LONDONDERRY — Gabrielle Garaghty, a second-grader at North Londonderry Elementary School, recently took first place for her division in the 10th annual New England Regional Braille Challenge at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Mass.
Gabrielle, 8, was one of more than 30 legally blind students who came from across New England to compete in tests for reading comprehension, Braille speed and accuracy, proofreading, spelling, and reading tactile charts and graphs.
The Braille Challenge is one of many programs offered by the Carroll Center, an education and rehabilitation facility which provides blind and visually impaired people with the skills they need to live and work independently.
According to Dr. Karen Ross, director of Educational Services at the Carroll Center for the Blind, the Braille Challenge "is a great way to motivate blind and visually-impaired students to practice their literacy skills."
The Braille Challenge was developed by the Braille Institute of America in Los Angeles. The Carroll Center was the first organization to partner with the institute to create a regional program in 2001 and now serves a model for the more than 30 regional events taking place throughout the United States and Canada.
In the spirit of the Olympics, all of this year's regional participants were awarded gold medals for their accomplishments, along with a variety of prizes for those who excel among their peers. Once the scores of the approximately 1,000 participants are submitted to the Braille Institute, the top 60 scorers will be invited to participate as finalists in the even more rigorous National Braille Challenge in Los Angeles on June 16.
