Louis Braille School

On December 12, 2007, KIRO Radio reporter Heather Bosch arrived at the Louis Braille School. She came to do a holiday story about children who are blind or visually impaired and how they experience Christmas.

Heather began her interview with staff member Janie Kimber and her guide dog Tammy. Janie shared childhood Christmas memories. She eloquently explained that she doesn’t miss out because she can’t see with her eyes, that she can see in other ways; she can smell things, she can hear things, she can feel things, and she can see with her spirit.

Heather then turned her attention to the students and found them making Christmas gifts for their parents. The children were intrigued with her big microphone. When they learned she was from a radio station, a young boy exclaimed, “I love the radio!”

The piece aired December 21 on KIRO’s morning and evening newscasts and is currently a podcast on the radio station’s website, www.KIRO710.com, as well as at the end of this post.

710 KIRO Radio, an affiliate of CBS Radio News, is based in Seattle, Washington. It is heard around the world via its network satellite facility and internet audio streaming capability.

Click to listen to “Seeing Christmas”
This is a 2.97 MB mp3 file of about 2 minutes.

On December 7, 2007, four children from the Shoreline YMCA Older Kids Club visited the Louis Braille School. It was a professional development day for the public schools and the children had a free day.

Sabrina, Emma, Jordyn, and Taylor accompanied YMCA staff member Maura Parkhurst. The children range in age from 9 years to 11 years old. The Older Kids Club was formed to create opportunities for the 4th through 6th graders at the YMCA to get off site and involved in the community.

The gift of their time and craft supplies when combined with the creativity of our students produced several lovely wreaths for their parents. When Maura asked our students if they would like the girls to come back again some day, one of our students replied, “No. I want you to come back tomorrow.”

Thank you YMCA Older Kids Club!

As they were leaving, our new friends from the YMCA offered to return and help us improve our back yard and play area. They have some ideas to make it more appealing and user friendly. The Louis Braille School is delighted to have made such wonderful new friends.