1997 Awards

1997 Awards

The Braille Monitor

August/ September 1997

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Steve Benson and

Dr. Adrienne Asch

Debbie Prost (left) listens as

Sharon Maneki (right) presents the Distinguished Educator of the Year Award.

Betty Niceley (left) presents the

Golden Keys Award to Diane Croft of National Braille Press.

Betty Niceley holds the Jacobus tenBroek Award

plaque while President Maurer looks on.

Awards

for 1997

From the Editor: National Federation

of the Blind awards are not bestowed lightly. If an appropriate recipient does

not emerge from the pool of candidates for a particular award, it is simply

not presented. At this year's convention four presentations were made. Here

is the way it happened:

Blind Educator

of the Year Award

At the Tuesday morning meeting of the

Board of Directors, President Maurer called Steve Benson to the microphone to

make an award presentation. Steve is a member of the NFB Board of Directors,

President of the NFB of Illinois, and Chairman of the Blind Educator of the

Year Award Committee. This is what he said:

Thank you, President Maurer, and thank

you, also to the selection committee: Homer Page, Judy Sanders, Adelmo Vigil,

and Ramona Walhof. I recently visited DePaul University's new library and found

four titles by Jacobus tenBroek. Three are listed in the law library and one

in the general collection. We know him as the founder and principal first mover

of our organization, but his consummate teaching skills, commitment to scholarship,

expertise in the law and the Constitution, and influence in and writings about

the welfare system still stand as authoritative sources. Dr.tenBroek was always

in demand as a speaker and lecturer. He strongly advocated for the right of

the blind to achieve excellence and compete on equal terms with our sighted

neighbors.

The recipient of this year's Blind Educator

of the Year Award emulates Dr. tenBroek's scholarship and commitment to academics.

This winner advocates vigorously for the rights of blind children and adults.

Her curriculum vitae extends to more than a dozen pages. She has lectured at

universities all over the United States and is in demand as a speaker in her

field here and abroad. She has authored many scholarly articles published in

professional journals. She has earned genuine distinction in her field. Her

name is Adrienne Asch. [applause]

While Adrienne is making her way to the

platform, let me tell you she holds a Ph.D. in social work from Columbia University.

She has a position at the Hastings Center, a think-tank that shapes policy for

the law and medicine. She is the first blind person to occupy such a position.

Adrienne demonstrates that blind people can compete on the basis of equality

in an area that demands staggering amounts of reading. She has taken a leadership

role in the attempt to educate those supporting full inclusion about the rights

of blind children for cane and Braille and other things.

Among her long list of writing credits

is an article on blindness in the Encyclopedia of Social Work. She serves as

a council member of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues,

Division Nine of the American Psychological Association. She served on the President's

task force to reorganize the health care system. She is currently serving a

five-year appointment to the Henry R. Luce Chair of Biology, Ethics, and the

Politics of Human Reproduction at Wellesley College, chosen, by the way, from

a highly competitive international field of candidates. It is a most prestigious

position--a position of real honor.

So, Adrienne, here is a check for $500

and a plaque, which reads:

Blind Educator of the

Year Award

National Federation of the Blind

presented to

Adrienne Asch

in recognition of outstanding

accomplishments in the teaching profession

You enhance the present

You inspire your colleagues

You build the future

July 1, 1997

Adrienne Asch: I'm overwhelmed. This

means more to me than I can possibly say. I care about this organization; I

have for a long time. I love the work that I do in it. I love the work that

I do in my scholarship and teaching. I can't believe what a joy this is to me--to

have the work I've tried to do recognized by this organization. Thank you very

much. [applause]

Distinguished

Educator of Blind Children Award

A little later in the Board meeting,

President Maurer called upon Sharon Maneki, President of the NFB of Maryland

and Chairwoman of the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Selection Committee,

to make a presentation. This is what she said:

The committee of Allen Harris, Jacquilyn

Billey, Joyce Scanlan, and myself are pleased to present a truly distinguished

educator of blind children. The National Federation of the Blind started this

award, I believe, about ten years ago to recognize teachers because the children

are our most important investment in the future. Education is the most important

vehicle to true equality and opportunity. Sometimes it can be very lonely for

a vision teacher in the school system, not because of being the only vision

teacher in the system, but sometimes because of very real differences in philosophy.

This morning's recipient is someone who

has been teaching for seventeen years. She is an itinerant teacher. She has

a certificate in Literary Braille Competency from the Library of Congress, as

well as a master's from the University of Virginia. We are recognizing her,

not only because of her ability in teaching academic subjects, but because she

is an advocate for her students. When there was a debate about whether a student

could carry a cane and use it in the classroom, she stood for the student. When

there was a debate about a need for Braille or a need for technology, she stood

for her students and was able to get them what they needed.

She is truly a role model for her students.

She lives her Federationism, not just in the classroom, but every day of the

year. She not only teaches, but she expresses her philosophy, and many times

students catch it as she lives her life. Join me in congratulating Deborah Prost,

a teacher in the Portsmouth, Virginia, School District. [applause]

As Debbie is coming over to the microphone,

I want everyone to know that we have a $500 check for Deborah, and I will be

giving her the plaque. It reads:

The National Federation

of the Blind

Honors

Deborah Prost

Distinguished Educator of Blind Children

for your skill in teaching

Braille and the use of the white cane

for generously devoting extra time

to meet the needs of your students

and for inspiring your students

to perform beyond their expectations

You champion our movement

You strengthen our hopes,

you share our dreams

July 1, 1997

Deborah Prost: I want to thank the Federation

for this award. It really means a lot to me to get this because I know the Federation

is the only organization that really expects the best of students, and I want

to continue working and doing everything I can to work with the Federation to

help students be the best that they can be. I also thank God for helping me

receive this award. I really thank the Federation again.

Golden Keys Award

During the banquet on Friday, July 4,

President Maurer called Betty Niceley, President of the National Association

to Promote the Use of Braille, to make a presentation. Here is what she said:

It was the growing concern about the

steady decline in the use of Braille that led to the establishment in 1984 of

the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille, fondly referred to as

NAPUB. This division of the National Federation of the Blind is a vehicle for

addressing Braille-related issues. The mission of NAPUB is to promote and encourage

the production, teaching, and use of Braille. An integral part of this process

is to recognize excellence whenever and wherever it occurs.

The most prestigious award which NAPUB

has to offer is the Golden Keys Award, and it is not given lightly. In the organization's

thirteen-year history, only two have been given to individuals for unusual dedication

to Braille and its availability to the blind. This year NAPUB is presenting

the third Golden Keys Award to the National Braille Press. [applause] This is

done for its ongoing commitment to Braille and its creativity, which result

in unique and innovative ideas for making things happen.

The National Braille Press is well known

for the children's book-of-the-month club, which made it possible to purchase

Braille books at the same price as the print edition. Not only the Book-of-the-Month

Club, but Just Enough to Know Better, the book designed by NBP to help parents

learn Braille along with their children, enjoys a continued popularity. Braille

copies of the Constitution provided by the National Braille Press probably gave

many blind citizens their first chance to look at this historic document. Because

of the National Braille Press, cooks all over the country are able to read their

own package directions from Kraft Foods and General Mills products.

When computers made the scene, it was

the National Braille Press which provided Braille instructional manuals and

put in a lot of effort to keep them updated. NBP was there when surfing the

Net became the number one hobby of sighted Americans, and the people at NBP

dreamed that the same pleasure could be given to blind computer users. The publication

by the National Braille Press of the Internet Complete Reference has made it

possible for computer users who are blind to reap the rewards of traveling the

information superhighway. As a means of addressing the problem of continuing

graphics on the Internet, NBP published the Links Reference Guide for blind

users, a textbook-based browser which allows a blind person to navigate around

the system with Braille or speech access.

In presenting this award, special recognition

is given to Diane Croft, Marketing Director for the National Braille Press.

[applause] William Rader, the Director, and other employees at NBP contend that

Miss Croft is the moving force behind the stream of innovative ideas which make

it possible for Braille readers everywhere to enjoy an amazing variety of both

educational and fund materials. Mr. Rader suggested that Miss Croft should accept

this award for NBP.

The plaque reads in part:

To the National Braille

Press

We present these golden keys in recognition

of ongoing commitment to Braille

and to the readers who depend on it.

Through creativity and innovation

NBP has given to these readers

the keys that unlock doors

to the temple of knowledge.

Miss Croft, on behalf of the National

Association to Promote the Use of Braille, it gives me great pleasure to present

our Golden Keys Award to the National Braille Press. [applause]

Diane Croft: Thank you very much. There

are thirty hard-working people at the National Braille Press. A lot of people

are surprised that there are only thirty. I very much appreciate your recognition

of the hard work that they do every day. I'm so pleased to bring this back to

them. Thank you very much.

The Jacobus tenBroek

Award

Immediately following the presentation

to National Braille Press, President Maurer began speaking. This is what he

said:

The Jacobus tenBroek Award is given from

time to time to one of our own members, but only as often as circumstances warrant.

It exemplifies the spirit of our founder and recognizes the reflection of that

spirit in the person who receives it. Dr. Jacobus tenBroek had the imagination

to believe that blind people working together for the advancement of the blind

could accomplish more thananybody else to bring independence and success to

the lives of the blind. He had the determination to form the vehicle which would

make it possible, the National Federation of the Blind. It is his courage which

said, "No matter what the obstacles, we can meet them. No matter what the

trials, we will surmount them." And this was not done only for himself,

but for all of us--for the blind of the nation. This year we have identified

a worthy recipient of the Jacobus tenBroek Award. The selection committee, whose

members are Ramona Walhof, Allen Harris, James Omvig, and Joyce Scanlan, has

given to us the name of a leader in the Federation--a blind person who has shared

the aspirations of Dr. tenBroek and worked within the Federation for a generation

to bring those aspirations to reality. I invite to join me on the podium Betty

Niceley. [applause]

Born in 1934, Betty Niceley grew up with

her grandparents, who managed a series of country stores in southeastern Kentucky.

The family lived beside the stores, doing whatever needed to be done--stocking

shelves, filling orders, cashiering. It was good experience for a blind child.

At the age of eight Betty Niceley left home to attend the Kentucky School for

the Blind in Louisville, where she got a good education. Later she transferred

to Bell County High School, where she received her diploma. Her senior class

selected her as queen and voted her the "Person Most Likely

to Succeed." Betty Niceley attended Georgetown College in central Kentucky,

receiving a bachelor's degree in English and a secondary teaching certificate,

but about the same time she was married to Charles. The Niceleys have two daughters

and two grandsons.

After leaving college, Betty Niceley

found a job at the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville. Thirteen

years later she left the printing house to accept a job teaching Braille at

the rehabilitation center opened by the Kentucky Department for the Blind. When

the Kentucky Independent Living Center opened in the fall of 1980, Betty Niceley

began teaching Braille, other blindness skills, and travel to the blind of all

ages. She also became responsible for public relations and educational programs

there.

Betty Niceley first joined the National

Federation of the Blind in 1967. Within a short time she became Secretary of

the state affiliate and President of the Louisville chapter. In 1979 she was

elected President of the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky. She was

a principal force in the formation of the National Association to Promote the

Use of Braille, a division of the National Federation of the Blind. She became

its first President and serves in that office today. Betty Niceley has served

as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind

since 1985.

These are facts about Betty Niceley,

and they describe a woman who possesses poise, a record of accomplishment, and

a willingness to share her talents. As impressive as this recitation is, it

cannot convey the spirit of the person we honor tonight. When a job needs doing,

Betty Niceley is there to help. When a plan must be made, Betty Niceley's imagination

will be employed to create the understanding we seek to achieve. When a blind

person needs consolation or support, Betty Niceley is ready with a loving heart.

This is the person who receives our highest honor. This is the 1997 recipient

of the Jacobus tenBroek Award. The award reads:

Jacobus tenBroek Award

National Federation of the Blind

presented to

Betty Niceley

for your dedication, sacrifice

and commitment on behalf of the blind

of this nation

Your contribution is measured

not in steps, but in miles

not by individual experiences

but by your impact on the lives

of the blind of the nation

When we have asked

you have answered.

We call you our colleague with respect

We call you our friend with love

July 4, 1997

Betty Niceley: Now you all know that

I do get emotional. . . . Been there, done that, this week. Thank you so very

much. I don't know what you can say about being given so much honor for things

that come so naturally. For those I love (and that certainly is this group),

for those I appreciate (those are my leaders and those who follow me), thank

you very much. I assure you that I accept it with love. [applause]