Iowa Department for the Blind
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Summer Youth Counselor
POSTING DATE: December 21, 2017
Closing Date: January 15, 2018
LOCATION: Des Moines, Iowa
PART TIME/FULL TIME STATUS: up to 12 Temporary/Full-Time Positions
SALARY: $16.20/hr. Expected total salary to be approximately $7,500.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Temporary Summer Youth Counselors will support the mission, vision and values of the Iowa Department for the Blind. Counselors will mentor youth ages 14-21 during IDB?s two month residential summer program. Roles will be assigned based on staff skills and interests, but will include assisting to teach alternative techniques of blindness through classes such as braille, cane travel, assistive technology, home and personal management and woodshop, or teaching alternative techniques of blindness through assisting students in their apartments and during evening and weekend activities.
Examples of duties:
Support student learning through braille, technology, home management, shop and cane travel instruction.
Reinforce blindness skills learned in Orientation Center classes through assisting students with daily living tasks, meal planning and preparation, laundry, homework, and cleaning and organizing apartments.
Assist students in participating in activities in the community such as eating at restaurants, shopping, bowling and rock climbing. Reinforce proper cane technique and other nonvisual skills during these activities.
Serve as a role model to students in the use of nonvisual techniques and problem-solving skills.
Ensure safety of students by monitoring student behavior and the student living areas.
Communicate with other summer program staff regarding student needs and progress. Document student progress including written student reports at the end of the summer.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Essential functions of this position:
Demonstrate and promote a positive philosophy of blindness
Monitor student behavior and living areas
Communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, in the English language.
Demonstrate proper use of the long White cane
Read and write braille
Actively participate in all summer program activities
Work Schedule: May 31 ? August 16, 2018, plus the potential for a few paid conference calls or webinars prior to May 31. Summer youth counselors will work approximately forty hours per week, with the potential for some overtime. Schedules will vary based on assigned duties.
It is the policy of the Department for the Blind to conduct background checks on all finalist candidates prior to any offer of employment.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
High school diploma or equivalent
TO APPLY:
Note: This is a courtesy posting for a non merit position.
Positions in this class are exempt from the screening and referral requirements of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services ? Human Resources Enterprise. Applications to DAS-HRE only, will not be considered.
Interested applicants must send a cover letter and resume to:
Helen Stevens
Education and Training Director
Iowa Department for the Blind
524 Fourth Street <https://maps.google.com/?q=524+Fourth+Street+Des+Moines,+IA+50309&entry=gma…>
Des Moines, IA 50309 <https://maps.google.com/?q=524+Fourth+Street+Des+Moines,+IA+50309&entry=gma…>
<mailto:helen.stevens at blind.state.ia.us> helen.stevens at blind.state.ia.us
--
Tiffany Bickell
Executive Assistant to the Director, Commission Board Secretary
Iowa Department for the Blind
515.281.1336
tiffany.bickell at blind.state.ia.us <mailto:tiffany.bickell at blind.state.ia.us>
https://blind.iowa.gov
?A proud partner in the American Job Center network?
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The National Braille Press's Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation deadline
is fast approaching, please help us spread the word!
The Touch of Genius Prize was developed to inspire entrepreneurs, educators
or inventors to continue the promotion of braille and tactile literacy for
blind and deafblind people worldwide. This prize can be granted for
innovative and accessible computer software, Android applications, iOS
applications, or tactile hardware that promotes braille and/or tactile
literacy. NBP encourages all applicants to think outside the box to what
can be used to help improve the lives of blind people.
The winner of this prize will receive up to $20,000, which will help them
to continue to innovate in the fields of technology and education of blind
people. Frank Gibney and the Gibney Family Foundation, helped fund and
establish this award in 2007, inspiring people to go beyond what was thought
possible.
The deadline to apply is January 12, 2018. For more information, including
how to apply, please visit touchofgeniusprize.org.
Meaghan Colerick
Administrative Assistant
National Braille Press
88 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115
<http://www.nbp.org/> www.nbp.org
Phone: 617-425-2412
Toll Free: 888-965-8965
Fax: 617-437-0456
From: Edward Bell [mailto:ebell at pdrib.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 3:06 PM
To: Meaghan Colerick <mcolerick at nbp.org>
Subject: RE: Update: Touch of Genius Prize
Can you send me the solicitation information so I can put it out on lists
today?
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC
Director, Professional Development and Research
Institute on Blindness
Louisiana Tech University
210 Woodard Hall
PO Box 3158
Ruston LA 71272
Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 (Fax)
Skype: edwardbell2010
<mailto:ebell at latech.edu> ebell at latech.eduwww.pdrib.com
<http://www.pdrib.com>
**************************************************************
"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's
brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and
died in cotton fields and sweatshops."
-- Stephen Jay Gould
From: Meaghan Colerick [mailto:mcolerick at nbp.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2017 2:03 PM
To: ebell at latech.edu <mailto:ebell at latech.edu> ; literacy2 at mindspring.com
<mailto:literacy2 at mindspring.com> ; jdix at loc.gov <mailto:jdix at loc.gov> ;
julwicksacca at gmail.com <mailto:julwicksacca at gmail.com> ;
noel at personaldatasystems.com <mailto:noel at personaldatasystems.com> ;
lotfi_merabet at meei.harvard.edu <mailto:lotfi_merabet at meei.harvard.edu> ;
joann.becker at perkins.org <mailto:joann.becker at perkins.org>
Cc: Brian Mac Donald <bmacdonald at nbp.org <mailto:bmacdonald at nbp.org> >
Subject: Update: Touch of Genius Prize
Hello Everyone,
I hope all is well. Brian and I wanted to reach out to you all with an
update on the Touch of Genius Prize. Although we have gotten some questions
and some potential submissions, we do not yet have any applicants. I just
did an email push yesterday, and will try to get more outreach this week;
however, this may change some of our timeframe a bit.
Before we think about changing any of the dates, I will see what we get from
now until after the holidays and check back in with everyone.
If we still don't have any applicants by then, we can start a discussion
about possibly moving the TOG into the spring (April/May).
Please let me know if you if you have any questions.
Happy Holidays!
Meaghan Colerick
Administrative Assistant
National Braille Press
88 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115
<http://www.nbp.org/> www.nbp.org
Phone: 617-425-2412
Toll Free: 888-965-8965
Fax: 617-437-0456
