Leadership Seminar 2009

The weekend of March 20-22, 2009 witnessed the gathering of the country’s student leaders at the National Center for the Blind in Baltimore for a dynamic agenda of panel discussions, breakout sessions and general mingling. Participants learned about recruiting new members, organizing student seminars, fundraising, general outreach and working with their state affiliates to build more robust state student divisions. The results of the post-event survey generally declare the event directed by President Rupp and her board a success, and we are all looking forward to seeing great things come from the students gathered in this one of a kind seminar.

Among other benefits, students were provided with CDs full of great information relevant to division development and organizational philosophy. The contents of the CD can be found below in a convenient zip file for download. Note that some files are provided in a PDF format, and you will need Adobe Reader to read them. If you do not own a copy of Microsoft Office to read the Word or Excel files, consider downloading a free copy of Open Office.

Files you will find in the zip folder include: must read speeches, sample constitutions, sample membership spreadsheet, printable brochures and more!

download the Leadership 2009 materials.

And, if you were not present at the weekend's happenings, here's your chance to watch your leaders at their best, or worse! You decide. Following are links to educational skits highlighting various aspects of a student's experience inside and outside of a typical student division.

Cooking with Independence

Our NFB training centers prepare blind people to live up to their full potential, right? Easily said while moving through the program, but what happens when you come home to parents who are more than skeptical of what you learned? Watch how a recent graduate handles the situation with an overprotective mother.

Internal Woes

Why can't we just all get along? It's another regular board meeting for this student division, but there is certainly nothing routine about the tension between two officers that is making work impossible. How do they resolve it, and where do they go from here?

Lost in Class

It's test time, but something's up with one of the students in the class. People are shifting around so as not to sit next to him, and the professor in particular notices something suspicious...

State Convention Alarm

State convention for the residents of the state of Random is around the corner. Things in the Random Association of Blind Students should be in high gear for preparation, but where's the president? And what does the NFB stand for again?

Uncooperative Disability Services

You're in the process of planning your next student activity. It only makes sense to have the campus disability services office help you promote it to other blind students on campus, right? But, what happens when this is easier said than done.

Look forward to more exciting developments as the students from this seminar move on to implement the things they learned at the National Center for the Blind.