New Jersey Recorder Spring 2003 (text)

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Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
New Jersey Unit
69 Mapleton Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Phone 609-750-1830
Fax 609-750-9653

Recorder
Autumn 2003

A publication dedicated to our New Jersey family of
members, volunteers, staff, and supporters of the New Jersey Unit

Providing equal access to the printed word.

Classroom Teacher of the Year!

A fifth grade class in New Brunswick's Roosevelt Elementary School and its teachers were honored on Wednesday, June 4, with the first annual Classroom Teacher Award, presented by the New Jersey Unit's RFB&D Learning Through Listening™ Educational Outreach Center. The class and its teachers, Mickey Bonett, Gail Jackson-Monroe and the classroom para-professional Mildred Mendoza were recognized for their success in implementing RFB&D's digital AudioPlus™ textbooks into its curriculum at a ceremony at the school. Left: New Brunswick Superintendent of Schools Ronald Larkin looks on as students discuss their work with RFB&D's Learning Through Listening program. Right: Teacher Mickey Bonett (third from left) and New Jersey Unit Interim Executive Director/Studio Director Olivian Boon with students.

We Remember Two Dear Friends

In July the New Jersey Unit lost two long time friends whose friendship and support are greatly missed.

For 43 years Pat Paynter served RFB&D as volunteer, board member and for 27 years as Assistant Studio Director at the Princeton studio.

Her bright smiling face was one of the first things volunteers saw when they entered the studio. Her warmth was palpable and her sense of the ridiculous was infectious. She was a loyal confidante and friend to many volunteers and it goes without saying that she was a great and supportive colleague.

Her typing was meticulous. Her knowledge of Princeton folks invaluable, when it came to seeing that mailing lists were accurate. Mrs. Fixit (her first computer password) loved gadgets and embraced the new computer technology.

After her retirement, Pat served on the unit's Board of Directors for several years and volunteered at the West Windsor studio providing much needed administrative and studio production support.

Her many friends will miss her warmth and affection.

In 1993, after long careers in the military and at Princeton Plasma Physics Labratory, Dale Ashcroft embarked on a new career-RFB&D volunteer. He treated his volunteerism like another job, volunteering for three hours five days a week.

Countless volunteers got their introductions to RFB&D through " Professor " Ashcroft's "Checking and Directing 101" classes where his lowkey mid-western manner and sly
and dry sense of humor always kept you on your toes. Between the number of recordings he worked on and the efforts of volunteers he trained, it would be amazing to try
to calculate the number of lives he touched through his work at RFB&D.

We miss Dale's friendship and quiet dignity, but he will live
on through the work of the volunteeers he trained and in the success of the lives of the members who learned through listening to the recordings he was instrumental in producing.

A Record Breaking 2003 Record-A-Thon!

This past May, during the New Jersey Unit's Ninth Annual Record-A-Thon, over 200 volunteers donated 1,020 hours toward the recording and production of textbooks for students for the fall semester. Our thanks to the volunteers, corporate sponsors, including PSE&G, Nassau Broadcasting, Merrill Lynch, Volvo of Princeton, Princeton BMW and Mini, U.S. Trust, David M. Quinlan, PC and BeneCard Services, Inc., the R-A-T committee and Board of Directors for their contributions to making this Record-A-Thon the greatest success yet. This tireless team raised over $33,000, donated their time, energy and talent to support our members who depend on RFB&D for their audio textbooks.

Photo captions;
From left: Father Joseph Morris of St. Joseph's Seminary, Honorary Record-A-Thon Chair, Rep. Rush Holt, RFB&D President and CEO
Richard O. Scribner and New Jersey Unit board member Shawn Ellsworth preside over the official opening of the unit's new facilities. Rep. Holt reads a political science book. Jennifer Morgan, author of Born with a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story, with Dot Messineo before recording her book.

From left: Ruth Bogia is honored for 45 years of service to the New Jersey Unit by Interim Exectutive Director Olivian Boon. Olivian con-sults with Jennifer Weber as she prepares for some old school analog recording withTimes of Trenton editor Brian Malone. Institute for Advanced Study professor Freeman Dyson with volunteer and board member Sandy Shapiro after recording a science text.

The goal for the Tenth Annual Record-A-Thon is to raise $50,000. If you would like to participate in this weeklong event by joining the planning committee or becoming a sponsor, call Sandi Wilson, 609-750-9579.

Take an RFB&D Learning Through Listening™ Tour

Are you a member, parent of a member, donor, educator, or interested in volunteer opportunities and would like to know more about RFB&D? You are invited to schedule an RFB&D Learning Though Listening tour and see first hand how the work of over 400 volunteers creates audio textbooks for students who are not able to read standard print.

Visit the Educational Outreach Center to learn how RFB&D affects the lives of students throughout the state.

If you are a member, a parent of a member or an educator, share your story with us and let us know how we can better serve your needs.

We can show donors and potential donors how their dollars are utilized.

Discover volunteer opportunities at all skill levels.

The tours can take from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on your level of interest. To schedule a visit or for further information, call or email Stephanie Campbell, Executive Director, at 609-750-9614 or scampbell@rfbd.org. We look forward to your visit!

Meet the Webmaster

When the New Jersey Unit decided to upgrade its bare bones site a few years ago, board member and studio volunteer Sandy Shapiro decided to take on the challenge.

She had already launched the League of Women Voters Princeton Area site a few years before. Through the years she had taught herself various programming languages including the HTML required to create a site. Her background in art and photography helped with design.

Sandy has transformed www.rfbdnj.org into a wonderful source of information about the unit and RFB&D.

Outreach Center Creates New Jersey Curriculum Database

One of the New Jersey Unit's educational outreach center goals this sum-mer was to identify curriculum textbooks from its New Jersey member schools - from large urban public districts to small private schools throughout the state.

The outreach center serves students with a documented learning disability or visual impairment through the use of RFB&D's AudioPlus™ digitally recorded books on CD and RFB&D's Classic Cassettes™. Students use our books to build their listening comprehension, vocabulary and fluency to meet New Jersey curriculum standards for Language Arts/Literacy, Science, Social Studies and Mathematics. Outreach coordinators promote the effective use of RFB&D's accessible textbooks on CD or audio cassette and supports classroom staff and help by creating opportunities for student classroom success. New Jersey's educational outreach center is a professional development provider with the state's Department of Education. Teachers earn professional development credits when they attend RFB&D training workshops.

Sherry Deutsch, acting as the curriculum specialist for New Jersey's Educational Outreach Center, is creating, in conjunction with RFB&D's national headquarters, including Pam Johnson, Director RFB&D's national Library Services and her staff, the small, but growing database of educational titles, which will be helpful to students and teachers wishing to order New Jersey specific RFB&D AudioPlus™ digitally recorded books on CD and RFB&D's Classic Cassettes™. RFB&D's assistive technology equipment can assist schools with students that have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 plan. Teachers may review the over 93,000 volume national educational library to find titles not currently in our list. The on-line catalogue is located on RFB&D's national website, www.rfbd.org.

Christine Ranaghan, Director of Educational Outreach, hopes the completed curriculum list will be available soon. Additionally, teachers and administrators from Trenton, New Brunswick, Paterson and Elizabeth have asked RFB&D to record People Together Adventures in Time and Place, Inside the Restless Earth, a seventh grade science textbook and SRA's Open Court Reading Program for first, second and third grades. Studio Director Olivian Boon and her dedicated volunteers and staff are working hand in hand with Outreach to record textbooks needed by New Jersey students. While the New Jersey studio had recorded these K-3 books in analog, staff will now gear up with assistance from RFB&D headquarters staff, to digitally record these texts. Ranaghan says, "Outreach is grateful to the studio staff, headquaters Library and Production Services departments and the many volunteers who are helping us meet our school's curriculum requirements."

Sandy Shapiro, unit webmaster and studio volunteer, will make the curriculum list available on the unit's website, www.rfbdnj.org. Board member Peter Gibson, former Unit Board Co-Chair, is also providing support in this project. Educators, parents and members will soon be able to browse the easy to use listing by title, standard (Language Arts/Literacy, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics), grade level (elementary, middle or high school), publisher, copyright year, ISBN Number and RFB&D shelf number. The website has educational resources and links for members, teachers and parents alike. A book order form may be printed from the website and sent to RFB&D headquar-ters member services for processing. Contact an outreach staff member if you need support with the database, book form, or want to recommend any improvements to the website.

In the next Recorder, outreach's partnerships with two of the state's 19 Educational Technology Training Centers (ETTCs) - the Mercer County ETTC and Warren County ETTC will be highlighted.

$5,000 Matching Funds Challenge!

Call To Volunteers

An anonymous donor has challenged the New Jersey Unit volunteers to raise $5,000 to pay for one of the new booths in the Social Sciences and Humanities studio. When the challenge has been met, a plaque will on the booth honoring the New Jersey Unit volunteers. For more information, or to make a donation, please call Stephanie Campbell, Executive Director, at 609-750-9614 or scampbell@rfbd.org

Barnes & Noble Booksellers Wrapping For Dollars

During the holiday season, Barnes & Noble at Princeton Marketfair offers a gift wrapping table to be used by local nonprofits. All donations received from gift-wrapping go directly to the nonprofit.

The New Jersey Unit is scheduled Thursday, December 11 and Friday, December 12 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Volunteers are needed to man the table in pairs for two hour shifts. EXPERIENCE IS NOT NECESSARY. Bring a friend, have coffee, catch up on holiday happen-ings, wrap for the customers and rap with them about RFB&D. This is a terrific way to let people know about the great work RFB&D does for students who depend on us for their audio textbooks.

To be an RFB&D wrapper, call Sandi Wilson, 609-750-9579.

Clip this coupon and take it to Ten Thousand Villages on Sunday, December 14 between 12 & 5 p.m. Tell them you are shopping to benefit RFB&D and they will donate 15% of your purchase to our programs for students with print disabilities.
Ten Thousand Villages, Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street

www.rfbdnj.org The New Jersey Unit's website, administered by Sandy Shapiro and hosted by Peter Gibson's Princeton Online provides members, volunteers and donors with up-to-date information about the unit, is home to the New Jersey Curriculum database and links to relevant sites and to RFB&D national headquarters for book orders.

Staff

Olivian Boon, Studio Director
Sandi Wilson, Director of Development
Jessie Falcone, Digital Audio Coordinator
Michael Casserly, Saturday/Evening Supervisor
Gail Clauer, Volunteer Coordinator
Tony Gruenewald, Communications Coordinator
Judy Wilson-Smith, Studio Assistant
Helen Fortunato, Pre-production Specialist
Jennifer Weber, Studio Assistant

Educational Outreach Center
Christine Ranaghan, Director
Sherry Deutsch, Outreach Officer
Deborah Passafiume, Customer Service Coordinator
Benjamin Rivera, Professional Development Provider

Samantha Eng, Development Consultant
Sandy Shapiro, Webmaster

Board of Directors

Officers
Cynthia Hillas, Chair
James D. Walker, Vice-chair
James A. Amick
Shawn Ellsworth
Douglas Moore
Amy Regan

Board Members

Catherine D. Brown
Jerome K. Freedman,M.D.
Marjorie Freeman
Peter Gibson
Daniel Goldberg
Geoffrey D. Green
Earl Groendyke
Herb Greenberg, Ph.D.
Margaret T. Harper
Mari Molenaar, Ed.D.
Carolyn Powell Sanderson
Sandra Shapiro

Emeritus
Ruth Bogia
Hendrick van Oss

©2003 Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
©, ™, SM, "Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic," "RFB&D," "Learning Through Listening," the Heart and Headphones design, and all trademarks, service mars and trade names are proprietary to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, Incorporated.

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