Seventh grade scholars, Fatima and Noor, are on a mission to bring awareness about White Cane Day to OLHMS! The National Federation of the Blind celebrates White Cane Awareness Day every year on October 15th. For blind people, the white cane is an essential tool that gives them the ability to achieve a full and independent life allowing them to move freely and safely from place to place – whether it’s at work, at school, or around our neighborhoods.
Fatima and Noor started their missions by having their 7th grade peers watch a video about how and why people use white canes. They also taught their classmates about Braille and where they can find things written in braille around our school. Students also worked in the MakerSpace to blow up balloons to become a braille display that spells out their names. The red balloons represent the tip of the white cane.
Students thought the display was really cool and that braille is similar to writing in text messages. When people text, they usually use shortcuts or abbreviated words. This is similar to contracted braille. All seventh grade students learned about the variety of visual impairments, Louis Braille (the creator/inventor of braille), and how to find large print books in the library.
Fatima and Noor also worked with their vision itinerant, Ms. Gagen, to put together a bingo game to further educate others about people with vision impairments. Students played the game during Advisory throughout the week. Kudos to these scholars for taking initiative to teach the OLHMS community about White Cane Day!
