Louis Braille School

Windows at the Louis Braille School have undergone changes in the last few months. Now, bright colors, a word of welcome, and braille alphabet not only spice up the building’s appearance, they suggest the spirit and philosophy found on the other side of the glass.

“I’m a flower person, I love drawing them,” said teacher Beckie.

With spring’s arrival, flowers were on her mind as she looked at the large window of the main classroom.

“The designs on the window were fading and not looking nice, and we wanted to come up with something changeable,” she said.

Students were consulted on the design and encouraged to pick some of the colors.

Then Beckie made a stencil for the lettering before spending several days on the actual painting, putting in a little bit of time now and then between her other responsibilities.

The changeable aspect of design deliberately figured into Beckie’s choice of paint. A little soap and water will easily remove the latest artwork. That approach is the one she used at a pre-school years ago, where she had a big window to work on. “About every other month I would change the theme,” she said.

“Come fall, I will talk to the kids find out what they may like to see on the window,” she added. “That will be the goal with that window, to change it periodically and have the children participate.”

The window nearest the front door was redecorated by the school’s Director, Carolyn Meyer. It is bordered across the top and bottom with print and braille letters of the alphabet.

“I wanted the exterior of the building to reflect the happiness and learning that goes on inside,” Carolyn said. “It had been rather plain and drab. I wanted it look as bright and welcoming from the outside as it is inside.

“When Beckie started painting the main classroom window, I commented to her from day to day, ‘Beckie, another flower sprouted on our front classroom window.’ Beckie’s painting is a very nice solution because now the school building looks cheerful on the outside and the inside.”

After removing faded images of butterflies, Carolyn put braille around the borders of the window near the entry door.

“It gives a little bit of intrigue to the person looking at it, yet right away they know it is braille,” she said.

Noting that braille is a way to represent a written language, Carolyn reflected on a question she is asked frequently about braille: In light of today’s electronic equipment and talking computers available to people who are blind, is braille still needed?

Her response to that question is: “Would you be satisfied if you were deprived of print as a means to read and write and you could only be literate by listening? In these times of technological advances and an increasingly busy information highway, we need all the tools we can get, and braille remains a vital tool for those who cannot read print.

“There is no substitute for direct contact with the written language, whether it be print or braille.”

Our Wish List now resides in the “Giving” section of our Web Site. There you will find not only our latest request, but also a list of wishes that were granted.

To find the Wish List, click “Giving” on the main navigation bar of the Home page, then go to “Wish List” on the break-out on the right side of the page.

We will post a blog when there are recent Wish List developments.

This is our new wish:

Braille Camp Tuition
As of today, three children will attend our July Braille Camp who cannot afford the tuition. We never deny a child the benefit of our programs because of inability to pay.

We received funds for a full scholarship for one of the children. Will you help provide scholarships for the other two?

Tuition for the two-week program is $250. Perhaps you can donate all or a portion of that amount. For many of our children, Braille Camp is the highlight of their summer.

Thank you for your kind consideration of this request.

Other Braille Camp Requests
4 bags of rubber bands for tie-dying

White cotton T-shirts of the following sizes for tie-dying:
Three each of child sizes 10, 12, and 14
Two each of adult sizes small and medium.
(The fiber content of the shirts should be at least 60% to properly retain the dye.)

Barbasol Shaving Cream–Up to two dozen cans, “value size,” “Original” and “Sensitive Skin” formulas

Garage Sale to Turn Clutter into Cash

Your donated clutter will be transformed into cash during our garage sale fundraiser at the Louis Braille School on Saturday, July 11th, from 10 am until 4 pm. The sale will take place behind the school.

Make a little walking room in your shed or garage, clean out that closet, and clear out the stuff under the kids’ beds. Box or bag it up and drop off the items at 10130 Edmonds Way, in Edmonds, from June 22nd through July 10th.

Before you come, please call the school at 425-778-2384 to confirm we are open. During the summer, someone is usually at the school weekdays from 8 am to 4 pm.

Upon request, we can arrange to receive your donations later than 4 pm or on Saturday.

Please do not leave donations on site when school is closed.

We’ll gladly take anything except for upholstered furniture and large appliances. Please make sure all donations are in good condition.

Traditionally popular garage sale items include, but are not limited to: Various sizes of clean clothing, tools, antiques, camping articles, luggage, kitchenware, needlework, toys, all sorts of handicrafts, dolls and doll accessories.

Volunteers are welcome to help set up and conduct the sale. Please contact us at 425-778-2384 for details.

All proceeds from the garage sale fundraiser go to support the work of the Louis Braille School.

Are You Throwing Away Dimes that Could Go to the Louis Braille School?

Probably. You wouldn’t be alone. Lots of people are doing it.

We want to help you stop tossing money into the trash. Give it to the Louis Braille School instead. It won’t cost you a cent.

Interested?

Box Tops for Education

Participate in the program called Box Tops for Education. Since 1996, Box Tops for Education has given more than $250 million to schools across the country.

Here’s how it works: General Mills prints box top coupons on a variety of their food items and kitchen-related products, including certain cereals, frozen foods, snacks, storage bags and paper products.

The Louis Braille School sends the clipped coupons to a Box Tops for Education processing agency and receives 10 cents for each one.

All you have to do is clip the coupons and send them to the Louis Braille School. (The coupons come in different sizes, but most are smaller than a single square inch in size.)

It’s such a simple and easy way to help the Louis Braille School acquire funds that go to support the education of children who are blind, partially sighted, or have other challenges.

Labels for Education

A similar program, started by the Campbell’s Soup Company, is Labels for Education. Redeemed labels, the bar code must be included, earn points instead of cash. Points are then applied to the purchase of useful educational items from a catalog.

Clipping coupons and removing labels doesn’t take much time, and you can send them to the school from anywhere in the country.

It sure beats throwing those sleeping dimes and labels into the landfill.

Contact us for more information about Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education. We’ll point you to a list of products bearing the box top coupons and the labels which qualify for the program, and answer any other questions you may have.

If you already know about the programs, and have some box tops or labels to send us, mail them to:

Louis Braille School
10130 Edmonds Way
Edmonds, WA 98020

Imagine ordering your favorite items at a fast food restaurant and learning that 20% of the money you’ve spent on yourself will become a donation to the Louis Braille School.

That’s exactly what will happen when you visit McDonald’s at 10124 Edmonds Way in Edmonds on June 3rd, between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 pm.

Everyone who makes a purchase on that day during those hours will support the education of special needs children who attend the Louis Braille School, because the restaurant will donate 20% of each net sale to the school.

School staff, along with select supporters, will go behind the counter at McDonald’s to stand beside the regular crew, showing friendly and familiar faces to patrons entering the restaurant in support of the fundraiser.

The festivities will include a $1 per ticket raffle for the chance to win a $50 QFC gift card. Young volunteers will be out in the parking lot, holding up signs to inform drivers about the fundraiser and urging them to participate. Inside the restaurant, we’ll hand out information about the school.

If you can’t come by in person, call or email us to ask about buying a McDonald’s gift card. You can use it at any McDonald’s in the U.S., and the purchase will result in a donation to the school.

Thank you!