School Days

Welcome to the blog. So glad you could join us today. The Adkins half of our team is out of town at a Goalball tournament, so today it’s just me, S. J. Wells. I’ve been reminiscing, thinking of those days in my childhood when I would travel 20 miles to school and back on the school bus, carry huge, braille books in a book bag and had a TVI who kept it all running smooth. Come with me down memory lane to the 1980’s.

While it was yet dark, Mom would wake me up and tell me to hurry. If she had time, she would fix breakfast before I caught the bus, but if not, she would fix it and pack it for me to eat on the way to school. Around 6:30 a.m. I climbed on a bus filled with other children with disabilities and ride 20 miles and an hour and a half to school. In first and second grade, I spent most of the day in what we called the “Resource Room”, a sectioned off room in the public school where a teacher for the visually impaired, TVI taught those of us who were blind or visually impaired. At one time, she had 6 students, but mostly there were only 3 of us. By the time I hit third grade, I was spending more time in the class with the sighted kids. At the end of the day, I boarded the bus and rode another hour and a half and 20 miles back home. Evenings must have been a struggle for my parents, me getting home around 4, homework and dinner and getting us all in bed by 8. Then, the next morning, it would begin again.

What sticks out most in my mind

1. Movies, videos and slide shows and having no one to describe what everyone else was seeing.
2. Print papers being handed to me and confused responses when I asked, “What is this?”
3. Friends who never seemed to mind when I examined their hair styles. Makes me wonder now why no one ever told me to keep my hands to myself. LOL
4. My TVI patiently copying my braille answers into print for my other teachers.
5. The field trips my TVI took us on. We went to visit a gentleman who used a talking cash register to run his vending service. That time we went to see some sheep and got to feed them. The time she took us to a bakery, and they let us decorate a cake then sent it to our school so we could eat it. The time she took us to her synagogue to visit her rabbi. The times she took us to visit a church and hear the lady play a pipe organ at Christmas. Once, she took us to the telephone company to visit a man who was blind who worked there.
6. My favorite part of the day was when we went to the school’s library. I never could read anything in it, but just the smell of books got me all excited.
7. Hating art class, because they expected me to do what all the sighted kids were doing which was coloring in the lines.
8. Typing class. Oh, how my TVI pushed learning to type. Today, I could hug her for that.
9. Gym class. We had a gym teacher back then who never acted like my disability was a bother. She always came up with ways for me to participate, even if it was just waving a paddle at the balloon in her hand.
10. Music class. Here again, we had a teacher who found ways for me to take tests and participate. I’ll never forget those silly songs we learned listening to a record player. :)

Things changed in the early 1990’s when I went to junior high, equivalent to today’s middle school. Still in public school, now I only traveled 5 minutes from my home. Still carried a heavy load of braille books, but now I often had to carry the braille writer, as well. My TVI changed, too. What didn’t change was the level of care my TVI showed toward my education. Instead of being near me in the classroom, though, this wonderful lady came only 3 times a week. By the time I hit high school, I was ready for another change. In eleventh grade I left public school to attend the WV School for the Blind in Romney, WV.

What sticks out most in my mind

1. Appearance mattered less. Who I was mattered more. After all, most of the other students at WVSB were as blind as I. The friends I made there were friends for life.
2. Sharing a room with complete strangers who became best of friends.
3. Doing my own laundry.
4. Learning to use a computer and putting those typing skills to good use.
5. Space Camp. I only went once, but I had a blast.
6. Skiing. Again, only went once, but I loved it…until I fell and did something to my knee. But, I got a free ride on a snowmobile behind a guy with some long hair. LOL
7. 5 hour long bus rides every other weekend when they sent us home for a visit. Wow, that sure taught me some patience.
8. The school library. Here again, I found a place I loved. I would go in there, grab a braille book off the shelf and just read. Sometimes, I would check out audio books, and once I even stayed in there and read some in the braille encyclopedia.
9. Cooking class. Back then, we had actual home economics, and I was taught to knit, sew, clean and cook. My last cooking assignment was to cook a meal for my senior class. We had chili, peanut butter sandwiches, chips, mints and assorted nuts (left over from our prom) and white cake with white icing for dessert. I like to say it all started with a box of macaroni and cheese.
10. O&M. Yes, I was taught orientation and mobility while in public school, but I learned it at WVSB, too. I remember the day I successfully made it from my dorm to the McDonalds off campus.

Experiences at both a residential school for the blind and public school were vastly different for me. However, neither was all bad or all good. I’m thankful for the opportunity to experience the  pluses and minuses of both.

In closing, I want to be sure you realize how much those of you who are TVI’s impact the lives of your students. Many of those field trips my TVI took us on while I was in elementary school stayed with me. I want to give my own children opportunities like those I had. I want to be a teacher like those I had who were innovative in coming up with different ways of doing things. I want to push my children and those of you reading this blog to realize that whether you can see or not, you can do anything you set your mind to. So, TVI’s keep teaching, keep caring; what you do matters. And, to those who I mentioned, albeit not by name, God bless you for caring about me, not as just a student but as a person. I am who I am today, because you were a teacher who cared.