Spring Carnival
The Spring Carnival was Saturday, April 21, at the pavilion area on ISVI’s campus. There were many games that students enjoyed including: egg-on-a-spoon race (not one was broken!), knocking soda cans over with a ball, pitching empty milk cartons into a basket, and a three legged race. Tickets for the winners and participants were given out that could be taken to a prize table to pick out prizes. The carnival also advocated nutritious eating. Food for the day included lean hamburgers, all beef hot dogs, baked potato chips, string cheese, whole wheat cookies, milk and Sunny Delight. The day included face painting, karaoke, music by disc jockey Mr. Thompson and ended with an ice cream social enjoyed by all!

(Picture from the Carnival)

Vision Activity Day
ISVI recently hosted a big event called a "Vision Activity Day". The day included 100 guests on ISVI’s campus. Those guests included: vision teachers, adaptive PE teachers, students who are visually impaired ages K-12, parents, and some college students studying vision. The guests were from 14  counties in east-central Illinois in the Central Affiliation for Special Education (CASE) program. Some of the guests learned about goalball and adaptive PE techniques in the gym, while others listened to presentations about ISVI’s assistive technology, summer camps, residential life, and the work study program. The guests also enjoyed a tour with an orientation and mobility lesson. They ended their day with a wonderful lunch prepared by ISVI’s dietary staff. The day was a great success for ISVI and for all who attended.

(Picture from Vision Activity Day)

ISVI Celebrated Earth Day
Two students recently celebrated Earth Day all week long. They picked up trash at the park with the help of their teachers and O&M instructors. They experienced caterpillar cocoons opening up to find beautiful butterflies emerging from them in an aquarium in their classroom. They had to feed them sugar water to ensure that they grow and are able to be released. Another activity that they participated in was making bowls out of paper from the paper collected in the recycle bin in their classroom. On Friday, April 27, all of the elementary classes got together and planted a red bud tree in the ISVI garden. They would like for everyone to help keep our earth clean and healthy!

(Picture of the elementary classes planting the red bud tree)

Survey on Educational Placement
This is to invite parents of children who are blind or have low vision in K-12 public and residential schools in the United States to participate in a study on why they chose the type of educational placement for their child. This survey was sent out last month, but had to be cancelled because of computer glitches. Now that the problems have been fixed, we are pleased again to invite all parents of children who are blind or have low vision to complete the survey in its entirety. Please, accept our apologies for previous problems, and we would appreciate it very much if you would take the survey again. Parents who do not have access to a computer may directly phone Dr. Paul Ajuwon, the primary investigator at 417-836-5397, to request a Braille or print copy of the survey. The current survey on the website of Texas School for the Blind is an online interactive version, and downloadable word version.

Thanks,
Dr. Paul Ajuwon

a hand sanitizer has been mounted on the left side of the doorway leading into the room where the students pick up their trays.

The elementary and middle school students will take their trays to a rack located on the north wall instead of taking their trays to the return window when they are finished eating.

The high school students will have a choice of returning their trays to the return window  as they always have, or placing them in a rack that is located just to the right of the window. This will ensure that the high school students will not have to wait in line if a lot of people are at the return window.

Other changes include wider aisles between tables and rugs to indicate pathways. This system of traffic flow truly makes sense, is safe, and encourages independence for virtually anyone on the travel skills continuum.

Championship Swim Meet at Ohio
The ISVI swim team ventured to Ohio for the Championship Swim meet for 2007. Two students decided to jump start things figuratively on Friday night by swimming their 500. The remainder of the meet was held on Saturday. Team Illinois worked hard in the preliminaries to qualify for the finals. In essence, swimmers who qualified for the finals or consolation finals swam in two meets in the same day. In between the preliminaries and championship rounds, ISVI had a couple of students recruited by the head of USABA, Mr. Mark Lucas, and the most decorated paralympic athlete in the world, Ms. Tricia Zorn, to participate in the International USABA Youth Games in Colorado Springs, Colorado this summer. Besides the outstanding team results for the boys, the most gratifying aspect of the meet was that the men swam their lifetime best times when it counted most, and after they were already most tired. The Team Results are as follows: Team Illinois Girls placed 7th out of 10 teams with 30 points and Team Illinois Boys placed 4th out of 10 teams with 96 points. ISVI is very proud of our swim teams!

ISVI’s Forensics Team
The ISVI Forensics team had a wonderful year. There were several students who participated gaining valuable experience speaking in front of an audience. Taking part in Forensics requires students to be extremely dedicated and willing to devote a great deal of time to participate. The Forensics team finished off their season with championships at Ohio. They ended up in a tie for 7th place overall. Way to Go, ISVI Forensics Team!

Poetry is Celebrated at ISVI
Mrs. Strader, Mrs. Miller, and Ms. Chambers all celebrated poetry month with their students by memorizing and presenting poems that they chose to an audience of fellow classmates and staff. After the poetry, everyone was treated to cookies and punch. The poetry event was enjoyed by all who attended.

(Picture of student reciting his poem, "Carrots")

Fundraiser
After school on Wednesday, May 2nd, the students from Unit #2 Khaki Pod held a lemonade stand to raise money for the Dog P.E.N. (Public Education Network). The Dog P.E.N. is a tax deductible, non-profit organization that promotes pet ownership responsibility, provides behavioral training and rehabilitation of homeless, abused and/or neglected dogs and cats. Through volunteer efforts, animals in animal control facilities in Greene and Morgan counties are rescued, fostered and adopted to loving, permanent homes. The students received donations for lemonade, cookies, and candy. Staff and neighbors of ISVI were very charitable with donations totaling over $200.00. The students were assisted by R.C.W 's Kerri Sanderson and Tiena Kidd. Students and staff from other dorms also assisted by baking cookies and providing items for sale at the lemonade stand. The students and staff had fun and enjoyed doing something for the community.

(Picture of students working at the stand)

Learning Experience at Guiding Eyes
Recently, Mr. Dugan and two students traveled to New York to learn about the possibility of using a dog guide. They set out to see if a dog guide would be a good fit for them and to get a taste of what it would actually be like to have a dog guide. They learned about Guiding Eyes, walking a dog guide, training, what to expect from a dog guide, advantages and disadvantages, and other valuable information. They were able to have a tour of New York City and experience some fabulous dining. The event was sponsored by Guiding Eyes with Sue Dalton from Transvision organizing the trip.

Cinco De Mayo Celebration
The ISVI elementary students did a lot of activities to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. They all met in Mrs. Walker’s class to make Mexican Flags while listening to music in Spanish. Some of the students sang songs in Spanish led by Mrs. Lane. They enjoyed salsa, chips, and cookies. They played Mexican instruments and listened to the reading of a book read in Spanish by a high school student and read in English by Mrs. Lane. They ended the celebration with a piZata and by telling everyone, "Adiós"!

(Picture of students doing activities for Cinco De Mayo)