welcome to vinton

And welcome to the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, AmeriCorps. Last month, President Bush signed a bill that included an amendment to allocate $5 million to the National Civilian Community Corps program of AmeriCorps to establish two Midwest training centers, one of which will be located at the Iowa Braille and Sight Savings School in Vinton. This was formerly the Iowa College for the Blind, which was, of course, where Laura Ingalls Wilder's sister Mary was educated.

Apparently the Blind School was in danger of being shut down by the Iowa legislature, due to the rising cost of operation of the facility. (I bet they could generate some income if they conducted "Mary Ingalls" historical tours of the place, especially if they published a factual booklet to educate people about Mary's time spent there. Pretty much anything would be a cut above the recently published Mary Ingalls fanfiction...)

According to the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, they hope to have 160 volunteers (ages 18-24) living at the School. They will be trained by 30 staff members. About a third of the volunteers will have college degrees, another third will have some college background, and the rest will be fresh out of high school. Volunteers will be trained to help communities recover after major disasters, such as hurricanes or fire.

Labels: laura ingalls wilder

- posted by pioneergirl at 10:30 PM