CVRP students showcase braille literacy and orientation and mobility skills while connecting with peers

A West Virginia University outreach program is helping students with blindness and visual impairment develop crucial everyday skills while connecting them with their peers from across the state.

Kenzie Hayes, a sixteen-year-old high school student from Hancock County, first joined the Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Program (CVRP) when she was three years old.

“CVRP has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” she said. “It is my home and my family. It has been a big part of raising me and helping me grow not only as a student with blindness but as a person. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.”

In her decade-plus as a CVRP student, Hayes said she has had opportunities to compete in a variety of organized educational events with fellow students from across the state. Annual events include adventure camps where students learn a new outdoor activity, such as whitewater rafting, technology camps where they learn how to utilize assistive technology and a pair of regional competitions known as Braille Challenge and Cane Quest, where they can showcase their braille literacy and orientation and mobility skills.

The 2025 West Virginia Regional Braille Challenge and Cane Quest were held in Morgantown over two days in March, where Hayes and more than 30 other CVRP students were in attendance. Hayes first participated in Braille Challenge and Cane Quest in 2024 and said she was looking forward to the opportunity to compete again this year.

“The great thing about these competitions is that they provide us with a platform to showcase our abilities in a competitive, yet supportive environment. Everyone from the teachers to the other students is in our corner and wants us to succeed. It’s a great opportunity and I hope I have the chance to participate in these events again next year,” she said.

Contestants for the Braille Challenge were divided into groups and tested across five key braille concepts, including reading comprehension, spelling, speed and accuracy, proofreading, and understanding charts and graphs. During the competition, students honed in on various skills from the basics of loading the brailler and writing singular letters in braille, to deciphering complex charts and graphs and listening to audio while typing along for accuracy.

Cane Quest contestants were divided into three age groups and asked to demonstrate fundamental orientation and mobility skills and travel techniques such as sound localization, recognizing dropped objects and proper human guide techniques. Accompanied by an orientation and mobility specialist, students used their white canes to navigate the nearby area, where they practiced skills such as recognizing street signs, safely crossing the street and identifying entrances and exits to buildings.

Among the students in attendance was Amelie Jacks, a fourteen-year-old high school student from Monongalia County who has been enrolled in CVRP for two years. A relative newcomer to the program, Jacks said she was excited to have her first experience with these competitions.

“Reading braille and using a white cane are necessary to my everyday life, so it was great to have an opportunity to demonstrate those skills in a supportive and welcoming environment,” she said.

Jacks added that she also enjoyed the opportunity to meet and interact with the other CVRP students over the two days.

“It’s just great to be able to meet so many people like me who understand where I come from and the unique barriers we face. I’ve already made so many great friends through this program and I always love the chance to meet new people at these events,” she said.

This is CVRP’s mission in action, says program director Rebecca Coakley, MA, CLVT.

“Our goal is to provide children with the tools and skills they need to be independent and employable as they prepare to enter young adulthood,” Coakely said. “One of those tools is a strong sense of community. Through connecting kids with other students like them from across the state, we empower them by embedding them within a growing community of blind and visually impaired students, mentors and the professionals dedicated to helping them learn and grow.”

CVRP is an outreach program at the West Virginia University Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences that responds to the needs of blind and visually impaired school-age children, their parents and related professionals in West Virginia. To learn more about this program and the other vision outreach efforts at the University, visit medicine.wvu.edu/ophthalmology-and-visual-sciences/outreach.

Braille Challenge and Cane Quest were founded by the Braille Institute of America. Regional Braille Challenge and Cane Quest events are held across the United States each spring, where students compete for a spot in the national finals held in the summer in Los Angeles, California. To learn more about these competitions, visit brailleinstitute.org.