American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Convention 2024 CONVENTION PERSPECTIVES
"That's How We Say Hello!"
Attending My First NFB Convention as a Teacher of Tomorrow
by Mary-Clare Cable
From the Editor: Among the first-time attendees at the 2024 NFB Convention in Orlando was an enthusiastic group of teachers of blind and low-vision students, participants in the NFB’s Teachers of Tomorrow program. In this article, Mary-Clare Cable reflects on her experience in the program and explains how it transformed her as a teacher.
I’m an itinerant teacher of blind and low-vision students based in Fairbanks, Alaska, just below the Arctic Circle. This being Alaska, my students are spread across a wide geographic area. I have thirty students in eighteen different schools, so I do a lot of traveling.
I’d been working as a paraprofessional in the schools for several years when I was asked to assist a high school student who was blind. I ended up working with him for three years. I found myself becoming very frustrated by the limitations people placed on him. For instance, his chemistry teacher immediately talked about excusing him from lab work instead of coming up with ways for him to participate and learn beside his classmates. I tried to think of ways to make every lesson accessible for him, but I had to figure it out on my own.
That first blind student sparked my curiosity and got me to challenge a lot of my own assumptions. Our work together inspired me to become a TVI, or teacher of the visually impaired. However, my training program gave me almost no exposure to blind people who were living active, productive lives. Mostly I was taught by sighted instructors who had very little firsthand experience with blind adults.
I only knew one blind TVI in Alaska, Bonnie Lucas. Bonnie was very helpful, and she had lots of valuable ideas to share. She was the only blind adult I had met, though, so I had no other perspectives.
I learned about Teachers of Tomorrow (TOT) from Ashley, a colleague of mine who had been in the program in 2021. I didn’t think I stood a chance of getting accepted, but Ashley sat down with me and helped me complete the application. I was very excited when I got a call a few months later. Karen Anderson interviewed me and asked a lot of excellent questions. For instance, she asked me, “Besides your students, do you know any blind people?” Believe it or not, no one had ever asked me that question before! If I didn’t know blind people, how could I truly understand the challenges my students faced and believe in their capacity to live the lives they wanted?
I was thrilled when I was accepted into the Teachers of Tomorrow program. I went in with high hopes, but I was pretty nervous. I was one of fourteen teachers from across the country in the 2024 TOT cohort. We met monthly over Zoom and got together face-to-face four times during the course of the year. In addition, we had ongoing communication through group chat.
From the beginning the program filled me with excitement. For the first time I was among people who truly supported knowledge and growth. In our Zoom sessions I learned about resources from all over the country, and I heard blind people with a wide variety of experiences talk about their lives. I had the chance to learn best practices from people who really used the skills I was trying to teach.
Our first face-to-face get-together was a visit to the NFB National Center in Baltimore. That trip was life-changing for me! It was wonderful to meet my TOT cohort in real time, to explore NFB headquarters, and to learn about the history of the organized blind movement from people who lived it.
When I trained to become a TVI, I was not encouraged to use the word blind. We used terms such as visually impaired or sight deficient. In Baltimore Karen and others encouraged us to use the word blind. We talked about helping people own their blindness and understand that it's okay to be blind.
Our second face-to-face trip took my Teachers of Tomorrow cohort to the nation’s capital to attend Washington Seminar. Unfortunately, it was forty below in Fairbanks that week, and most flights were canceled. I ended up joining the Alaska affiliate via Zoom and talking to my representative remotely since I couldn’t be there in person. Even at a distance it was thrilling to speak to my rep about bills that could make a difference in the lives of my students.
Our third face-to-face experience was a visit to the Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB), the NFB training center in Ruston, Louisiana. Talking with teachers and students, observing classes, and absorbing the can-do atmosphere was a phenomenal experience! I met so many blind people who were living without limitations, people who were really rocking life. No one was telling them about things they couldn’t do. They were cooking, woodworking, going out, and enjoying life. The students were really excited about everything they had learned and what they felt they could do in the future.
It’s hard to describe how moving it all was! I knew my students were capable young people, but sometimes they didn’t believe in themselves. I’d never seen a program like the LCB, where students truly grew and thrived.
During my TVI training, the most I ever did under learning shades was pour water into a glass. At the LCB my cohort and I put on learning shades and baked brownies nonvisually. My group baked the worst brownies ever! I realized I have a lot to learn in order to teach my students effectively!
Our final face-to-face experience in the Teachers of Tomorrow program was a trip to attend the NFB National Convention in Orlando. Convention was amazing! It was incredible to see so many people with long white canes and guide dogs all in one place! Everyone looked totally confident and empowered. I remember once a fellow bumped into me accidentally. He smiled and said, “That’s how we say hello!” I realized that my students were always apologizing. They were upset if they knocked something over or bumped into someone. Now I asked myself, why should they be upset? It’s part of life—no harm done.
I’m so grateful I had the chance to take part in Teachers of Tomorrow and join such a phenomenal group of educators! I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated and resourceful group of colleagues. My approach to teaching and to life has been changed forever by my firsthand experiences meeting blind people in Baltimore, in Ruston, and at the NFB National Convention. I want my students to experience the world fearlessly and joyfully, and through the authentic experience I have gained, I know that they truly can.