Upshaw Institute for the Blind 6th Annual
Back to School Carnival
For Children and Youth with Visual Impairments
Held September 18, 2004

Upshaw Institute for the Blind held its 6th Annual Back to School Carnival on Saturday, September 18, 2004, from 10 am to 1 pm at the agency. 34 blind or visually impaired students from 26 schools in Wayne, Oakland, St. Clair, and Washtenaw Counties participated this year.

The students visited information booths sponsored by organizations that provide services to people who are visually impaired like the Michigan Commission for the Blind, the Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Detroit, Macomb and Wayne Counties, Seedlings Braille Books and Leader Dogs for the Blind, to name a few. Other booths were operated by the New Detroit Science Center, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and docents from the Detroit Zoo. New this year were an appearance by a Detroit Mounted Policeman, the Hamtramck Police Department's K-9 team, a nurse with first aid information, and a teacher with a sample goal ball and model playing court. At each stop, the children engaged in an activity and gathered a useful school supply. Each student selected a door prize as well.

Some students will win prizes for their schools. In the months following the Carnival, their teachers are invited to select educational resources that will help them provide a quality learning environment for the students. To date, over $10,000 has been made available to assist teachers in their work with visually impaired children. Teachers have chosen magnifiers, talking books, and items like talking calculators and digital book players, Prizes bring needed resources to programs struggling with reduced budgets.

The Carnival is a delightful outing designed just for the visually impaired child. Students with visual impairments who are enrolled in preschool and K-12 programs throughout southeast Michigan are eligible to participate. The Carnival is FREE!

Thanks to the many teachers of the visually impaired and orientation and mobility instructors who came and helped out at the Carnival or who encouraged their students to attend. Thanks, too, go to all the staff and volunteers from collaborating agencies and to the Upshaw staff, Thanks to our contributors and donors who make this event possible through their generosity!