North Texas Regional Braille Challenge

  • Registration is due: December 17, 2020

    Please use the 2021 North Texas Regional Braille Challenge Form to register students for Braille Challenge. 
    Comments (-1)

  • As a part of the North Texas Braille Challenge, the Michelle Garrett Teacher of the Year for Excellence in Braille Instruction awardee will be named.

    Michelle Garrett demonstrated her passion for teaching braille through her work as a teacher of students with visual impairments and her service in establishing and leading the annual Regional Braille Challenge event for ESC Region 11.

    Any Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments in Region 11 or with students participating in the North Texas Braille Challenge can be nominated by peers, students, parents, or others. This award will be presented at the Regional Braille Challenge Awards Event on April 9, 2021.
    Comments (-1)

Braille Challenge of North Texas

  • Join us February 1-19, 2021, as blind and visually impaired students from across North Texas come together to test their braille skills in an academic competition unlike any other. The students will take part in The North Texas Regional Braille Challenge, which is one of more than 40 partner agencies participating in Braille Institute’s North American braille literacy program. 
     
    The Braille Challenge® is the only academic competition for blind students in the United States and Canada. It was developed by the Braille Institute of America to encourage blind children of all ages to fine-tune their braille skills, which are essential to their academic and employment success in the sighted world. More than 1,000 students participated in 2014.
     
    During the competition, participants, ages 6 to 19, will compete in five challenging categories requiring them to read braille and type braille using a device called a Perkins Brailler. Each category is designed to test their braille skills in several areas—reading comprehension, braille spelling, chart and graph reading, proofreading, and braille speed and accuracy. Regional prize sponsors include Humanware, National Braille Press, and Seedlings Braille Books for Children.
     
    The North Texas Regional Braille Challenge is the first step on the road to the national competition, which will be held in June at Braille Institute’s headquarters in Los Angeles. Students are completing preliminary testing this winter in hopes of qualifying for the top 50 spots available in the national competition and the opportunity to compete against the top blind students from across the United States and Canada. 
     
    Of all the literacy issues in America, braille literacy is the most underrated and overlooked. Advances in technology have not replaced the need for blind children to learn to read using this vital medium, which was created by Louis Braille in 1824. Studies show that only 30 percent of blind adults gain full-time employment, but 90 percent of those who beat the odds are braille readers.
     
    This year the North Texas Braille Challenge will be held virtually. 
    Remote Testing Window - February 1st - 19th
    Individual Proctoring, Small Group Proctoring, and/or Virtual Proctoring
    • Contests can be proctored anytime within the window by students’ individual TVI or another agreed-upon Proctor.
    • Tests will be distributed to Proctors to administer to students within a given time frame.
    • Contest Proctoring can be done in school, home, other agreed upon setting, or virtually.
    • Proctors will return contests to Regional Coordinators, who then score them and return to BIA.
    • BIA will be hosting several virtual parent sessions during this time. There may also be regional opportunities for students to connect.
     
    If you would like additional information on the event or any of the participants, please contact: Stephanie Walker, ESC Region 11, swalker@esc11.net.
     

  • Tentative Agenda

    Registration: Due December 17th

    Test and Goodie Bags Mailed to Proctor: January 2021

    Testing Window: February 1-19th, 2021

    Test Scored and Mailed to National Braille Challenge: February 19th -March 1st

    Virtual Awards Ceremony - Save for North Texas: April 9th, 2021

    National Braille Challenge will host parent events.