Let Bell Ring Forever

Let Bell Ring Forever

Future Reflections Winter 2015 BRAILLE
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Let Bell Ring Forever
by Amy Albin
Reprinted from The Sounding Board, A Publication of the NFB of New Jersey, Fall 2014
From the Editor: The NFB BELL program (Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning) has proved a highly successful tool for teaching young blind students. In addition, BELL can be a life-changing experience for the volunteers who assist with the program. In this article, Amy Albin relates the value of her experience with the New Jersey BELL program. Amy is a tenth grader who enjoys reading, writing, and music. She plans to attend college, where she will study math or psychology.
On the first day of an experience that would give anyone tremendous joy, one of the first questions the boys asked me was, "What should your name be?"
"I'd feel really awkward if you call me Miss Albin," I joked. "I'm hardly an adult."
We decided on Miss Amy.
When Joe Ruffalo, president of the New Jersey affiliate of the NFB, and Barbara Shalit, the head teacher for the New Jersey BELL program, asked me to volunteer, I was grateful for the opportunity. I worked with the students for a total of thirty hours last summer. Before the program began, I had written a paper and composed some passionate speeches on the importance of nationwide Braille literacy. I had done a great deal of talking, but here was my chance to take practical action.
Running for two weeks, this program, which took place at the Puerto Rican Association for Human Development in Perth Amboy, was designed to teach Braille, daily living skills, and positive attitudes toward blindness to blind students ages four to twelve. I did not teach those lessons, but I observed the students taking part in such activities as pouring liquids and making sandwiches. They were also exposed to different ways of folding paper money.
During the first week, three boys, ages five to seven, came to the program. A seventh-grade girl joined them the following week. On the first day when I met the boys, I was drawn to their youthful energy and eagerness to learn. I know they learned a great deal, and I hope I was instrumental in contributing to that end.
In the weeks and months before the BELL program started, I eagerly anticipated my role as a teacher and mentor. I expected that I would teach Braille and have discussions with the students. For the most part, I was right. Many of the activities were group-based. But a crucial aspect of the program was to allow each student to work one-on-one with a teacher or volunteer to learn concepts appropriate to his or her level of understanding. I enjoyed working with the students in this way. Ms. Shalit often emailed me the lesson in advance so I would know with whom I was working and what material we would cover that day. I took turns teaching different students.
While I was helping the BELL kids learn, I remembered how I disliked learning Braille as a young child, so I did my best to make the lessons entertaining. The strategy worked beautifully, and my students truly seemed to enjoy what they were doing. Recognizing the needs of each individual student was a key component that made BELL successful.
I also assisted the teachers by reading short stories to the students. If I had to guess, their two favorites were about Helen Keller and Louis Braille. The students loved those books so much that I read them aloud on multiple occasions. While reading stories, I tried to instill positive attitudes about blindness by saying that it is not bad to be blind.
I love the fact that the kids were so enthusiastic and eager to learn. I find that some students in middle and high school are just getting by, thinking, "Why do I need to be here? When will I ever need to know this subject?" The children at BELL were different; they were still at that young age where every new experience was wonderful and exciting. One boy, to my knowledge, had received no Braille instruction before he entered BELL. At the end of the first day when his family came to pick him up, he passionately demonstrated how to put paper into the Perkins Brailler and write the first letter of his name. He got his mom excited to teach him and learn Braille herself. I loved the entire program, but if I had to choose one favorite moment it would be the end of that first day when I knew we at BELL had started a new, exciting chapter in a student's life.
I feel immensely rewarded that I taught something to the BELL students, but they taught me as well. For one thing, I can better empathize with elementary-school teachers. The students at BELL reminded me how short kids' attention spans can be. I said to myself, "If four kids are this energetic, imagine teaching twenty rambunctious kids five days a week, year after year!" Teachers deserve much more credit than American society bestows on them.
Once again, I feel greatly privileged by the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young blind people. I am tremendously grateful to Ms. Shalit and Mr. Ruffalo for asking me to contribute to the BELL program. In addition, I thank the wonderful teachers and the NFB as a whole for making BELL what it is—a truly remarkable success.

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