Students Tour Dana-Thomas House and St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral - Springfield
On Thursday, 4/17/08, the high school academic art classes took their annual field trip to Springfield where architecture was featured. We had a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dana-Thomas House, where we learned not only about Susan Dana, the lady who hired Wright to build her house, but great history of Frank Lloyd Wright and his beliefs. We also had a tour of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral.

Students learned that Susan Dana, who inherited 3 million dollars from her father, most of which came from his silver mines, hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build her house. It’s over 12,000 square feet of living space and was built right on top of the original floor of the French Italianate house that was her parent’s house. Wright believed in flowing spaces instead of rooms defined with 4 walls and entry doors. He also believed that we should bring the outside in and move the inside out. Indigenous plant-life and rocks were brought in.

Many believe he was the world’s greatest architect, but we can surely say he was quite unique and extremely ahead of his time. Where most architects primarily design the placement of rooms, closets, windows and doors, Frank Lloyd Wright built his homes and buildings around themes and built furniture specifically for each building. He built immobile furnishings walls of area rocks and plant-life. His prairie style houses are flat roofed to mimic the flat prairie lands, and the theme in the Dana-Thomas House is the sumac plant. He created a very linear stylized and modern version of the sumac leaves and spread it throughout the house and in most of the windows. The tour guide expressed that Susan Dana liked butterflies, so Wright has butterfly designs throughout the house as well.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral was built in 1912, where there is a life-sized statue of St. Paul holding his Bible. Students got to see the statue and feel it’s fine, smooth Vietnamese marble as well as the woodwork and a stained glass window in the sanctuary. It was re-iterated that the tall, open space within the sanctuary symbolizes being closer to God and that the stained glass windows told Bible stories since the mass majority of the public didn’t know how to read in the early days of Christian churches. Students also learned not only that the bishop, who is head of one diocese (or region) is housed in the cathedral, but that the cathedral was named after the thrown-style chair beside the altar which the bishop resides in during mass. This chair is called the cathedra.

Point of interest: where there are 6 Roman Catholic diocese in Illinois, there are 3 Episcopal diocese in Illinois.

ISVI Students Make Other Area News!
Follow these two links for publications highlighting ISVI students' accomplishments and experiences.  Springfield Journal Register - The Voice      The Bloomington Pentagraph

ISVI Student–Recipient of Jacksonville Lions Club College Scholarship
Congratulations to Roseanne Grages, who has been selected as a recipient of the Jacksonville Lions Club College Scholarship. She was selected for the $200 award based on citizenship, community service, education and career plans, and grade point average. Roseanne will be recognized at the Lions Club Scholarship Awards Dinner to be held May 6, 2008 as well as at the ISVI high school awards assembly. Roseanne, daughter of Gerald and Marie Grages of Crete, Illinois, plans to continue her education at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Illinois.

Class of 2008 Valedictorian and TLC Scholar Award
ISVI is proud to announce the following recipients of the Valedictorian and TLC Scholar Award for the 2008 graduating class. Augustine Gimenez is this years Valedictorian with a GPA of 3.37 and an ACT score of 19.

Roseanne Grages has been unanimously chosen as the recipient of the TLC Scholar Award. Roseanne exemplifies the qualities of our Transition Living Program. Congratulations to you both!

SPRING CARNIVAL

Saturday, April 19, 2008 was a big day for ISVI students. The rain didn't dampen the spirits of students attending the Spring Carnival or the cook-out for students and staff from Unit 2, the boys' dormitory.

The carnival was held in the dining hall with Residential Care Workers and Dietary Staff the helping students as they played games of Ball Toss, Egg Carry, "Fishing", and Balloon Carry. The Balloon Carry, consisted of students racing while carrying balloons between their legs without letting them go, then being the first one to pop the balloon. This game was quite hilarious to watch. Tickets were given to students as they successfully completed each challenge. The tickets were then redeemed at the prize table. Some of the favorite prizes were stuffed animals, purses, travel mugs, hats, and cooler bags.

ISVI Educator, Dan Thompson, provided the music. Mr. Thompson is always the ISVI favorite D.J. A trivia contest was held with students guessing song titles and artists and receiving a dollar bill for being the first to give a correct answer. Even the high school students played and laughed throughout the musical chairs contests.

Thanks go to Mr. Thompson, the dorm staff, and supervisors for assisting with the Carnival and helping make it so much fun for the students. Special thanks also goes to our awesome Dietary Staff for providing the fun lunch–including walking tacos, corn dogs, and funnel cakes and for getting the dining hall set up "Carnival-Style." All students seemed to enjoy this rainy-day event.
COOK-OUT
Following the carnival in the afternoon, a cookout dinner was provided for the Unit 2 Crew. Chef (Rick) Penington cooked burgers and hotdogs on the grill and each dormitory pod from Unit 2 brought a covered dish to share. There was macaroni & cheese, fruit salad, chips & dips, corn on the cob, and chocolate pie for dessert–yum! Everyone seemed happy and full even though the weather continued to be quite rainy outside; it was warm and pleasant inside.



Career Fair 2008
Once again the Career Fair was a success. On April 3, 2008, all of the High School students went to Illinois College to attend the annual Career and Employment Expo. The Career and Employment Expo is sponsored by Illinois College, MacMurray College, the local Employment Agency (IETC) and DHS/DRS.

There were 96 booths from various businesses and colleges available for the students and their teachers to visit. When visiting the booths, the students could ask different types of questions about employment opportunities. Some of the questions asked were "What type of education or training is needed to get a job?", "What would some of the job duties be?", "How can a person apply for a job with your company?", "What type of jobs do you have available with your company?", "What type of product or service does your company provide?"

The students collected a lot of valuable information. Along with the information each booth provided the students with some promotional items they could take with them. It was a great morning and everyone had a fun learning experience.

Hoops For Heart
The annual Hoops for Heart event, organized this year by Mr. Joe Lewey--ISVI's Recreation Director, was held at the ISVI gymnasium on March, 20, 2008. Twenty-nine students participated in this enjoyable fund raiser by initially gathering pledges to raise money for the American Heart Association. Some of the various activities in which students could participate were shooting free throws, hula hoop contests, bean-bag throwing, and jumping rope.


The event ran from 10:00 a.m. until noon while everyone enjoyed music provided by Educator, Mr. Dan Thompson. All contestants received prizes and gifts including water bottles, basketballs, and t-shirts. The students were proud to have raised a total of $800 for the American Heart Association. Way to go!
 

ISVI Talent Show-2008
Once again, Mrs. Denise Kerlikar-music educator at ISVI, has put together a great group of ISVI performers who showcased their talents on Wednesday, March 19. A variety of student solos, duets, poetry reading and brain-teasing riddles made up the 26 performances. As a special treat, ISVI graduate, Robert Sampson-who recently took 6th place in the Nashville National Blues Contest, also performed for the entertainment of the audience.

ISVI Participates in Braille Challenge
In late February, eight ISVI students traveled to the Missouri School for the Blind to attend the Regional Braille competition sponsored by the Braille Institute. The Braille Challenge is an academic contest for Braille readers. The student can demonstrate his/her Braille skills, depending on grade level, in the areas of spelling, reading comprehension, proofreading, speed and accuracy, as well as charts and graphs. This contest is meant to be enjoyed and serve as a reward for the skills and the hard work of our Braille-reading students. ISVI came back to Illinois with three winners; a 3rd place finisher in the Sophomore Division, a 1st place finisher in the Varsity Division and also a 3rd place finisher in the Varsity Division. We are very proud of these students and encourage the to keep up their Braille-reading skills! 

Cookie Bake-Off Contest
A Cookie Bake-Off contest was held in the Snack Bar on March 12, 2008.  The four pods from the Unit 2 dormitory participated by baking two of their favorite cookies from each pod for the judges to sample.  Unit 2-Blue Pod won the contest with their "Peanut Butter Kisses." 

All students in the Blue Pod will participate in a pizza party as their
prize for having the winning cookie!  After the judging, all students enjoyed sampling each others' cookie creations.

NEW SUPERINTENDENT FOR ISVI
Follow this link to a letter from DHS Secretary, Mr. Rob Kilbury about a new superintendent being named for ISVI.

Blind Vendors' Program Provides ISVI Students With a Christmas Party
On December 5, the Blind Vendors’ Program sponsored a great party for the ISVI students in Springfield. All students on campus went to the party which lasted from 5:30 until close to 9:00 p.m. There were 55 students and 16 ISVI staff at the party which included a meal of roast beef, fried chicken, and ham. The party was held at Camelot Banquet Hall with a total of 174 people attending - a great crowd. Some of the BVP families assisted with serving our students, keeping their soda glasses full, and assuring they were having a good time.

In keeping with the Country/Western theme students were given cowboy hats, including Santa cowboy hats to wear during the party and they got to keep them afterward. Country music and jokes were shared by an entertainer throughout the meal.

All of the students looked nice, taking extra steps to look appropriate for the holiday party. Six of the ISVI chorus students sang a few songs for the group and thanked them for hosting the party. At the conclusion of the party, an ISVI soloist sang Silent Night in German as a thank you to the group.

All students received really nice, individual gifts; a thumb drive, favorite car magazines, CDs, pajamas, scarves, hats, and gloves were some of the gifts. Even the high school boys and girls seemed excited with opening the gifts and showing their friends their gifts.

It was a nice evening with lots of smiles and laughing to go around.

Snowflake Dance
The Snowflake Dance was held this year on December 7th in the dining hall. Special guests were the wrestlers and cheerleaders from the Wisconsin School for the Blind who braved the icy weather to participate in the meet on Saturday. All enjoyed the dancing Friday evening.

Angel Tree Party
On December 11, ISVI hosted the Angel Tree Party for ISVI and ISD elementary students. The dietary staff created a wonderful holiday setting for this year’s party. An assortment of holiday cookies, nuts, and candies was served. The highlight of the evening was a visit from Santa Claus. Santa gave every student a gift selected by state employees specifically for each student. If smiling faces were a sign of enjoyment, it could be said that everyone present had a very good time. Several ISVI students in addition to the elementary students attending the party received nice gifts from various DHS employees. This has become a tradition of many employees within the department, to purchase and donate gifts for Angel Tree students--a great delight and benefit to our students!

Robinson's Pumpkin Patch
Friday, October 12, 2007, 15 students went to Robinson Farms' pumpkin patch and petting zoo. They all seemed to enjoy the animals. There were piglets, goats, rabbits, baby chicks, miniature pony, sheep and a llama. There were also 2 calves the students were able to feed. Activities at the farm also included, a wagon ride - corn stalk exploring - and picking out pumpkins to bring home.

After the trip to the pumpkin patch, students returned to an Oktoberfest celebration held in the dining hall. Students danced to music provided by D.J. Dan Thompson. They played several games, including a limbo contest, and the top competitors received some nice prizes.

A trip to the Haunted House in Roodhouse is planned for Monday, October 29. A bus full of brave students are preparing for a frightful trip!

Congratulations, ISVI Dining Hall Department!
The Morgan County Health Department - Food Service Inspection conducted on October 3, 2007 resulted in a 100% rating!!!  No violations were noted!!!  Way to GO!!!

ISVI Sports Car Rally
Follow link for full details.

Welcome Back-to-School Dance
A WELCOME BACK to School Dance was held in the dining hall on Friday, September 7. Most students attended and had a great time dancing, socializing, and snacking. ISVI's favorite DJ - Dan Thompson - played all the favorite music.

An Air Hockey Tournament was held in the Snack Bar on Saturday, September 8. Students enjoyed the competition. 1st and 2nd place prizes were given out to the winners. Eight students participated in this fun event and are looking forward to the next tournament - a pool tourney - also to be held in the Snack Bar.

ISVI Parent Association Raising Funds
Here's how YOU can help!
The ISVI parent organization has found another way for us to help them earn money! The parent organization earns a penny for every time someone does a search on www.goodsearch.com . You have to designate the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired as the "designated cause". This search engine is powered by Yahoo and is just as good as using Google. Please tell all of your friends and family about this.

The ISVI parent organization has done so much for our school and is very appreciative of our continued support!

Illinois Parents of the Visually Impaired (IPVI)
The Illinois Parents of the Visually Impaired (IPVI) are hosting a family day at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago on July 21st. The entrance fee to the zoo will be free, parking will be free and lunch will be free as long as you have been a member of IPVI for at least one year. Please contact Lyle Stauder at 217-787-9728 or Vickie Juskie at 877-411-4784 by June 15th for more information.

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"!

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.

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.
The link for the survey is:
http://s22318.tsbvi.edu/surveys/TakeSurvey.asp?SurveyID=71I663K13m65G

link to download the survey:  www.tsbvi.edu/news/choice-survey.doc

Thanks,
Dr. Paul Ajuwon

Changes in the ISVI Dining Hall
ISVI has recently made some very positive changes in the Dining Hall with the input from students and staff under the direction of Mrs. Preston. The main differences that people will notice are the following:

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.

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!

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!

Kiwanis Luncheon
ISVI hosted one of the Jacksonville Kiwanis Club's weekly lunch meetings on March 29, 2007. There were approximately 70 Kiwanians on campus that afternoon. The six members of the K-Kids Club were in attendance, as well, and they were given the opportunity to introduce themselves and tell about what they have been doing this year: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, the 2nd Annual Canned Food Drive, and making flowers for the residents at a local retirement center to name a few. Information was also presented information about ISVI to the Kiwanians. It was a great experience and we look forward to making it an annual event!

Rotary Club Scholar Athlete at ISVI
On April 19, the Jacksonville Rotary Club held its 23rd annual Scholar-Athlete awards dinner. The club recognized 29 West-Central Illinois high school seniors that demonstrated outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, and leadership. ISVI was represented by a senior who held all of these characteristics. ISVI's senior has a 3.31 GPA and has been involved in track, cheerleading, swimming, wrestling, Student Council president, senior class president and a one-year top scorer for both track and swimming. Congrats, ISVI Scholar-Athlete!

Students Help the Community--Dog PEN

National Library Week
ISVI participated in National Library Week by doing a variety of fun activities. There was a "story time" held in the library every day where different teachers read to any student who wanted to attend. The students made book markers, had a trivia contest, played a mystery game, watched a movie while enjoying popcorn, had cake and punch at the open house, and participated in the opportunity for door prizes. The library was a very busy place all week long!

Support of ISVI’s Art Program
The Imagine Foundation of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Noon Lions Club have partnered to assist with the Art Program at ISVI. They recently presented ISVI with a check from donations of a murder mystery event that they had previously hosted. The donation will be use to work with our students in the Art Club, provide ISVI with a Tactile Art Collection, and provide our students with musical performances. The Imagine Foundation and the Noon Lions Club seem very dedicated to this new venture with ISVI and have pledged their support in assisting us. We are extremely thankful to both of them for providing our students with this wonderful experience in Fine Arts.