General Information
Braille Challenge
Braille Institute of America
741 North Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles,
CA 90029
http://www.braillechallenge.org/
Brief Description
A national program of the Braille Institute of America, the Braille Challengeâ„¢ is a two-stage academic contest designed to motivate school-age braille readers to excel in this vital medium. Each winter, all braille readers in first through 12th grades are invited to participate in the Preliminary Round and earn prizes and certificates at the local level. The sixty top-scoring students nationally are then invited to a Final Round, held each June at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles. The top three finalists in each age group win cash awards and a PacMate from Freedom Scientific.
Students may participate in the Braille Challenge individually, or attend one of the more than 25 regional preliminary events held throughout the U.S. and Canada at various agencies and school districts.
All contest materials and instructions are provided to teachers and agencies who proctor the Preliminary Round of the Braille Challenge for their students. The Challenge consists of five different sub-contests: reading comprehension, spelling, proofreading, speed and accuracy and tactile charts and graphs. Children are group in one of five age groups--grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-9 and 10-12.
Blind service agencies and state schools for blind and visually impaired may also volunteer to host a preliminary regional event anytime from January through the first week of March. Agencies are given full support, including a handbook on how to run the event, artwork to create t-shirts and materials, guidelines for proctoring and scoring the contests and prizes they may award to their local winners.
The Braille Challenge is offered free of charge to all students. There is no fee to host a preliminary Challenge event. Agencies are asked to sign an agreement to the terms of the contest, and must be able to provide funds to support their local event.