American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Convention 2018 NOPBC BOARD MEETING
Forming Partnerships
by Carolyn Mason
2018 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students
From the Editor: At the board meeting of the National Federation of the Blind, Carla McQuillan announced the winner of the 2018 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award. The 2018 Distinguished Educator is Carolyn Mason. Carolyn earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. She has certifications in elementary grades 1-8, elementary music grades 1-8, generic special education pre-K-12, and visually impaired pre-K-12. She has been teaching blind and visually-impaired students for thirty-three years, thirty of those years with the Austin Independent School District. In 2009 she was honored by the Braille Institute as the Braille Challenge Teacher of the Year for Excellence in Braille Instruction. Currently she supervises TVI interns for Texas Tech University. She consults on Braille-related projects for Pearson Learning and continues to support the Central Texas Braille Challenge. At the board meeting of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children, Carolyn Mason gave the following address.
I would like to say how honored I am to have received this award and to be standing before you today. As a nineteen-year-old, when I chose to pursue certification as a teacher of students with visual impairments, I never anticipated what a rewarding career this would be. I have always been passionate about literacy, and of course as a teacher of students with visual impairments that means Braille literacy. Braille literacy means more than just reading. It means being proficient not only in the literary code, but Nemeth Code for math and sciences, and the Braille music code for greater access to music classes, even at the elementary level. It means having the tactile literacy to interpret tables, charts, and graphs.
I think what has defined my career as an educator is my ability to form partnerships. First of all, I form partnerships with students. I have learned as much from my students over the years as I have taught them. To be successful as a TVI, you must be a lifelong learner. You must be able to navigate the ever-changing world of technology and the recent change in Braille with the adoption of the Unified English Braille Code. It means being able to give students a toolbox of skills, not just one skill, that they can choose from to navigate their educational and personal lives. It means equipping them to develop the skills they need to become independent adults.
Even with my elementary students, I expect them to participate in developing their IEP goals and objectives each year. They participate in making decisions about their accommodations, and they are able to articulate them to the teachers and other adults they interact with.
For students to become as independent as possible, they must take advantage of every opportunity out there. I know I cannot teach every skill a student needs. As an itinerant teacher I am competing with the general education teachers and the special area teachers and the orientation and mobility instructor for time with a student. This means that I need to form partnerships with the counselors of rehabilitation agencies so that students get signed up for services and can take advantage of the programs that are provided. I must form partnerships with the state school for the blind and have my students participate in short-term and summer programs. I must get students involved in programs such as the National Braille Challenge from the Braille Institute. I must introduce them to consumer organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind, which provides a wealth of programs for students of all ages.
And of course providing tools for my students means forming partnerships with you, the parents. It means building a mutually respectful relationship so that we can have honest discussions, even on the occasions when we disagree. We work together with the goal of ensuring that your child becomes everything he or she can be.
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