The Braille Challenge™ is a two-stage aca-demic contest, sponsored by Braille Institute, and designed to motivate school-age braille readers to excel in this vital medium. Over 900 students from across Canada and the United States participated last year. This annual com-petition is designed to motivate blind students and to emphasize their study of Braille. Stu-dents from all across the United States and Can-ada compete in the preliminary rounds as indi-viduals and in regional competitions. The stu-dents whose scores are in the top rankings in the preliminary round are rewarded with an invi-tation to the national competition. Now in its seventh year the Tennessee Regional Braille Challenge was held on the last day of February at TSB. Thirty four students participated in this year's event. Twenty nine of the students were from TSB, four from other Tennessee schools and one student came from Alabama. In addi-tion to the Braille challenge, TSB simultaneously holds an academic challenge for the remaining

students of the school. After registration the day began with an opening assembly full of informa-tion and challenges. Students were placed in groups comprised of five competencies based on a combination of their grade level, length of time using braille, and braille profi-ciency level. They were then dismissed by group to begin each event. Each child completed tests in categories such as spelling, reading comprehension, proofreading, using charts and graphs and speed and accuracy. Speed and accu-racy involved listening to a passage from a digital re-cording and brailling it as accurately as possible. For lunch the (cont. on pg.7)

Braille Challenge Creates Comprehensive Competition

Carlos Medrano, Marcus Johnson and Taylor Grenier en-gage in translating text as part of the Braille Challenge.

New Kids 2

FORENSICS 2

TALENT SHOW 3

CLASS OF 2013 4

AUCTION 5

CLASS OF 2013 5

NUMBERS 6

JUMP ROPE 6

PEEWEES 6

BRAILLE 7

SCRAMBLE 8

Inside this issue:

March 31, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 11

T E N N E S S E E S C H O O L F O R T H E B L I N D

Roar of theTiger The

Ashley Jackson is accompanied by Rhonda Andrews as she

begins her testing in the Braille Challenge.

Eh Gay recently became a student in our MS1 class after his family moved to Smyrna, a town in Rutherford County. The move to Tennessee was an international move as he and his family are originally from Burma. English is Eh Gay’s second language, his primary language being Karen. Eh Gay likes technol-ogy, mathematics, and getting to know his classmates.

New Kids on Campus

Page 2

Roar of the Tiger

Rachel Haynes transferred to TSB in January, shortly before her 13th birthday. She is from Medina, TN. Rachel likes lis-tening to music, visiting with her friends, and reading. She enjoys wearing jewelry and hair clips. Rachel attended Urban Travel Camp last Octo-ber. She is enjoying making new friends and learning new things here at TSB. Rachel is in MAP3 with Mrs. Hedrick.

KeAunte Smith is eight years of age and commutes to TSB daily from Smyrna, TN in Rutherford County. He en-joys gaming on his Nintendo DS and in particular likes games involving racing. KeAunte also enjoys being outdoors and playing football and soccer. This past fall he was a running back on the Blackman Blaze pee wee foot-ball team in Murfreesboro.

Time is counting down towards the 26th of April and the 2013 NCASB Forensics Conference meet being hosted by TSB. The students, with assistance from the coaches, continue to sharpen their oral and interpretive skills as they

look forward to this event. Here are results from the forensics meets held so far this semester: Jan 24- Nashville School of the Arts: Alisha Whitehead in Dramatic Interp- 2nd Corgan Waters in Poetry Reading- 1st Elizabeth Harden in Poetry Reading--3rd Tim Jones in Humorous Interp- 2nd Brooks Gardner in Prose Reading- 2nd

February 24- East Literature Magnet School: Alisha Whitehead and Elizabeth Harden In Duo Acting- 2nd Tim Jones in Storytelling- 1st March 7– East Literature High School: Corgan Waters and Alex Kitts in Duo Interp– 2nd Michael Ward in Pantomime– 2nd Elizabeth Harden in Solo Acting- 1st Overall team score 13 points for 3rd place among six teams. Look forward to supporting the team at the con-ference on April 26th and 27th!

Forensics Team Views Coming Conference Meet

Talent Abounds and Music Alive On Many Levels

Page 3

Volume 1 Issue 11

singing “Love Story,” Kayla Painter singing “The Bell Song,” Cassidy Sneed and Maleka West singing “When You Say Nothing at All,” Logan Cox singing “Gangnam Style,” Jennifer Anderson playing a piano medley and Brittney Luna singing “Don’t Stop Believing.” Both talent shows were streamed live over

U-Stream in order to provide viewing to a larger audience. Video recordings were also made of the performances and given to each of the partici-pants in the show. Band direc-tor Joe Gregory was MC for

both shows. As things con-cluded with the elementary show he made the observation that “The Music is alive and well on a lot of different levels.” After attending the shows one would have to agree.

Tennessee School for the Blind had its annual Spring Talent Shows during March in the weeks leading up to spring break. At 12:30pm on Wednesday March 7th the Ele-mentary Talent Show was held during part of the school day. A total of thirty students participated in thirteen different acts ranging from comedy to music. Acts included: The Lollypop Kids singing “The

Good Ship Lollypop,” Corban Galaviz singing “Tutti Frutti,” Stiteley’s Stars singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” Cody Thomas singing “Mighty to Save,” Isabella Gonzalez playing “I Like Irish,” The Co-medians firing off a lineup of jokes, Rickey Meadows sing-ing “Last Dollar,” Alex Hunter singing “Georgia On My Mind,” Trio comprised of

Samantha Leech, Chandler McGuire and Elizabeth Harris singing “Sailor Moon,” Abbey Pace singing “Believe In Me,”

KeAunte Smith playing a drum Solo, TaMyah Jordon and Danny White singing “The Wheels on the Bus.” The high school students performed their Talent Show on Wednes-day evening March 14th at 6:30pm. Nineteen students presented sixteen musical per-formances; some instrumen-tally, others vocally and some performed both instrumentally and vocally. These acts in-cluded: Propaganda II per-forming “Ain’t So Lonesome Anymore,” Kayla Heinicke singing “American Honey,” Caleb Freeman singing “All I

Ever Wanted,” Alisha White-head singing “The Willow Tree,” Brittany Wolfe and Ben Waddell singing a self composed song entitled “All Your Fault,” Brittany McGrew singing “A Thousand Years,” Josiah Hearn singing “Superstition,” Stephanie Wilson singing “Wanted,” Carrie Carlisle singing “I Be-lieve in Love,” Elle Tuetken

Page 4

Roar of theTiger

From Jackson, TN in Madi-son County, Caleb came to TSB four years ago in 2009. He has been involved in the TSB Choral Ensemble and also with the TSB Track Team. Caleb will long remem-ber memories created with the ensemble, in Spanish class, while in mobility training with Mr. “A” and hanging’ with Mr. Frensley. Caleb will be at-tending TRC to gain additional preparation for college.

Ashley Jackson

Tim Hagans came to TSB as a residential student in 2005 and commutes home on the week-ends to Clinton, TN. He has been a member of the Boy Scouts and enjoys bowling and hanging with his friends. He also has good memories of working with Donnie Bryan in the maintenance department. Although unsure of where his future is leading, Tim believes his work will involve an area that requires mechanical skills.

In 1996 Ashley came to TSB from Davidson County. She has been involved with the 4-H Club, forensics, track and swim teams, student council, band, art program and piano lessons. She has many favorite memo-ries including the Aspen ski trip, prom, and her art work. Ashley has plans to attend the Helen Keller National Center in New York City before col-lege and pursue her interest in motivational speaking.

Silent Auction Cries Out With Success

Tim Hagans Caleb Freeman

Students, staff and visitors walk along side the tables decid-

ing on which items they want to win and making their bids.

Presenting Members of the Class of 2013

Do I hear a thousand… a thousand and now fif-

teen hundred… fifteen hundred and now who

will make it two? As the tallies roll in from the

Class of 2014’s silent auction the figure contin-

ued to climb. A special thanks goes out to those

who contributed so many wonderful items for

auction. And many thanks for the charitable

hearts and spirits of those whose bidding helped

make this event successful. Over thirty-eight

hundred dollars was raised laying the financial

foundation for next years senior students to be-

gin planning their activities.

Page 5

Volume1, Issue 11

Accomplishment With Numbers Success may not always be measured in num-bers but in the case of eight year old Andrew Bush you can certainly say that it’s true. In fact, Andrew, a third grade student in Carol Lewis’s MAP 2 Class, would be able to give you a thou-sand reasons why. Starting at number one, and with the encouragement and time of Carol and para- educator Cassie Goodfred, Andrew has just completed brailling his way to one thousand! This feat was accomplished with the use of a manual Perkins Braille Writer and thirteen sheet of Braille stock. Andrew has now ac-cepted the new challenge of making a file and

creating the numbers in a digital format. Congratulations An-

drew Bush!

Coming to TSB in 1999 from Hermitage, TN, Brittney has been very involved with the TSB Chorus, Choral Ensem-ble and Jazz Combo. She is also very active with the “BEST” program. Favorite memories of Brittney’s in-clude flying to Boston to re-ceive the “Yes I Can Award,” performing with the Choral En-semble and trips to the Uni-versity of Louisville with the

Jazz Combo.

Brittany McGrew

Bryant Luna arrived at TSB in 2000 and has been here a total of thirteen years. He lives in Hermitage, TN and commutes daily with his sister Brittney. Bryant, along with many others will long remember his solo in the 2012 Holiday Program. He enjoys making his teachers and assistants laugh. Bryant hopes to become employed at Prospect, Inc. which is located in Lebanon, TN this summer after graduation.

Brittany has been active with her music interest since coming to TSB in 1999. Commuting from her home in Lebanon, TN Brittany finds herself involved in piano, voice, and jazz band. Her singing pursuits has taken her to 1st chair in the All-State Choir. Her memories at TSB are numerous and she states she has “always loved my school & all of my teachers.” Brittany plans to pursue a de-gree in music education.

Bryant Luna Brittney Luna

Presenting Members of the Class of 2013

Photo at right: Andrew

Bush points towards the

1,000 numbers he com-

pleted brailling and the

words “Way to go Andrew

Bush!” ascribed by his

teacher. He now has

moved on to his next

challenge.

Page 6

Roar of the Tiger

TSB was thrilled to support the American Heart

Association’s Jump Rope for Heart Program

on February 27, 2013. Ann Frensley and Nick

Trotter had students

practice different jump

rope techniques for the

month in preparation

for the event. The

boys and girls enjoyed

learning to jump free

style, large rope jump,

couples jump and by

seeing who could jump

Have a Heart: Jump!

Pee Wee Wrestlers and Cheerleaders Bring Excitement

After three weeks of practice and anticipation,

the Pee Wee wrestlers and cheerleaders con-

verged at the TSB gym on Wednesday, March

13th for a evening of

electrifying fun. Boys

and girls from the ele-

mentary classes of

Benton, Stiteley,

Lewis, Hedrick, De-

Salvatore, and Smith

participated either

cheerleading or wres-

tling. They were coached by members of the

TSB wrestling team and cheer team. As the boy

and girl wrestlers sized up their competition, the

cheerleaders screamed and hollered slogans of

spirited support for

their teams. Stu-

dents, staff, and

family members

were all in atten-

dance and recipro-

cated the enthusi-

asm. Student Cor-

gan Waters was the

the longest period of time without mistakes. In

addition Ann gave the following challenge to the

6th period physical education class: “The one

that raises the most money in this class will re-

ceive a large pizza of their choice and soft

drink.” Nathen Hurst took the challenge to

“heart” and outdid everyone else in the class by

raising $66.00. Coming from Nick Trotter’s

classes, Demi Richards was the top fund raiser

overall bringing in a total of $82.00. The Ameri-

can Heart Association gave prizes to all stu-

dents raising $5.00 or more. The grand total

raised by all of the students was $632.00. Great

job TSB students!

voice behind the microphone announcing the

eleven wrestling matches and cheerleading

competition. Two wrestlers, Jamerius Turner

and KeAunte Smith, were undefeated on the

night and won both of their

matches by pinning the

opponent. Overall the

Best Wrestler Award was

awarded to winner Keunte

Smith. An award for Best

Match of the night went to

both Danny White

and Rylan Womack. The

high level of enthusiasm

from the participants made

the event very entertaining

and enjoyable.

Joe Gray officiates a match be-

tween Danny White and Taylor

Runion.

Andrew Bush,

Tadarryl Brook

and Danny White

embrace the

medals awarded

them for their

achievement.

KeAunte Smith muses

over his “Best Wrestler

Award.”

Rylan Womack and KeAunte

Smith battle for position.

students enjoy pizza. In addition to completing the challenge, dur-ing the afternoon they delighted in braille bingo and musical enter-tainment. The day concluded with an awards assembly. Awards were given at each level for stu-dents who competed on grade level. Students competing below grade level were eligible for a prize in the Novice category.

Winners were: Novice- 1st Demi Richards, 2nd George Guerrero, 3rd Samantha Leech Freshman- 1st Campbell Rutherford (Dandridge, TN) Sophomore- 1st Ahbee Orton (Florence, AL), 2nd Graham Walker (Erin, TN), 3rd Migdiel Ortiz Jr. Varsity- 1st Marcus Johnson, 2nd Cody Spicer, 3rd Carlos Medrano and Taylor Grenier Varsity- 1st Jessie Rogers (Church Hill, TN), 2nd Tim Jones, 3rd Josiah Hearn. This event is a regional event of the National Braille Challenge from the Braille Insti-tute. Our regional event is gener-ously funded by the B'nai B'rith Maimonides Lodge #46.

Page 7

Volume1, Issue 11

Braille (continued from page one)

Photo left: Julia Hed-

rick announces the

winners in the Appren-

tice category of the

Braille Challenge. First

place Demi Richards,

second place George

Guerrero, and third

place Samantha Leech.

Grade Level Competitions

1-2 Appren-tice/

spelling, reading comprehension,

proofreading

3-4 Fresh-man

spelling, reading comprehension,

5-6 Sopho-more

Reading comprehen-sion, proofreading, speed and accuracy,

charts and graphs

7, 8, 9

Junior

Varsity

Reading comprehen-sion, proofreading, speed and accuracy, charts and graphs

10, 11, 12

Varsity Reading comprehen-sion, proofreading, speed and accuracy, charts and graphs

Photo left: Represent-

ing the Freshman cate-

gory were Maleka West,

Chandler McGuire and

Campbell Rutherford.

Campbell placed first in

her category.

Photo left: In the

Sophomore category

Ahbee Orton of Flor-

ence, AL came in first

place followed by Gra-

ham Walker of Erin, TN

and Migdiel Ortiz from

TSB. Julia Hedrick

passes out the honors.

Photo left: The Jr. Var-

sity category was rep-

resented by first place

winner Marcus John-

son, second place win-

ner Cody Spicer, and

tied for third place, win-

ners Carlos Medrano

and Taylor Grenier.

Photo left: The largest

group of competitors

were in the Varsity

category (as can seen

by the photo.) In first

place was Jessie

Rogers from Church

Hill, TN, second place

was Tim Jones, and

third place went to

Josiah Hearn.

Tennessee School for the Blind is a state special

school established in 1844 to meet the unique needs of

visually impaired students living in the state of Tennes-

see. The school provides academic and professional

services tailored to benefit students placed in its care

through the Local Education Agencies across the state.

Beyond a tradition of academics, TSB specializes in the

instruction of expanded core-curricular areas such as

Braille, Mobility, Technology, Career Education, and In-

dependent Living Skills. Students at the school also enjoy

the opportunity to participate in team sports, campus

clubs, organizations and many leisure-time activities. In

addition the school provides outreach services to visually

challenged students, their parents, teachers, schools and

other agencies assisting the visually challenged.

Friends 13th Annual Golf Scramble to Benefit TSB

115 Stewarts Ferry Pike

Nashville, TN 37214

Phone: 615-231-7300

Creating Contributing Participating Members of Society

T E N N E S S E E S C H O O L F O R T H E B L I N D

TSB students Elizabeth Harden and Michael Ward flank the winning four-

some of the 12th Annual Blindness Awareness Golf Scramble last year in

Murfreesboro. Wonder who will be in the Winner’s Circle this year?

On April 24, 2013 at

12:30 p.m. the place

to be is the Old Fort

Golf Course in Mur-

freesboro TN. Lo-

cated just off of Old

Fort Parkway, this

beautiful eighteen

hole golf course is

the location of the

13th Annual Blind-

ness Awareness

Golf Scramble bene-

fitting students at the

Tennessee School

for the Blind. What

an exciting and rewarding way for a golf enthusi-

ast to enjoy the day while participating in a great

cause! With special equipment, supplies and

great opportunities for enrichment activities

available beyond the funds appropriated for the

school, Friends of Tennessee School for the

Blind has become invaluable in achieving many

goals. Again this year, this non-governmental

foundation has teamed up with the Murfrees-

boro Breakfast Rotary Club to present the

scramble. This partnership has seen wonderful

results. Over the past ten years the tournament

has been successful in raising over a quarter

million dollars for assisting the unique and spe-

cialized needs of our visually impaired students.

With your help and tax exempt contributions we

look forward to this being the greatest year of

achievement to date! Opportunities for involve-

ment include Corporate Sponsors, Hole Spon-

sors, Team and Individual Players. A $1000

Corporate Sponsorship includes a team of four

players, one hole sign, a designated area for a

corporate display and a “Thank-You” ad in the

Daily News Journal. Single Hole Sponsors

contribute $125 and receive a sign at a particu-

lar hole. Teams of four players contribute $600

and individual players make a contribution of

$150. The tournament is limited to a field of

132 players. To sign up as an individual, team,

sponsor, corporate sponsor, helper or for addi-

tional information contact Greg Tidwell (615)

642-9534, or Andy Joiner (615) 812-8274.