailled information for others to read. Some students did computer research about Dr. King.
One teacher, two paraprofessionals, and six students collaborated on an extraordinary and wonderful class session that was smoothly completed (without rushing, without creating tension) in less than an hour. It is typical of what happens in our classrooms every day.
Although the teacher, paraprofessionals, and students are real people with their own personalities, skills, and accomplishments, they also accurately represent their OSB peers and colleagues. You could say that they are all of us. That’s why, today, I’m not telling you who they are.
There will be more about these individuals (including their names) and more about what transpires in our programs and classrooms in the winter issue of the Towers newsletter.
