Bonanza School’s Grade 5 and 6 students have been hard at work learning how to braille and have delivered 100 books to the library at Crystal Park School in Grande Prairie for visually impaired students.
Since September, 16 Bonanza School students have worked together to translate books into braille and recorded themselves reading the books to offer students with visual impairments and other disabilities a variety of ways to enjoy stories.
According to the Peace Wapiti School Division, what started as a visit from Bonanza School teacher for the visually impaired Karen Beatty, turned into a large-scale project, turning 100 books into braille for students from the Grande Prairie Public School Division, Peace River School Division, Holy Family Catholic Regional Division, and many others.
Bonanza School Principal Theresa Simmonds says the students helped edit each other’s braille work and held one another accountable to ensure high-quality audio which took “approximately 1400 recordings” to ensure perfect audio for all the books.
“I think they were harder on each other than I would have been if I was involved,” Simmonds laughed.
The PWSD says students shared they feel more confident in their writing and editing skills, enjoyed learning a new language, and feel more empathy for others.
The books were donated to Crystal Park School on March 12th, and will be available to any student across the five divisions involved.
