Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Presentation

Presented by Carla McQuillan

CARLA McQUILLAN: Good morning, everybody. Every year the National Federation of the Blind honors and recognizes a teacher of blind students for going above and beyond the expectations and by upholding the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind.

I started as chair of this committee in 2016. This year we received several good applicants and nominees, but one of them caused me to have to go back to my list. We never repeat this award to the same person. So I went to my list, and there's a lot of impressive people. We started this award in 1988, so this is the thirty-fifth Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award that we will be giving.

There are some impressive names on that list. Evelyn Riggan and Ruby Riles, for example. So I looked back because I could not believe that this individual had not previously won this award. But sure enough, she had not.

In typical years, we notify the teacher that they are going to be receiving the award to make sure they're here at convention, right, because they don't always attend. We did not have to do that this year. In fact, this year President Riccobono said, "What are the odds we could make it a total surprise?" Remember that we offer this individual a beautiful plaque in Braille and print, a check for $1,000, and the opportunity to speak for the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. How do we get this person at the board meeting to receive the award without knowing why, and how do we get her to speak for the parents of blind children without knowing why?

So Carol Castellano and Beth Braun were part of this scheme. Sitting to my right is the recipient of this year's Educator of Blind Students Award, Krystal Guillory!
[Applause]

Now, I have to tell you, I didn't know the sneaker Beth Braun was. Beth Braun created a false agenda that she gave to Krystal who thought she was here to talk about the Braille Book Fair. Now, she can talk to you about that if she wants to, but for those of you who do not know Krystal, she is one of our greatest members and teachers from the great state of Louisiana. She is not only a full-time teacher, but she is the coordinator of our Louisiana BELL Academies. She was written up in the Ruston Leader newspaper for all of her efforts for the BELL Academy. She also runs a Braille Saturday program, and she's very active in the Louisiana Association of Parents of Blind Children.

Beth came over and said, "Don't let Krystal see the screen on your iPad," where I have the language of the plaque. So let me pull it up here.

It says:

THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND HONORS

Krystal Guillory

Distinguished Educator of Blind Students, for your skills in teaching Braille and other techniques of blindness, for graciously devoting extra time to meet the needs of your students, and for empowering your students to perform beyond their expectations.

YOU CHAMPION OUR MOVEMENT;
YOU STRENGTHEN OUR HOPES;
YOU SHARE OUR DREAMS.

July 3rd, 2023.

[Applause]

Krystal, here is your plaque and your check for $1,000.

KRYSTAL GUILLORY: Okay, I —

CARLA McQUILLAN: Are you surprised?

KRYSTAL GUILLORY: I—I am very surprised, had no clue. I guess good job keeping it a secret. I actually stepped in a little bit earlier, and I had some notes for the book fair, and I was thinking, well, Norma already gave away the big surprise of the astronaut and what have you, so I'm going to be repetitive! So I was a little confused as to why I was here, but it's all good.

I don't have anything prepared obviously. I will say that I feel like I've been in the field forever. I think as we get older, we're like, "Please don't ask me how many years; I don't want to figure it out." I do know that I've been teaching about twenty years. But I will say that my teaching phenomenally changed when I got connected with the NFB. I knew very few actual blind people. Obviously, I had a phenomenal blind role model in my house with Eric, but I needed to know that there were more than Eric out there and, more importantly, my students needed to know that. Everything that I've taught my students to empower them is always, "You can do this. I promise you. I don't know anything. I am your teacher, but sometimes I have no clue because no one can know everything. But we are going to find this person who can help us get through this.” And it gets really tough every day in the school system because you're in a pickle or a predicament I guess you could say. You’re employed by the school system, so it does get a little testy at times, because you know what your students need. The power that the Federation has for me to be able to say, "Oh, let me tell you about so and so who is doing this job, and this is how we're going to do it."

So I am just so very grateful. I think that I have become a better teacher, a better person, a better mom, and I just hope to give back so much more because you've all helped me. Thank you.