Finishing touch
Oklahoma students to compete in California braille challenge
Oklahoma students set for braille finals competition in California.
S tudents from the Oklahoma School for the Blind, Richelle Zampella, 16, her sister, Katelynn Zampella, 10, of Muskogee, and Hunter Kelly, 8, of Claremore, will represent Oklahoma at The Braille Challenge finals competition June 17 at the University of Southern California.
The annual event is hosted by the Braille Institute, and is the only national reading and writing contest in braille for students who are blind and visually impaired.
The Oklahoma students are among the top 50 Braille Challenge finalists competing in five categories: reading comprehension, spelling, chart and graph reading, proofreading and speed and accuracy.
Hunter's mother, Kimberly Politte, said her son lost his sight when he was 2 and is completely blind.
"He knows braille very well apparently," Politte said. "I was in complete shock when I read the email. I think I screamed when I saw Hunter's name."
She said Hunter has been working on braille for five years, and he has progressed from sight words to reading full multivolume books.
Hunter, who likes to go fishing, read "Harry Potter" books and play with his 9-month-old brother, Tucker, scored in the top 10 of all first and second-graders competing in regional competition in the U.S. and Canada.
Shelia Zampella said her daughters are both legally blind and attend the Oklahoma School for the Blind in Muskogee as day students.
Richelle started attending the school
when she was 4, and Katelynn when she was 2.
“I’m so proud of the girls and their success in the competition,” Shelia Zampella said. “Very early on my husband, Joey, and I tried to keep their lives as normal as possible and not overprotect them. I don’t want them to miss out on what they want to do.”
Showcasing school
The Oklahoma School for the Blind was founded in 1897, and is a fully accredited school that offers a complete educational program tuition free for blind and visually impaired students in preschool through high school.
Richelle, who has been to the national competition three times, said she enjoys challenges and loves to read and write. She said she and her family will drive to California for the competition, and they plan time at the beach while they are there.
She said the four-part competition is a challenge, especially the charts and graphs portion, which can be confusing in braille.
Richelle, who is in the jazz band at her school, said there are many opportunities. She wants to bring attention to the Oklahoma School for the Blind and what is accomplished there.
Faye Miller, regional coordinator for the Braille Challenge, has worked at the school for 18 years. She said there are 25 teachers at the school.
She said adult braille readers who use braille regularly volunteer their time at the school to help administer and score the tests.
Braille, according to the American Foundation for the Blind, is a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision.
Braille symbols are formed within units of space known as braille cells. A full braille cell consists of six raised dots arranged in two parallel rows each having three dots.
“I am able to read braille,” Shelia Zanpella said, “but not like my girls. My girls inspire me.”