News

by Cindy Williams
NDVS/SB Coordinator of Student Programs

The first semester of the school year seemed to fly by faster than usual. During this time, we had a full house for our numerous student programs. This included our middle school program in September, “The World Around Us – Learning Through Exploration,” themed around exploring the community; our elementary program in October, “Falling into the ECC,” themed around all things fall; and our teen program for 10^th - 12^th graders focused on career exploration and skills of independent living. Our last program of the semester, for our 7^th - 10^th grade students, included venturing to the Metigoshe/Bottineau area where we collaborated with Annie's House at Bottineau Winter Park. While there, our students participated in some outdoor fun and adventures the first weekend of December.

What exactly happens when students attend our short-term programs (STPs)? Well, read on, and I will explain! 

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by Paul Olson
NDVS/SB Superintendent

As we reflect on 2024, I can confidently say that it has been both an eventful and impactful year at NDVS/SB. The spring and summer months were filled with dynamic programming weeks for both students and adult clients at our headquarters in Grand Forks. Our regional coordinators, who are dedicated Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVIs), traveled tirelessly across the state, visiting students in their homes and schools. During these visits, they provided crucial assessment and instruction in all areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). At NDVS/SB, we are deeply committed to the ECC, which encompasses the specialized skills and knowledge that individuals who are blind or have low vision need to thrive.

One of the primary areas of focus within the ECC is Access Technology (AT), which is essential for navigating today’s technology-driven world. While technology offers incredible benefits in making life easier and more efficient, significant barriers to access still exist for individuals who are blind or have low vision. At NDVS/SB, we are passionate about ensuring that our students and adult clients can harness the full potential of technology to level the playing field. We have a long history of providing expert assessment and training in access technology for both students and adults, but we must increase our focus in this area to meet new demands.

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NDVS/SB Maintenance Supervisor (and soon-to-be retiree)

This month, Maintenance Supervisor Greg Roufs is retiring after nearly 16 years at NDVS/SB. Taking care of the entire building at 500 Stanford Road means that Greg has worked with two staffs – NDVS/SB and Community High School, which leases half of the building. Both places have meant so much to Greg. “Such caring people work on both sides of the building. I’m going to miss it,” he says. And they’ll miss him. “Greg is simply one of the most hard-working people I have met in my life,” says NDVS/SB Superintendent Paul Olson. “He has bent over backwards for both staff and students alike and has cared about the mission at NDVS/SB every day of his work.” Terry Bohan, the principal at Community High School, concurs. “Greg gets the job done, no matter what that job may be. It has been my honor working with him for the past 16 years,” he says.

Greg almost didn’t apply for the job. “I wasn’t sure I met the qualifications. I had taken a night class to work with a low-pressure boiler, but I figured I’d need to know how to work with a high-pressure boiler,” Greg says. He called an old classmate, Brian Purcell, whose wife, Tami, was the business manager at NDVS/SB at the time. She reassured him that he would indeed meet the qualifications. “The high-pressure side is from UND, and I only needed to know the low-pressure boiler,” Greg explains. “So, I went for it.” Sixteen years later, Greg shares his memories from his time at NDVS/SB and what he’s excited about as he enters retirement. 

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Have you ever wondered what a TSVI does all day? Some TSVIs are employed by one school district so work in one building every day, or only travel within the district. But some TSVIs cover large areas. Those TSVIs are called itinerant, meaning they serve multiple students in multiple districts, and may work with children of all ages, from babies to 21+! The TSVIs employed by NDVS/SB are all itinerant, meaning they spend lots of time in their cars, lots of time writing reports, and lots of time with many different kiddos! Get a taste of what a day in the life of a TSVI is like by reading about NDVS/SB's Outreach Coordinator Erin Storhoff's day on Thursday, December 12, 2024!

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NDVS/SB Region 3 Outreach Coordinator

The month of August often brings big changes – cooler weather, new school year, and new beginnings. Our newest employee, Breanne Welk, began her new position at NDVS/SB this past August and is looking forward to all the things a new job brings. Here, Breanne shares her goals and a bit about herself!

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by Ken Dockter
NDVS/SB Adult Program Coordinator

Adult Weeks will take place the following dates during the 2024-2025 school year: 

• September 15 - 20, 2024
• December 8 - 13, 2024
• March 23 - 28, 2025
• May 11 - 16, 2025
• June 1 - 6, 2025

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by Amy Osvold
NDVS/SB Vision Rehabilitation Specialist

Amy wrote the following reflection for the North Dakota Association of the Blind's newsletter, the Promoter. In order for more people to hear her important message, she is also sharing it with the NDVS/SB community. 

My vision loss journey began when I was 4½ years old. I had been sick with what my mom thought was the flu. I stayed home in the morning with my grandmother while my mother worked. That afternoon she picked me up to go to the doctor but when she asked me to put on my shoes, I could not find them. I could not see them. She rushed me to a family friend who was an optometrist in Minot who then sent me to the ER. And thus began my journey.

Over the next 42 years, I began a quest to try and figure out what was causing my vision loss before I lost the rest of my sight or the mystery disease expanded its grasp to other areas of my body. As a child, I had a total of six attacks. After the fourth, I was put on an immune suppressant called Imuran as a kind of a shot-in-the-dark. It did not stop the attacks, but it did slow them down and kept the losses from being so extensive. 

As an adult, I have seen countless neurologists, ophthalmologists, neur-ophthalmologists, rheumatologists, immunologists, and general practitioners in an attempt to find an answer before the clock ran out. Every time I had an attack, I lost more vision. I would take massive amounts of steroids but never regained what I lost. In 2000, I started having numbness and weakness on my right side, as well as dizziness, headaches, and nausea. The doctors just told me they could not find anything wrong other than the Optic Neuritis which had progressed to Optic Atrophy. By the late 2000s, pain became a constant companion. Every time I saw a new doctor and they ran the usual gauntlet of tests, I prayed this would be the time science had caught up to my disease, the time I finally had a name for the pain.

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by Paul Olson
NDVS/SB Superintendent

This summer, several NDVS/SB staff had the opportunity to attend a presentation in West Fargo by Jason Romero. Jason was on a multi-state tour speaking about his life and most importantly, overcoming adversity. Jason is a middle-aged guy who is blind because of a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa. 

In our business we meet lots of people who are blind and literally everyone has daily practice overcoming adversity. So, what makes Jason’s story such a big deal? Well, he did happen to run across America covering 3,063 miles in a mere 59 days. 

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by Cindy Williams
NDVS/SB Coordinator of Student Programs

Welcome back to the 2024-2025 school year and welcome to Student Short-Term Programs at NDVS/SB! I hope you are all adjusting well to your new school routine or soon will be! I am honored to be the Coordinator of Student Programs and am looking forward to this school year and working with you and your child/student. Our Short-Term Programs (STP) are designed to offer individual and small class instruction through collaboration with families and local schools. While attending our STPs, students share similar experiences unique to the world of visual impairment and take away self-awareness and confidence through this shared experience. 

Before I discuss our upcoming school year programs, I want to share with you some information about our summer programs. NDVS/SB offers students in North Dakota with visual impairments opportunities to come together in the summer to interact socially, learn new skills, experience lessons in the Expanded Core Curriculum, and have fun. We were all so excited to partake in new adventures this summer through the following programs.

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NDVS/SB Maintenance Worker

For BreAnna Wicken, working at NDVS/SB is a family affair. Her mother-in-law, Tracy Wicken, is the Assistive Technology Specialist, and the person who encouraged BreAnna to apply when the position opened up earlier this year. BreAnna’s amazing work ethic was apparent from the start, and she didn’t let her baby bump slow her down. Shortly after starting her job, BreAnna gave birth to a daughter, Rachel, and since returning from maternity leave, BreAnna has jumped right back into work, organizing and cleaning nooks and crannies and making herself essential to NDVS/SB. She has also been able to bring Rachel to work some days. Rachel stays snuggly and safe wrapped up in a sling, which allows BreAnna to do her job and keep her baby close by. Staff have enjoyed having a baby in the building and watching her grow. BreAnna has also grown into the job and loves working at NDVS/SB. “Everyone who works here is very nice,” she says. Read on to learn more about BreAnna.

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