Attached is some background information, and pictures from Keller Johnson Thompson's visit to the Noxon Road Elementary School in LaGrange on October 7th.  Keller, the great grand niece of Helen Keller, came up from Alabama to help us celebrate Lions World Sight Day.  She's a wonderful person, and the visit was most enjoyable.

Note that Keller also visited the West Road School in Pleasant Valley later that same day.  The West Road School event was hosted by PDG Kirk VanSwearingen and the Pleasant Valley Lions Club.

 

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 WORLD SIGHT DAY - CELEBRATION 2003

     During the week of October 7 – 9, 2003 the Lion’s Foundation at Albany, N.Y., Inc., along with area Lion’s Clubs, will be sponsoring the visit of Keller Johnson Thompson to area schools. Our region is targeted for a visit on Tuesday, Oct. 7^th. Keller is the great grand-niece of Helen Keller and Vice President of Education at the Helen Keller Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama. Keller has developed and runs an Educational Program on the life and legacy of Helen Keller that travels to schools throughout the United States. Keller visits about 200 schools per year, and she has touched the lives of over 180,000 students in her travels.  Keller’s presentation consists of a slide presentation on the life of Helen Keller (about 30 minutes in length), with time at the end for questions and answers. The entire program is about an hour in length and is designed for 4^th graders, although

others are certainly welcome to participate. Teachers can prepare their students for Keller’s visit by being sure that the students know who Helen Keller is beforehand.

 

     A showing of the ‘Miracle Worker’ prior to Keller’s visit would be ideal.  The Lions are proud to be sponsoring this educational opportunity for the fifth consecutive year and there is no charge to the schools or students who participate in the program. This program is being sponsored in recognition of World Sight Day, which this year is being recognized globally on October 9, 2003. World Sight Day was established in 1998 by Lion’s International with one primary goal in mind – “to educate the world about the overwhelming need to conquer blindness, and our collective ability to do so”. During her stay in New York Keller hopes to meet and speak to as many students as possible. With this in mind, the Lion’s are recom-mending that School Districts work to combine their students to one central location for Keller’s visit. This would allow her to see a greater number of students at each location.  If you should have any questions regarding Keller or the scheduling of a visit please contact John Wargo. John can also be reached by e-mail at:  jwargo@attglobal.net