This morning, Tanja's art teacher friend Marga met us at the school she works at, a school for the blind. There are about 55 students in the school who range from being partially blind, to totally blind. The ages of the students are from 6 to 21 years of age. We arrived at 8:30 and were taken first to the art room, where one student was busy at work on an art masterpiece. Marga showed us many different samples from her students, paintings, clay works, and jewelry. We were then shown a couple of different machines that assist in creating the materials necessary for the students here. There was one machine that would take typed words and print out the document in
Braille. The next machine we saw use special paper and pens, and after you drew a picture, you ran it through the machine and it "swelled" the lines, so students could "feel" the design. Very interesting. We were then taken to many different classrooms and saw students of all ages and ability levels. Students were working on Braille math and using various manipulates to assist in their learning. They were so enthusiastic about our visit, and loved the technology we brought with us (camera, Ipad, etc.) There was a classroom with a doctor who taught students about the body structure, and focused on therapeutic massage. Marga walked us around the extensive campus, and some of the buildings, sadly, were in disrepair. There were many high hopes and dreams for what the campus could, and should become, but the lack of funding and donations to this special school extremely limit the upgrades and programs that can be added. There is are a number of the students who actually live on campus in dormitories. The school year ends on 6-7-13 and the students will all go home. The students here are EXTREMELY talented on musical instruments and singing. We
were privileged to watch them rehearsing for their end of the year performance. Students sang, played instruments, and performed practiced routines. A group of students played the accordion, and they were absolutely amazing! They played extremely challenging compositions, and didn't miss a beat. This group had actually won a local talent competition earlier this year. What a heart warming and heart wrenching experience at the same time... so many special kids surrounded by so many special teachers. The students are blessed to be at this school.
This morning, Tanja's art teacher friend Marga met us at the school she works at, a school for the blind. There are about 55 students in the school who range from being partially blind, to totally blind. The ages of the students are from 6 to 21 years of age. We arrived at 8:30 and were taken first to the art room, where one student was busy at work on an art masterpiece. Marga showed us many different samples from her students, paintings, clay works, and jewelry. We were then shown a couple of different machines that assist in creating the materials necessary for the students here. There was one machine that would take typed words and print out the document in
Braille. The next machine we saw use special paper and pens, and after you drew a picture, you ran it through the machine and it "swelled" the lines, so students could "feel" the design. Very interesting. We were then taken to many different classrooms and saw students of all ages and ability levels. Students were working on Braille math and using various manipulates to assist in their learning. They were so enthusiastic about our visit, and loved the technology we brought with us (camera, Ipad, etc.) There was a classroom with a doctor who taught students about the body structure, and focused on therapeutic massage. Marga walked us around the extensive campus, and some of the buildings, sadly, were in disrepair. There were many high hopes and dreams for what the campus could, and should become, but the lack of funding and donations to this special school extremely limit the upgrades and programs that can be added. There is are a number of the students who actually live on campus in dormitories. The school year ends on 6-7-13 and the students will all go home. The students here are EXTREMELY talented on musical instruments and singing. We 
were privileged to watch them rehearsing for their end of the year performance. Students sang, played instruments, and performed practiced routines. A group of students played the accordion, and they were absolutely amazing! They played extremely challenging compositions, and didn't miss a beat. This group had actually won a local talent competition earlier this year. What a heart warming and heart wrenching experience at the same time... so many special kids surrounded by so many special teachers. The students are blessed to be at this school. 
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