The Challenge, which promotes Braille literacy and awareness, involves a two-stage academic competition designed to motivate school-age Braille readers to excel in this vital medium. In 2011, twenty-nine Illinois elementary and high school students competed in a series of five contests demonstrating skills such as Braille reading and comprehension, accuracy and speed, spelling, and proofreading. Prizes range from $50 to $500 with a chance to compete in the national finals to be held in Los Angeles this summer.

For 2012, your Braille reader can register as an individual contestant or attend the Regional Braille Challenge being held at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Please visit the Braille Institute website http://www.brailleinstitute.org/about_the_braille_challenge for further details.

2011 Braille Challenge Sponsors:

Braille Institute Auxillary www.brailleinstitute.org
HumanWare www.humanware.com
National Braille Press www.nbp.org

Seedlings Braille Books for Children www.seedlings.org

Winners of the 2011 Braille Challenge:

Apprentice
Gabriel Gregson 1st place
Ethan Edwards 2nd place

Freshman
Alexander Gamino 1st place
Michael Pickerill 2nd place

Sophomore
Alexander Traub 1st place (3rd place at Nationals)
Alyssa Townsend 2nd place

Junior Varsity
Jessica Minneci 1st place
Nadia Montanez 2nd place

Varsity
Preston Radtke 1st place
Alexa Schwichow 2nd place