ISVI Happenings
January, 2009
Christmas Party in Springfield
On Dec. 10th the Blind Vendors’ Program sponsored a great party for
the ISVI students. Fifty-two ISVI students attended and enjoyed a meal of fried
chicken, sliced roast sirloin of beef, pork medallions, green beans, carrots,
new red potatoes, tossed salad, fruit salad, potato salad, rolls, and assorted
fruit pies. The theme of the party was a Hawaiian Christmas. Everyone was given
a Hawaiian lei. An Elvis impersonator entertained the crowd while they were
eating. Then several ISVI students sang a few songs for the group. Every student
received a very nice gift. It was a very nice evening and the smiles and
laughing indicated that everyone had a good time.
(Photo of the party)
Mrs. Frisch’s elementary class combined an O & M trip with the spirit of holiday
giving. Students were accompanied by Mr. Strader, Mr. Dugan and Mrs. Frisch,
traveled to Wal-Mart to do some holiday shopping. Each child took along $20.00,
a talking calculator, and their math skills to purchase two gifts; one to keep
and one to donate to the Toys for Tots campaign. Which was more difficult?
Remembering the land marks in the store to find the cash registers, or making
the decision of what to buy? The toys purchased for the Toys for Tots included a
stuffed tiger, a Teen-Age Mutant Ninja turtle action figure, and Action Heroes.
Left over change was dropped in the Salvation Army red kettle on the way out of
the store and toys dropped off at a Toys for Tots drop off box. Many lessons
were learned by this outing.
(Photo of students with toys purchased for Toys For Tots)
Orientation & Mobility Lesson
Dec. 9th two students had an O & M lesson in East St. Louis and St. Louis. The
focus of this lesson was the brand new Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center
in downtown St. Louis that houses both AMTRAK and Greyhound stations. From this
station the student could go anywhere in the U.S. One of the students is a safe
and capable traveler but has grown up in a town that does not offer public
transportation. Both students kidded about being the country mouse and being the
city mouse. Both students oriented to the facility, crossed busy streets safely
and had lunch at a mall along with Mr. Strader, the O & M instructor.
Holiday Dinner and Dance
The Christmas dinner and dance was held Dec. 13th in the dining hall.
The menu consisted of rib-eye steak, shrimp, steak fries, bread sticks, corn,
and red velvet cake. An added treat was that dietary staff brought the food to
the tables and served the students. Santa arrived and most students had their
picture taken with him. And students danced to the music provided by Mr.
Thompson. Students danced the night away........
(Photo of the dinner dance)
Visit to Channel 20 studio in Springfield
It has been this student’s dream to be a weather broadcaster. He was always the
"Weather Guy" at his previous school. Mr. Drake arranged for him to visit the
weather set at Channel 20 and to spend time with Gus Gordon, the Channel 20
meteorologist. They observed Gus Gordon doing a broadcast. Mr. Gordon gave the
student some other ideas for career options in the meteorology field. It was a
thrill for the student to have his picture taken at the news desk.
(Photo of student at news desk of Channel 20)