Future Reflections Convention 1990, Vol. 9 No. 4
[PICTURE] Doris Willoughby (left) accepts the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award from Sharon Maneki during the awards ceremony at the 1990 banquet.
Editor's Note: The following is reprinted from the September, 1990 issue of the Braille Monitor.
Sharon Maneki, President of the NFB of Maryland and chairwoman of the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Selection committee, then presented this year's award. She said:
Fellow Federationists, this evening it is a great privilege and honor to talk about a distinguished educator. The National Federation of the Blind believes in the future of blind persons. What better way to insure that future than to invest in our blind children? So we have designed the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award. The recipient of this award this evening is truly a distinguished educator. It is most appropriate that she be recognized at such a special convention, our 50th anniversary. She is an educator who has not only influenced the children in her school district, Heartland, Iowa, but she has influenced blind children, their teachers, and their parents throughout the nation. She is an author of not one book but three: Your School Includes a Blind Student; A Resource Guide for Parents and Educators of Blind Children', and, her most recent endeavor, A Handbookfor Itinerant and Resource Teachers of Blind and Visually Impaired Students. Whenever we have a question, we call on her, and she comes to the rescue with a thought, an idea, a suggestion. I'm sure all of you now know who this recipient is, so it gives me great pleasure to present this award to Doris Willoughby. First of all I would like to present Doris with a $500 check. We also have an appropriate plaque. It too, has the logo of the National Federation of the Blind, and it reads:
National Federation of the Blind honors Doris Willoughby, Distinguished Educator of Blind Children, for your skill in teaching Braille and the use of the white cane, for generously devoting extra time to meet the needs of your students, for inspiring your students to perform beyond their expectations, and for sharing your wisdom with your colleagues and parents across the nation through your writing, July 5, 1990.
Congratulations, Doris!
Doris Willoughby responded as follows: "I am very much honored, and the greatest honor is to make a contribution to the education of blind children. That's what really matters--equal opportunity for blind children. I could never have done any of this without the background of the National Federation of the Blind. I would like particularly to mention the help given in the preparation of this most recent book by Sharon Duffy, the coauthor; to Curtis Willoughby, my husband, who did all the programming, including those marvelous pictures of the abacus; and to Dr. Cranmer and Dr. Nemeth, who made it possible to have the information about the abacus and about math. I would also like to mention Kim Bosshart, who received this award last year and who is here again this year. She is a great help to all of us. Again, I would like to say that I could not have done any of this without the National Federation of the Blind. It is a great honor to be here.