By Jean Rauschenbach

It all began at the state convention of the NFB of Minnesota in October where we were reminded of the Braille Readers are Leaders contest for adults.  Actually, for some of us, it began when we heard about my experiences on a team in Illinois (I participated by phone) from a previous year.  At the convention, we were urged to participate as individuals and establish a Minnesota team.  The first five people to indicate interest in being on the team would be its members.

We had more interest than spots on the team because the rules limited us to five members.  We Little Dots wish we could have had six members on our team to symbolize the braille cell — but rules are rules!  At our first meeting, we chose a captain and a name.  Choosing a captain was easy — we chose Jean Rauschenbach, the team member with experience and the team member willing to keep records for those of us who are not technically savvy.

Our team name was a little more controversial.  We had numerous ideas, but in the end, we were proud to proclaim ourselves "LITTLE DOTS ON THE PRAIRIE!”  We then registered our team with a goal of reading five thousand pages.  Our team was composed of two intermediate and three beginner readers.

Meet the "Little Dots."

We were proud and excited about our team so we sent the following e-mail to introduce ourselves to the NFB of Minnesota and the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB) list.

Subject: Heads up!  Our team is here!

 

Announcing our team for the adult contest for BRAILLE READERS ARE LEADERS.

From now on, we will be respectfully known as "Little Dots on the Prairie."

Watch out!  We'll leave you in the dust.

Respectfully Submitted:

Jean Rauschenbach: captain

Pat Barrett: author of team name

Trudy Barrett: wife of team name author

Hannah Furney: the youngest dot

Judy Sanders: the senior dot

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Throughout our reading time we encouraged each other by sharing what we were reading and bragging a bit about our success.  We reported at our local chapter meeting how we were on track to meet our goal — and then some.  Our tastes in reading ranged from a book all about plants, to Kernel Books, to classics, to historical fiction and magazines. 

We decided to meet on a regular basis and read aloud with each other.  We took the Fall issue of the Minnesota Bulletin, the official publication of the NFB of Minnesota and read every single page — even the title page and the Special Symbols page.  We were good!  We finished the issue on January 2nd. 

This team effort made our reading experience more fun and helped the beginning readers grow in their reading ability.  For that matter, the intermediate readers had no complaints, either. 

Now that it is all over, we can pat ourselves on the back.  We won the adult category.  And we beat our goal.  We read around 7,500 pages.

As a person who only learned braille a few years ago, I find this contest a great way each year to challenge myself to read more and push myself.  The friendly competition helps me realize that reading braille is a great way to enjoy books.  When I could see better, holding a book in my hand and reading the print was very relaxing and satisfying.  Now that reading print is prohibitive for long-term reading, I find that I will read more braille on my note taker.  It is almost as good as reading the hard copy without the bulk.