The South Carolina Regional Braille Challenge is a preliminary contest for the National Braille Challenge offered by the Braille Institute in California.
The competition is a two-stage contest designed to motivate blind students to emphasize their study of braille. Any visually impaired student who reads braille is eligible to participate in the preliminary round of the contest, which is open to students of all skill levels. The top-scoring 60 contestants from across the nation are invited to Los Angeles, California, in June for the Final Round.
Recently, on Thursday, February 2, 2017, Brenson Baker (Fifth Grade -Warrenville Elementary) and Teacher for the Visually Impaired Ms. Tammie Alan traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, for the S.C. Regional Braille Challenge.
On average, 120 individuals (students, parents, and teachers) from across the state attend the one-day event. The Aiken County School District fielded competitors in the Rookie Level Competition (1 of 9 Levels) at this year’s S.C. Regional Braille Challenge hosted at the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. Participant Brenson Baker (Fifth Grade -Warrenville Elementary) won Second Place as a participant competing against eight other students from across the state. Participants in the Rookie Level competed in the areas of Spelling, Listening Comprehension, and Reading Comprehension.
The Braille Challenge has a tremendous impact on the lives of students with a visual impairment.
Brenson and others have learned what it means to no longer sit on the sidelines, but to give the best they have at demonstrating their skills in Braille Literacy using braille literary code (a six-dot configuration) to read and write words such as “knowledge” using only two dots.