[real-eyes] Fabric of history

From: <bigdaddylou63@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:04:00 -0500
> Wichita Eagle, Kansas
> Saturday, May 20, 2006
>
> Fabric of history
>
> By Missy Good
>
> CAPTION: With their embossed stars and stripes, U.S. flags such as this 
> one will be distributed soon to special-needs classrooms so visually 
> impaired children will be able to experience its features. Jeff Tuttle
>
> Children across the country with visual disabilities could learn more 
> about the U.S. flag, thanks to a collaboration that began in Wichita.
>
> The Kansas Braille Transcription Institute -- a nonprofit group in 
> Wichita -- and area chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution 
> plan to work together to produce embossed paper American flags to 
> distribute to special-needs classrooms nationwide.
>
> The flags will help blind and visually impaired children understand the 
> meaning and history of the flag.
>
> The posters will feature an embossed version of the flag, with raised 
> stars and stripes that children will be able to feel with their fingers. 
> They also will feature the Pledge of Allegiance in large print and in 
> Braille.
>
> The DAR, a volunteer women's group that promotes patriotism, has about 
> 168,000 members in 3,000 chapters across the country, according to the 
> group's Web site.
>
> The goal of the project is to provide each member with 50 copies of the 
> poster to distribute to students in special-needs classrooms.
>
> Wichita's Braille Institute plans to produce nearly 1 million posters and 
> ship them to chapters nationwide, said Randolph Cabral, president of the 
> Braille Institute.
>
> The project's cost is unknown, but the DAR plans to cover expenses, said 
> Kaye Stanley, a representative of one of the seven local DAR chapters.
>
> On Friday, local chapter members showed off two of the embellished cloth 
> flags that will be used along with the posters in Wichita-area classroom 
> presentations.
>
> The cloth flags feature red stripes textured with thick fabric, so 
> students will able to differentiate between the red and white stripes by 
> touch.
>
> One flag has 50 raised star-shaped studs and the other has a circle of 13 
> stars to represent the original colonies. Chapters in different 
> communities will make their own version of the cloth flags to use as part 
> of their educational presentations.
>
> "The idea for the flags just sort of came up suddenly," Stanley said. "We 
> saw the need for an educational tool, and the idea grew from there."
>
> Stanley hopes that the program will be implemented by chapters across the 
> country so that blind and visually impaired children can learn about an 
> important piece of their heritage.
>
> Reach Missy Good at (316) 268-6573 or mgood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/14624558.htm 

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[real-eyes] Fabric of history

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