The regional preliminary national Braille Challenge was hosted by the Iowa Department for the Blind in late February. IESBVI staff work with students interested in the competition, to prepare them for the in-person or virtual challenge options. Sixteen IESBVI students competed and 12 earned first, second or third places.
The Braille Challenge is the only academic competition of its kind in North America. Its purpose is to motivate students to practice and hone their braille literacy skills, essential to academic and employment success. Any blind or visually impaired student in first through twelfth grades and IESBVI 4PLUS students who can read and write braille is eligible to participate.
Contestants are tested on braille skills such as: reading comprehension, spelling, speed and accuracy, proofreading and charts and graphs.
Nationally, the 50 students (10 in each category) with the highest are invited to Los Angeles in July for the final round – two days of competition, camaraderie and fun. IESBVI high schooler Nathan Deeds has advanced to nationals in 2021, 2020 and 2019 with his skills in charts and graphs. The last two years, finals were held virtually. It has not yet been announced if finalists will be held in person this year.
IESBVI regional winners for 2022, according to age divisions are:
- Rookie Group: first place: Niyati Patel, Bettendorf; second place: Quinten Greve, Audubon
- Apprentice Group: first place: Khanh Tran, Fairfield; second place: A Muscatine student
- Freshman Group: first place: Jordyn Robbins, Ankeny; second place: Lane Taylor, Ankeny
- Sophomore Group: first place: Jordan Jacobsen, Council Bluffs
- Junior Varsity Group: first place: Jalyn Decker, Sheldon; second place: Tayler Soppe, Dubuque; third place: Kayla Bartholomew, Dexter
- Varsity Group: first place: Nathan Deeds, Williamsburg; second place: A Cedar Rapids student
