New Jersey Recorder Winter/Spring 2000 (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

New Jersey Recorder

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

2000 Winter/Spring

Princeton Studio

Volunteer Spotlight

Photo Captions: With over 35 years of combined volunteer experience, Phyllis Branin (l) and Dot Messineo (r) are two of our greatest assets.

Phyllis Branin has been volunteering with RFB&D New Jersey for over 25 years, and usually puts in 7 1/2 hours a day, two days a week! Before retiring in 1987, Phyllis Branin worked as a chemical engineer with RCA Labs-David Sarnoff. Her background in the physical sciences made her a perfect fit for reading technical books. She has read books in chemistry and engineering, physics, math, geology and biology. "I learned all the studio jobs so I could do them all," Phyllis says. She also contributes to RFB&D New Jersey by training other volunteers and serving as a staff substitute.

"I am doing something very useful," Phyllis says when asked what she likes most about volunteering. "I know that I am making a product that is very much needed and will help someone." Phyllis became aware of the needs of blind people from first-hand experience. The husband of a childhood friend became blind from diabetes. When Phyllis saw how much effort her friend put into helping her husband prepare for his classes, she realized how important special services and equipment are to the visually impaired. When she moved to Princeton over 25 years ago, she called us and offered her services. Phyllis's personal knowledge of the difficulties of blindness, combined with her formidable technological knowledge, make her an indispensable member of the volunteer team at RFB&D New Jersey.

Dot Messineo has been a volunteer with RFB&D New Jersey for over ten years. She usually volunteers five hours a day, two times a week. Dot has always loved books and children, which led her to become an elementary school librarian. After she retired from that position in 1988, she wanted to continue to bring the world of reading to others. So Dot decided to volunteer for RFB&D New Jersey. Ever since, she has been enabling children and adults with print disabilities to learn through listening. Dot also trains other volunteers and substitutes for staff members.

Dot views retirement as a time to use career skills and life experience for a worthy cause. "In 1988 after I retired," she says, "I wanted to do something useful. RFB&D New Jersey provided the opportunity to combine my background as a school librarian and my experience with kids and books."

Dot also discovered a new social network by volunteering. "I have met great people and made many new friends," she says. The camaraderie Dot feels with her fellow volunteers, along with her sense of being useful, has made retirement a rewarding experience for her. The school library's loss is our gain!

West Windsor Studio

Teen Story

I just like helping people, silly as that sounds," says Katie Hynes, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School (WW-PHS) junior and West Windsor studio volunteer. Katie is one of two dozen local high school students who give invaluable time to the studio in all aspects of production.

While volunteering at RFB&D may add clout to a college application, or fulfill community service requirements for school, the students who work in the West Windsor studio are motivated by a genuine interest in helping others. Like WW-PHS sophomore Analia Sorribas, for example. She shrugs when asked why she volunteers and says, "I just want to help people," WW-PHS senior Jessica Horowitz finds it an interesting way to fulfill her desire to do volunteer work.

You might ask, how did this group end up joining the RFB&D team? Well, there are pioneers like Advaith Bongu (who was featured in a Nickelodeon TV segment about his volunteer activities), Liz Petrozzinni and Leah Todd, all now seniors. Those pioneers told friends; Leah told Jessica, Srishty Reddy told Analia and Kristi Su-Ako told Katie about how interesting, fulfilling and often fun volunteering at RFB&D is.

The teens monitor, check tapes, and teach new volunteers. Mike Tchorni, JoAnna Farrer and Adina Langer have passed a rigorous reading test so they can now read 4th-8th grade textbooks. They also recognize the education they are receiving by working with textbooks. Analia jokes about now being able to decipher legal citations as successfully as the lawyers she often monitors.

Photo Captions:
Katie Hynes teaching Eric Marks the fine art of monitoring
Srishty Reddy
Meredith Russell teaching Sheeny Bhopti
Mike Perpetua

The other teens volunteering at West Windsor include Eric Marks, James Wray, Molly Cohen, Michelle Li, Debbie Hsieh, Elaine Trevarrow, Mike Perpetua, Meredith Russell, Ami Parekh, Kevin Wong, Kim Wong and Shaan Akbar. Many of the recently graduated volunteers have gone on to top academic schools, like Kirsten Schatz who is currently studying at Rice, and Darleen Yang who is at Wharton.

And no Katie, wanting to help people does not sound silly. We admire all of the teens who volunteer at the West Windsor Studio.

A Message from the Chair

As many of you have witnessed first hand, the New Jersey Unit has grown dramatically recently. This rapid growth and the onset of new technology prompted me to form a small task force to prepare a strategic plan that would help lead our future growth.

Joining me on the Strategic Planning Committee were board members (Shawn Ellsworth, Peter Gibson, Irwin Gordon, and Dan Jamieson), staff, (Olivian Boon, Eileen Gallagher and Ted Taylor), and volunteer, Anne Young. After months of planning meetings, a proposed plan was prepared and presented to the full Board at its retreat in November, 1999. At the meeting on Tuesday, January 18, 2000, the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Unit voted unanimously to adopt the new strategic plan as presented.

Highlights of the strategic plan include the following goals:

Increase public awareness about our role and our services.

Maintain, enlarge and diversify the volunteer and donor base.

Manage the transition of the board and the whole organization to a new level of development.

In order to meet the goals set forth above, I turn to those who have helped make this growth possible. I ask you for your continued support by staying informed and spreading the word about who we are and what we do. Many students depend on us.

Sincerely yours,
James A. Amick, Chair
Board of Trustees, NJ Unit

A Message from the Executive Director

As the final days of the 20th century slipped away last December dire predictions about the end of the millennium peaked at a thundering crescendo. Evangelists predicted the end of the world, computer gurus warned of systems meltdowns, and fearing terrorist uprisings, many large New Year's celebrations were cancelled. I was among the majority who celebrated the turning of the calendar with a quiet evening surrounded by family and friends.

The change to a new millennium was a momentous, once-in-a-lifetime event nonetheless. And I like to think that what we do day-to-day here at the New Jersey Unit of RFB&D is a momentous undertaking. Volunteers, staff, and board are united in a unique challenge: to provide access to published educational material for people living with print disabilities. Like the quiet way the calendar page recently turned past a historic milestone, RFB&D engages in its mission in a quiet way too. In a friendly atmosphere of cooperative effort volunteers have been producing recorded textbooks for over 41 years here in New Jersey.

Maybe we've been too quiet about what we do. Our Board of Trustees has made public awareness a top priority for the New Jersey Unit of RFB&D. So, if you didn't get the chance to make a lot of noise this past New Year's Eve, now is your chance. I invite you to shout out the news about RFB&D – who we are, what we do, who we serve. And for the volunteers we salute in this issue, toot your own horn! You are doing something historic, something momentous for students throughout the world.

Best wishes in the new millennium.
Ted Taylor
Executive Director

Corporate Highlight
Boston Properties at Carnegie Center

Micky Landis, Vice President and Regional Manager of Boston Properties at Carnegie Center stopped by the West Windsor Studio to see the recording booth that bears the plaque recognizing Boston Property's$10,000 donation to RFB&D New Jersey Unit.

For more information about having your company recognized by RFB&D New Jersey Unit, please call Ted Taylor at (609) 688-0485.

Join the Volunteer Alliance Team (VAT)

Our organization's name change, the passing of our beloved friend and fundraiser extraordinaire, Peter Putman, studio relocations and expansions, staff retirings and new hires...it's been quite a time of changes!

It's natural that we're dealing with growing pains as well. So, to ease our transition into the future and keep the lines of communication open, we're calling upon the experts: our volunteers. We need your help and we can all help each other, if you join the Volunteer Alliance Team.

We already know that our volunteers have invaluable experience and commitment. Now we would like to pool those resources into one special team: Volunteer Alliance Team. VAT is an important pilot program, consisting of volunteers who act as informed liaisons between RFB&D New Jersey and New Jersey communities. VAT will also assist with identifying students who need our
services, volunteers who can contribute their time and sources that can produce funding.

VAT will assist with identifying students who need our services, volunteers who can contribute their time, and resources that can produce funding. Some examples might include hosting information tables at community or school fairs, or malls or bookstores. How many opportunities can you think of to spread the word about the services of RFB&D?

In addition, VAT will enable volunteers to exchange advice and just get to know each other. Volunteers who happen to work on different days of the week can now meet their counterparts. The nature of our work often involves hours spent alone in recording booths, but VAT will give volunteers an opportunity to chat with their peers, learn new tips and maybe even make new friends.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can help VAT, please contact Eileen Gallagher at (609) 688-0486. We'll hold a planning meeting this spring. Notices will be posted in the studios. We look forward to seeing you there.

In Memoriam
It is with heartfelt sympathy that we extend our condolences to the families and friends of Mary Carll, Don O'Brien, Sallie Fell Griffin, Helen L. Preston and Bob Saxon. These long-time volunteers are missed by their RFB&D family too.

Educational Outreach Line

It's now easier than ever for RFB&D current and prospective members, in our New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania territory to reach our educational outreach office.

Just call, toll free, 1-877-4RFBDNJ (1-877-473-2365).

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