National Federation of the Blind
2011-2012 Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest
The Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest is a national contest for students who read Braille, kindergarten through twelfth grades, and all adult Braille readers. The purpose of the program is to promote the joy of reading for pleasure, to promote a pride in Braille as a viable literacy medium equal to print, and to demonstrate the importance of independent reading in the development of Braille literacy skills.
Read about the 2010-2011 Contest in Future Reflections
The 2011-2012 Contest has ended. THE RESULTS ARE IN!
K-12 Contest Winners
Grades K-1
1st Place Maia Armstrong, IL 1,976 pages
2nd Place Holly Connor, WA 1,543 pages
3rd Place Emerie Mitchell-Butler, VA 1,179 pages
Grades 2-3
1st Place Maria Monteiro-Oliveira, GA, 8,839 pages
2nd Place Andrea Cordero-Perez, AZ 5,617 pages
3rd Place Matthew Leinart, IL 3,174 pages
Grades 4-5
1st Place Maegan Weiler, WA 21,646 pages
2nd Place Rosanna Scott, AR 13,255 pages
3rd Place Alayna Hall, IN 10,332 pages
Grades 6-8
1st Place Kortnee Barton, UT 12,035 pages
2nd Place Shawn Abraham, MD 8,884 pages
3rd Place Samantha Simonton, GA 7,078 pages
Grades 9-12
1st Place Lanie Molinar, TX 18,328 pages
2nd Place Roosevelt Thermitus, FL 12,365 pages
3rd Place Michael Davidson, OH 12,071 pages
Jennifer Baker Award
Page Segura, 11th grade, AZ
Andrea Cordero-Perez, 2nd grade, AZ
TwinVision® Award
Emerie Mitchell-Butler, Kindergarten, VA
Beck Schutte, 2nd grade, MA
Matthew Leinart, 3rd grade, IL
Thomas Bannon III, 4th grade, VA
Shah Mohammad, 3rd grade, TX
Community Service Award
Elizabeth Kazmierski, 10th grade, MI
Team of the Year Award
Team Smed
Michael Smedley, 6th grade, PA
Mitchell Smedley, 3rd grade, PA
Team's Total Pages Read: 1,450
Adult Contest Winners
Beginner
1st Place Treva Olivero, LA, 2,012 pages
2nd Place Julie Newman, IN, 1,432 pages
3rd Place Brian Mackey, NJ, 1,240 pages
Conchita Hernandez, NE, 580 pages (Beginner Drawing Winner) (Grand Prize Drawing Winner)
Intermediate
1st Place Ericka Mosely, VA, 12,829 pages
2nd Place Kierra Davis, VA, 9,813 pages (Intermediate Drawing Winner)
3rd Place Judy Sanders, MN, 4,512 pages
Advanced
1st Place Mike Sivill, OR, 5,459 pages
2nd Place Tony Schnurr, IN, 3,529 pages
3rd Place Danielle Shives, MD, 3,212 pages (Advanced Drawing Winner)
Expert
1st Place Brandi Bryant, CA, 11,330 pages (Expert Drawing Winner)
2nd Place Patrick Gormley, MD, 8,163 pages
3rd Place Tami Jones, IN, 7,889 pages
Sighted
1st Place Veronica Bargehr, IL, 3,027 pages (Sighted Drawing Winner)
2nd Place Christy Grimstad, AZ, 2,658 pages (Sighted Drawing Winner)
3rd Place Ephraim Poonen, AZ, 1,254 pages
Team of the Year Award
Little Dots on the Prairie
Jean Rauschenbach, Beginner, MN
Judy Sanders, Intermediate, MN
Hannah Ferney, Beginner, MN
Patric Barrett, Beginner, MN
Trudy Barrett, Beginner, MN
Team's Total Pages Read: 7,520
Team of the Year Honorable Mention
Krystal Guillory, Sighted, LA,
Kia Vaca, Advanced, CA,
Conchita Hernandez, Beginner, NE
Kathy Athey, Intermediate, LA
Kevin Athey, Beginner, LA
Team's Total Pages Read: 3,279
For all other questions about the NFB Braille Readers Are Leaders Program, please contact:
Natalie Shaheen, Director of Education
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, ext. 2312, or by e-mail at braillereadersareleaders@nfb.org
To learn more about Braille literacy, please visit Braille.org