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Here are a few pics from our Science Saturday way back in July! Students rotated between three stations – basic chemistry, a station dedicated to weather, and a robotics class using Lego Mindstorms.

With the first serious fall weather this week – misty rain, leaves turning and starting to litter the lawns and sidewalks – it’s kind of fun to think about how hot it was that day out front with the bucket and the hose!

The point, of course, is to show our students that blind people can do science and – Wow! – it’s even fun!

I am pleased to be able to make another large donation this year. (I know) one of your alumni and seeing the incredible impact you have made in her life makes me want to give as much as I can. God bless you all. True charity is anonymous, I do not need any recognition of accolades beyond being able to continue to see you do incredible work.

So let’s talk about Summer 2017. We’re including a few photographic highlights from this year. Along with these activities, many students had their first jobs this summer. Maggie, for example, is starting her sophomore year of high school in Arizona. She was matched with our perennial partner, “” to work in their e-learning Department.

Somebody had to do it. So Jamie Principato decided she would take the skills she’d learned and taught herself as a blind Physics student involved with a rocket project and teach them to other blind students.

That’s where the idea of BLAST came from – ������ Learning All Skills Too launched on August 10 with the express purpose of teaching other blind people the skill of soldering small electronic devices, the precursors of instruments like those Principato and other students at built earlier to send high into the Earth’s atmosphere.

������ people can and are scientists, even though too often blind youth are discouraged or set off to the side in science classes. With that in mind, each year we conduct a Saturday Science Seminar in conjunction with our summer programs. It’s not exclusive, however, as blind youth are invited whether or not they’re in this year’s summer programs.

So please join us for 3 fun filled and educational sessions in an array of sciences.

When and Where?

Saturday July 22nd from 9:30 am – 3:30 pm. We will be providing lunch so please RSVP to Brent by July 20th. Email him at bbatron@cocenter.org or by phone 303-778-1130 x 222.

Today we start up again after our annual trip to the National Federation of the ������ Convention in Orlando, but the CCB summer students got back in the swing of things yesterday. Since it was our appointed gardening day with the Master Gardeners, summer students and staff got the privilege of bringing in the first zucchini of the season, as well as some other tasy surprises!

It’s happening here tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. Thanks to our partners at and . Contributing will be , Achilles Denver, and members of the Colorado Storm Beep Baseball team.

And at lunch there will be a keynote address from current CCB student Chaz Davis, a member of the 2016 US Paralympic team! Check out the agenda below.

#NFChallenge Olympic Day Agenda

10:00–10:10 – Welcome
Meeting Room

10:10–10:55 – Breakout Session 1
Running – lobby sitting area
Tandem Cycling – picnic tables
Beep Baseball – side yard
Power Lifting – art room
Goalball – gym

11:10–11:55 – Breakout Session 2
Judo – Travel Lobby
Tandem Cycling – picnic tables
Beep Baseball – side yard
Power Lifting – art room
Goalball – gym

11:55–1:00 – Lunch
Meeting Room
Keynote Address: Chaz Davis, 2016 Paralympian

There wasn’t time to sit still till lunch was served, but none were inclined to do so at Saturday’s #NFChallenge Olympic Day 2017. There were just too many things to try out – beep baseball demonstration with the Colorado Storm, judo and power-lifting, goal ball and tandem bicycling with Eye-Cycle! Everybody got to take a turn at three or four of these activities, and a few even took a second bike ride or got into a couple of actual goal ball matches!

But participants were able to sit still long enough to listen to Paralympic runner Chaz Davis talk about how he went from “overweight and out-of-shape” to being the current record-holder in the marathon for blind and visually impaired runners.

And then it was back to another round of fun – and fitness – activities!

About 90 people collected in the meeting room on a 95-degree day to share a little summer society. It was CCB’s annual Ice Cream Social, ranging from Confidence Camp kids as young as 6 to Older ������ Programs participants who declined to reveal their ages, and all of the staff and students of our middle school, high school and college-bound students and Independence Training Program.

What they all had in common was blindness and the determination and desire to take charge with confidence, and today that meant taking charge of a drumstick or ice cream bar!

Swimming, paddling, rock climbing – every afternoon there’s something fun going on at Confidence Camp. In the morning – the learning looks just as fun! Learning to use the microwave, making lunch … and always traveling with white canes and taking the light rail and the bus somewhere fun … like horseback riding today!

By 9 Monday morning the commotion in the lobby was reaching a crescendo. Fifteen Confidence Campers were arriving for the first of three weeks of learning blindness skills, having fun and yes – becoming more confident as small blind people! The commotion arose from parents dropping the campers off, connecting or reconnecting with their teachers and the other kids.

Tryna Boyd Pratt has directed Confidence Camp for 16 years running, and it wasn’t long before she was assigning three of the older kids to do the grocery shopping. Of course, for kids between the ages of 5 and 11, a teacher goes with them to the supermarket, but their job was to get a shoppers’ assistant and get all the items on the list themselves – a real grown-up skill! By the way, that list was dictated to them and written in Braille!

Here’s to three more weeks of learning, fun, growth and CONFIDENCE!