Is there a blind student in your classroom next fall? Unsure how to make the upcoming school year as successful as possible? Register for Summer Institute here today! More details about Summer Institute HERE. Session descriptions and more here. Who attends Summer Institute? District attendance listed here by AEA. Find out what schools near you say […]
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Student makes Iowa high school athletic history
West Central Valley High freshman Kayla Bartholomew discovered something right up her alley when she became Iowa’s first bowling adapted athlete and the first adapted bowling state champion on Feb. 2, 2023. “I have seen more smiles on her when she bowls than I ever have,” said Sara Zimmerman, a teacher of the visually impaired […]
Read Moreabout Student makes Iowa high school athletic historySix-year-old is class influencer
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, six-year-old Dustin Todd must be beaming in his Guthrie Center Elementary first grade class. Everybody wants to be like him this year. Dustin has sight in only one eye, caused by a detached retina at birth which could not be repaired. To help Dustin access his education, […]
Read Moreabout Six-year-old is class influencerIESBVI faculty co-authors textbook
An IESBVI math consultant knows so much about how to teach Nemeth Code, she helped write the book on it. Sara Larkin is now an author of a textbook used by universities across the country. Larkin, along with three teachers of the visually impaired from around the United States collaborated over the last three years to write Learning […]
Read Moreabout IESBVI faculty co-authors textbookIESBVI goes national: teachers write lesson plan for the country
Everyone can code. IESBVI staff Jennifer Bliss (science, technology, engineering and math consultant) and Sara Larkin (math consultant) developed one of five national coding lesson plans to help visually impaired students become more familiar with vocabulary and concepts of coding for the American Printing House (APH) National Coding Symposium last spring. Sponsored by the APH, the goals of […]
Read Moreabout IESBVI goes national: teachers write lesson plan for the countryO&M receives Regent’s top honor
Pictured above: Brian Werts (right) and Jonathan Karli, Regional Director, at the Board of Regents meeting in Council Bluffs on Nov. 9. Brian Werts, orientation and mobility specialist with Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (IESBVI) was awarded the Board of Regents, State of Iowa’s Faculty Excellence Award at the Board’s meeting […]
Read Moreabout O&M receives Regent’s top honor200+ topics covered in first year
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. When IESBVI TVI and O&M staff are hired, there are some 200 aspects to their new position which they need to learn in their first year of employment, and review in their second. This mammoth training requirement is broken into about 20 monthly topics, […]
Read Moreabout 200+ topics covered in first yearFive-year strategic plan approved
Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired has a new strategic plan, beginning this August. Along with departments serving both IESBVI and Iowa School for the Deaf, the five-year plan was formulated over the 2021-2022 school year. At the Board of Regents, State of Iowa meeting in early June, the plan was approved. […]
Read Moreabout Five-year strategic plan approvedAward winning learning
Mind blown, award won, mic drop. How do you fathom a tree’s height when you are blind? Helping an IESBVI student understand this concept, naturalists at Benton County Conservation explained it was about 12 times the height of the boy. “His mind was kind of blown when he processed that,” said naturalist Aaron Askelson. Through Zoom […]
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