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.
Our Middle School/Teen Summer Program took place in Minot and the beautiful Lake Metigoshe area from June 3-6. The students attended a Minot Hot Tots baseball game and learned about the game of baseball through a tactile baseball field. Once again, we enjoyed collaborating with Annie’s House and Higher Than the Mountains to experience days filled with wonderful learning opportunities that incorporated nature and self-exploration.
The students who attended NDVS/SB’s High School Summer Transition Program June 10-13 experienced days filled with learning opportunities and experiences that incorporated lessons on independent living, transportation, and outdoor adventures in the greater Grand Forks community.
Our Adventure Begins at Your Library Elementary Summer Program took place August 4-7 and incorporated community adventures while focusing on literacy through reading and writing. Besides many expanded core curriculum lessons, we ventured out on field trips including a visit to the Red River Valley Zoo, a descriptive movie at Marcus Theaters, and to Turtle River State Park to learn about fishing and bird calls.
A special thank you to the ND School for the Blind Foundation for their financial support which enhances our summer programs through special outings and experiences for our students. We appreciate the opportunity for our students to enjoy socializing out in the community and experiencing social opportunities through the foundation’s additional funding.
2024-25 Short-Term Programs
I would like to provide information and expectations for the process of attending and registering for our Short-Term Programs (STP). Our STPs generally take place on-site at our campus in Grand Forks with occasional programs occurring off-site. Our Elementary and Middle School Programs will typically run Sunday evening through Thursday, while our High School Programs may run longer (through Friday or Saturday) depending on the program. A report is disseminated to parties involved following our program. Specific information for each STP will be emailed out about a month prior to the STP occurring. Please refer to our Programming Calendar for more information.
Communication with educators and families is conducted through email; however, information and forms can be mailed to educators/families upon request. Our forms are also available on our website in printable or fillable form at https://www.ndvisionservices.com/programs/registration-forms.
Our programs feature training sessions in the Expanded Core Curriculum or ECC. The ECC is a specialized set of vision-related skills for students who are blind or visually impaired and include the following:
- Compensatory Skills: These critical skills include concept development and organizational skills, as well as communication skills, such as speaking and listening, sign language, tactile symbols, braille or print reading and writing, and accessing recorded materials.
- Orientation and Mobility: Skills to help an individual know where they are in space and to move safely, independently, and efficiently in their environment.
- Social Interaction: Skills needed to participate actively and appropriately in social situations.
- Independent Living: Skills of daily living needed to care for oneself independently, including personal hygiene, food preparation, cleaning, clothing care, and money management.
- Recreation and Leisure: Skills to promote the enjoyment of leisure activities, including learning new leisure activities and making choices about how to spend leisure time.
- Sensory Efficiency: Skills that help students use all their senses, including functional vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell.
- Assistive Technology: Skills to use computers and other electronic equipment to function independently and effectively at school, home, or work.
- Career Education: Skills that encourage students to explore career options and learn about the world of work.
- Self-Determination: Skills that enable students to become effective advocates for themselves based on their own needs and goals.
We are looking forward to working with your child/student this school year and are honored to be a part of your child’s/student’s educational team! Please feel free to contact me via email (ckwillia@nd.gov) or phone (701-795-2704) with any questions or concerns as we work together to schedule your child/student for our Short-Term Programs at NDVS/SB.