The 22nd annual Unity Conference sponsored by the Tennessee School for the Blind kicks off today and with an added twist for 2012. This year TSB is pleased to an-nounce that the Tennes-see Chapter of the As-sociation for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (TN-AER) is holding their fall confer-ence in collaboration with the Unity Conference. The activities begin today with registration for the Unity Conference starting at 12:00 noon. Sessions for the conference will run from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday. Pre-registration for the TN-AER Fall Confer-ence has been ongoing and forms are available not only from their office but also on the TSBTi-gers.org website. Registration for TN-AER can also be done in person Saturday morning begin-ning at 8:00 a.m. and until the start of the confer-ence at 8:45 a.m. Placing a special emphasis on information for parents of children who are blind and visually impaired, Kevin O’Connor will be giving the keynote address Saturday morning and his ses-sion is FREE to parents with no registration fee required. Kevin is a parent of a son with a visual impairment. Kevin O’Connor is an executive coach, businessman and professional speaker. He holds three masters’ degrees and his exper-tise focuses on the challenges of leadership,

business relationships and the effectiveness of teams. Kevin is a Certified Speaking Profes-sional, CPU, and less than 590 persons in the world hold this honor for speaking excellence. In addition Kevin is a Senior Lecturer at Chicago’s Loyola University and is faculty for Columbia College of Chicago. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate students. Kevin has au-thored or co-authored six books. His speeches are laced with humor, useful content and per-sonal experience both as a parent and a teacher. Additional information on Kevin is available at http://kevinoc.com. Although Kevin’s session is free to parents of the visually impaired, registration for the TN-AER conference is $50.00 for AER members and $65.00 for non-members. Additional speakers include Linda Lawrence, M.D., who will be avail-able to answer medical questions and Derrick Smith, Ed.D., who will dis-cuss AT competencies for TVIs. Additional topics of in-terest will include: Content strands on AT, multiple dis-abilities and strategies for academic students, essential assessments for develop-ment of IEP goals, literacy and math resources strate-gies, and behavior manage-ment as foundation for in-struction. In addition there will be an Assistive Technol-ogy Expo and a networking lunch with entertainment. ACVREP continuing educa-tion credit is available.

Unity Conference Begins with Special Emphasis for Parents

Kevin O’Connor speaking on Saturday

NEW KIDS 2

SOLID EVIDENCE 2

Exercise 3

GOALBALL 3

MOVING ON 4

HIGH REWARDS 5

JR. OLYMPICS 6

POC NAMED 6

Inside this issue:

October 26, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 5

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

Coming to TSB from the

Knoxville area is fun loving

Aaron Patrick. Aaron, who is

part of the freshman class has

had no trouble fitting into life at

school and in the cottage. He

enjoys swimming, bowling,

and playing video games and

stays active in his free time.

New Kids on Campus

Solid Evidence of the School’s History

Recently during clean-up around the old barn on the old

Clover Bottom Mansion property, located adjacent to the

Tennessee School for

the Blind property, a

block of history was un-

earthed. Actually it

ended up being several

blocks of stone work

which at one time were

part of the foundation of

the school’s building.

The larger corner stone

reads “TSB founded

1844 East wing May 1,

Page 2

Roar o f the T iger

Shelby West is attending TSB

this year as a sophomore and

lives in Nashville. Before com-

ing to TSB, she played the

flute in her school's marching

band. Now she sings in the

TSB Choral Ensemble.

Shelby is excited to try her

hand at goalball this year.

1901. On the right side

the following is inscribed

“J.V. Armstrong Supt.”

and the following trustees

are also listed: “E.H. East,

W.C. Collier, L.R. Camp-

bell, J.M. Lea, T.P. Weak-

ley and W. Litterer”. Additional information includes the

architect and stone contractor for the building. A couple

sizable flat stones were inscribed with an “S” and what

appeared to be an “H’. The findings will be placed in the

school’s sensory garden for all to see.

Photo One: Corner stone with writings on two of four sides

Photo Two: Two flat stones inscribed with the letters S and H.

Mishon Breland is a sopho-

more coming to TSB from

Clarksville. He enjoys hang-

ing out with his friends, playing

video games and watching

television. Mishon is enjoying

his classes at TSB and he de-

scribes himself as quiet and

funny.

able time is had by all on the weekly walks down the trail. Stones River Greenway con-nects neighborhoods to schools, shopping ar-eas, down-town, of-fices, rec-reation ar-eas, open spaces and other points of interest. Greenways provide all citizens with barrier-free access to natural resources and recreational opportuni-ties. Additional information on the greenway is available through Google search.

Exercise, recreational and fitness activities are a intricate part of each students daily routine at Tennessee School for the Blind. Among with the many planned activities such as bowling, playground, swimming, movies and games; walking is one of the activities the students are enjoying most. The school is fortunate to have

The Stones River Greenway, adja-cent to the campus. Staff members ac-company students as they travel on a brisk thirty minute walk on this nature trail. Along with the benefits of exercise, students spend

time talking and socializing with their friends and interacting with the school staff. A fun and profit-

Over the River and Through the Woods

Page 3

V o lu me 1 I s su e 5

tournament to analyze the strengths and weak-

nesses of each opposing team and to further de-

velop their own teamwork. The girls won four

games, tied one game and lost one game. The

boy’s team won three games, tied two games and

lost one game. The Tigers will next compete at

the NCASB Goalball Conference Tournament

in Missouri the first weekend in November.

Tiger Goalball Teams Begin Season Hosting Tourney The TSB Tigers goalball teams went into compe-

tition for the first time this season when hosting a

goalball tournament this past weekend. Teams

from the following states came and participated:

Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Wis-

consin, and Ohio. Each state brought a girl’s

team and a boy’s team. In all a total of thirteen

hours of goalball was played during games Friday

night and Saturday. Our Tiger teams used the

Michael Ward and James Yelsong scramble to deflect a shot on goal.

Members of the girl’s goalball team defend the goal against Illinois.

Brandt Shipley and Adam Carpenter scurry to the head of the pack.

The cottage boys pose for a group shot before finishing their travel back to campus.

With cool fall weather coming into Middle Tennessee the growth of the grass has slowed considerably, however it wasn't growing at all under the feet of those at-tending Urban Travel Camp, Oct.7-10th, at TSB. Five students came to camp and ex-perienced urban travel, public transpor-tation and train travel. After registration and getting settled into the cottages, travel began with orientation to the campus Sunday after-noon. A pizza dinner was then enjoyed by all before the campers, mobility instructors and cottage staff walked to Thornton’s gas station and back to explore the route they would frequent during camp. Monday morning began with public bus orientation at the Metro Transit Authority bus garage. Both the inside and outside of the buses were explored. Details and procedures were explained about the many facets of public travel. Campers rode the bus to and from Nashville in the after-noon. Each camper

paid their own fare with funds provided by TSB. A walk to Thornton’s and the Donelson Bowling Alley followed in the afternoon and evening with campers returning to campus after dark so they could experi-ence night travel. Tuesday began with a bus trip to Nashville to experience street crossings at signal light controlled inter-sections, with and with out audible accessible pedestrian signals. A bus was then taken to Opry Mills Mall for lunch and to experi-ence shopping center travel. The afternoon also included a wall climbing challenge.

Returning to campus the campers prepared

their own spaghetti dinner. The day con-cluded with bowling at the Donelson Bowl-

ing Alley. Wednesday began with a bus trip to the Nashville train station. There we rode the Music City Star commuter train to the Hermitage train sta-tion where we caught a bus to Walmart. The campers shopped for the food they would need for cooking their family dinner that eve-ning. The dinner, com-prised of tacos and trimmings, also had homemade cupcakes for dessert. Each cup-cake was individually decorated by the campers. While eating dinner the campers and families viewed a video of their three and a half days full of accomplishments.

Urban Travel Camp Means Moving On

Page 4

Roar of theTiger

“ATTENDING

URBAN TRAVEL

CAMP WAS

MOST

PROFITABLE TO

ME. I LEARNED

MUCH ABOUT

TRAVEL AND

ALSO

COOKING.”

- JAMES YELSONG

Instructors guide the campers across

the street during night travel.

The five campers pose for a photo in

front of the MTA bus.

Rachael Hanes climbs to the

apex of the rock wall.

James Yelsong is introduced

to the Music City Star.

On Friday morning the 28th of September, the Tennessee School for the Blind Boy’s and Girl’s track teams and coaches boarded the charter bus and headed towards Co-lumbus Ohio. The North Central Asso-ciation of Schools for the Blind (NCASB) Conference Track and Field Meet would be held on Sat-urday the 29th at The Ohio School for the Blind. Eleven confer-ence teams were pre-sent and after formali-ties were over the competition began. The athletes from TSB aimed high and gave their best efforts. Sev-eral students ended up placing in the top four positions in all four events in which they competed. They are mentioned along with the events in the

list below: Girls Individuals Unna Stapleton- 2nd place long jump 1st place in 400 meter dash 1st place in 60 meter dash 1st place in the Triple jump

Corgan Waters- 1st place 1600 meter run 1st place triple jump 2nd place 3-con jump 1st place 800 meter tandem

Taylor Greiner- 2nd place 600 meter dash 1st place Triple Jump 1st place 60 meter dash 1st place 800 meter tandem

Boy’s individuals Derrick Manning- 1st place long jump 2nd place high jump 3rd place 60 meter dash 1st place triple jump

Tim Jones- 2nd place long jump 3rd place 3 – con jump 4th place triple jump 4th place 600 meter run

James Yelsong- 2nd place 600 meter run 2nd place 3-con jump 2nd place 60 meter dash 2nd place triple jump

When the dust all set-

tled and the points

were all tallied the re-

sults looked like this:

Girls Team Score Missouri 172 Tennessee 154 Arkansas 149 Indiana 120 Boys Team Score Tennessee 194 Illinois 165 Arkansas 120 Indiana 81 The Girl Tigers fin-ished second among the girl’s teams and the Boy Tigers fin-ished first among the boy’s teams. Team Tennessee finished in first place among all 11 schools with a com-bined boy’s and girl’s total of 348 points. Congratulations, TSB Tiger track teams!

Conference Track Meet Yields High Rewards

Page 5

Volume1, Issue 5

James

Yelsong

races to

the fin-

ish line

in the 60

meter

dash.

Taylor

Greiner

and

Corgan

Waters

compete

side by

side in

the 800

meter

tandem.

Derrick

Manning

sprints

hard to

finish

third in

the 60

meter

dash.

Tennessee School for the Blind is a state special school

established in 1844 to meet the unique needs of visually im-

paired students living in the state of Tennessee. The school

provides academic and professional services tailored to

benefit students placed in its care through the Local Educa-

tion Agencies across the state. Beyond a tradition of aca-

demics, TSB specializes in the instruction of expanded core-

curricular areas such as Braille, Mobility, Technology, Career

Education, and Independent 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.

He never hesitates or complains when asked to do something and is very appreciated by staff and stu-dents. A TSB dog tag was given to each recipient to wear and to reminded them that as they wear it they are to be demonstrating the good character for which they were awarded. This includes speaking and behaving as a student who has been honored with this award. TSB staff members are encouraged to recognize these students and ask them what they did to receive their honor.

TSB is proud to announce our TSB Persons of Charac-ter for the month of October 2012; Austin Rogers and Pat-rick Anderson. Austin is rec-ognized for offering assistance to his peers in Mrs. Lewis’s and Mrs. Carr’s rooms in a variety of situations. He has shown re-spect, responsibility and safety as he assisted. Patrick is rec-ommended for the award by his Boy Scout leaders, as he “jumped in” to help in the cottage

and on the Boy Scout outings.

Persons of Character

115 Stewarts Ferry Pike

Nashville, TN 37214

Phone: 615-231-7300

Creating Participating Contributing 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

On October 3rd the kindergarten through

eighth grade students participated in the Bill

Roby Jr. Olympic Track and Field Games in

Louisville Ky. Students participate in three

events and receive medals for each event.

Photo One: (above) Staff assist students get-

ting ready for race, Photo Two: (below) Staff

encourages Migdiel Ortiz, Photo Three: Staff

watches Berry Cannady in ball toss, Photo

Four: Staff assisting Noah Ankney, Photo Six:

Staff helping along side Gregory Harris

Patrick Anderson

Austin Rogers