American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Special Issue on Braille NEWS AND MORE
Braille Readers Are Leaders: A Short History
by Lisamaria Martinez and Deborah Kent Stein
When Barbara Cheadle and a dedicated group of parents founded the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) in 1982, one of their most pressing missions was to boost Braille literacy among blind children and youth. As parents, they well knew that a bit of healthy competition can be a great motivator. With that in mind, they launched the first Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest (BRAL) in 1984.
Teachers and parents learned about the contest through a modest insert in Future Reflections. The idea was clear and simple. For six weeks blind students in Grades K-12 would log the number of Braille pages they read. Students would compete with readers in their grade category (K-1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12) to find who could read the most Braille pages. When the page counts were tallied, the top three winners in each grade category received cash prizes. Every child who entered the contest received a ribbon and a certificate of participation.
Braille Readers Are Leaders quickly grew into much more than an annual contest. It became a source of empowerment for blind children. Some students entered year after year, competing with their peers and striving to outdo their own past records. Teachers and parents were thrilled. “My son can’t wait for the contest to begin,” one mother reported. “He starts gathering Braille books weeks in advance, so he’ll be all ready to go.”
Year by year the contest received wider attention. Many of the contest winners got special recognition at school assemblies. Small-town newspapers carried stories about local contest winners, praising their achievements, explaining how Braille works, and pointing out the need for more Braille books to be made available.
In 2009, as people around the world celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth, the Braille Readers Are Leaders contest added a category for adult Braille readers. This expansion reflected a deeper truth—Braille literacy is lifelong. With the introduction of adult categories, the contest became more representative of the broader blind community. Braille readers at every level could now participate together, reinforcing the idea that literacy is both personal and collective. The contest motivated new Braille learners to spend time reading each day, and it encouraged lifelong Braille readers to challenge themselves and one another to read more.
Reviewing and tabulating hundreds of reading logs, contacting the winners in each category, sending out ribbons and certificates to all the participants, and mailing prizes to the winners devoured hundreds of hours of staff and volunteer time. Ultimately, the Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest became a victim of its own success. In 2012, without fanfare, the NOPBC and the NFB decided to discontinue the contest, after twenty-six years.
Braille readers were disappointed, but they did their best to look on the bright side. The contest had a good long run, they reminded themselves. Nothing lasts forever. And nothing will stop us from reading.
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But Braille Readers Are Leaders had not been laid to rest after all. In 2013 a group of Braille readers in the NFB Illinois affiliate decided to organize a statewide contest for K-12 readers. It was called Illinois Braille Readers Are Leaders, or IBRAL. To the delight of the organizers, the contest was a great success, with thirty-four children taking part.
In 2015 the NFB of Minnesota joined forces with Illinois. That year the contest was renamed Braille Readers Are Leaders LOL 2, for the state nicknames Land of Lincoln and Land of Lakes.
The contest continued to widen and grow. In 2016 Braille readers from the eight states bordering the Great Lakes took part in Great Lakes Braille Readers Are Leaders.
By this time the contest that refused to go peaceably had won the renewed support of NAPUB, the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille. In 2017 NAPUB sponsored the Nationwide Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest. Each NFB affiliate that wished to participate contributed one hundred dollars toward contest expenses, which included prizes and mailings. Eighteen NFB affiliates signed on, and eighty-one Braille readers took part, diligently counting up the Braille pages they read.
Finally, in 2018, Braille Readers Are Leaders returned in full force under the auspices of the National Federation of the Blind and the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults. Instead of counting pages, participants now keep track of the number of minutes they read Braille each day during the contest period. They use the online platform Beanstack to register for the contest and log their minutes of reading. Blind adults can participate as well as blind children, and there is a new category for teachers of blind students. The winners are celebrated at a virtual ceremony in early March.
Braille Readers Are Leaders has had a long and inspiring history. As the name promises, many past contestants have become prominent in the Federation and in the wider community. Braille readers truly are leaders!
The 2026 Braille Readers Are Leaders Winners
Adults
Adult Expert
Shane Popplestone, OH - 25,900 minutes
Mary Hu, CA - 25,503 minutes
Anna Trotman - 20,140 minutes
Adult Intermediate
Dawn Chambers, IL - 9,195 minutes
Emily Boney, LA - 9,185 minutes
Karen Larson, SD - 7,623 minutes
Adult Novice
BJ Snyder, NY - 6,464 minutes
Ezzie Davis, CA - 5,773 minutes
Marsha Summers, FL - 2,223 minutes
Teachers
Sharon Clark, NJ - 4,725 minutes
Alyson Romine, TX - 3,721 minutes
Krystal Guillory, LA - 1,815 minutes
Youth
Grades 9-12
Nadiya Albrecht, OH - 3,350 minutes
Mae Lane-Karnas, VT - 2,116 minutes
Jasmine Eiland, WA - 2,018 minutes
Grades 6-8
Narjis Karimipour, LA - 7,551 minutes
Gabriel Wahlberg, FL - 7,380 minutes
Zora Wing, NY - 3,091 minutes
Grades 4-5
Juniper Eisenberg, NY - 3,727 minutes
Elizabeth Cibuzar, MN - 3,504 minutes
Mila Chow, CA - 2,746 minutes
Grades 2-3
Sawyer Smith, GA - 2,815 minutes
Mayeson Gardner, IL - 1,310 minutes
Charity Boney, LA - 934 minutes
Grades K-1
Sophia Schuttler, LA - 499 minutes
Beau Bardhoshi, VA - 161 minutes
Ariana Velasquez Barrios, DE - 60 minutes