Helen Keller Services’ College Bound and Beyond Preps Students for Future
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Elizabeth Wayland-Morgan, Executive Director, Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Continuing she added, “Moreover, the instructors are very flexible with their schedules, making group and individual meetings very easy to manage. There are also accommodations available for those who use text-to-talk programs and are visually impaired. The course thoroughly covers the topics on the exam, starting from basic functions to more difficult ones. I took my first SAT in April, nearing the end of the program, and got 1450, a score I am quite content with. I highly recommend this program to anyone hoping to make significant progress in their SAT score.”
Helen Keller Services for the Blind’s instructors and administrators also are pleased with the program and student results.
“The program is proving to be extremely helpful to students,” said Kandyce Turner, Director of Youth Services, Helen Keller Services for the Blind. “Many schools do not have a prep course. Our program fills that gap providing the needed services for students. We provide study aids, test-taking strategies, and support for all students with low vision or vision loss.
“Helen Keller Services for the Blind’s College Bound and Beyond prepares students for future success. They learn to be independent, study and take the SATs, get into and graduate college, and prepare for work and their future,” said Turner.
For the past year, students and instructors met virtually. That all changed in March when they met in person for the first time since the pandemic to continue their studies. A bright future awaits students thanks to Helen Keller Services for the Blind.
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“I enrolled in the SAT program at Helen Keller Services for the Blind last year and saw tremendous changes to my SAT score. We would meet individually with instructors for an hour and a half weekly, and 2 hours with the class. The individualized work helped me pinpoint areas that I would often get wrong. This helped strengthen my score overall,”
By Christine Berardi
The true testament to the importance of an educational program is how participants use the information or skills they learned to improve their lives. A first-person testimony of that transformation also highlights the significance of the program. Helen Keller Services for the Blind’s College Bound and Beyond Program guides students with low vision and vision loss on an avenue for college and the future.
Beginning in December 2020, Helen Keller established a new SAT preparatory and college readiness program for Brooklyn-based high school students with vision loss. College Bound and Beyond enables students to learn critical SAT test-taking skills via braille, large print, text-to-talk and audio systems to earn higher scores. In addition to SAT prep courses for 11th and 12th graders, the program offers 9th and 10th graders a transition program that equips them with the skills needed to succeed in high school and provides a framework on the road to college.
The program already has glowing reviews from students. Cindy Liu, a visually impaired rising senior at LaGuardia High School in New York City, has participated in the program and realized results.
“I enrolled in the SAT program at Helen Keller Services for the Blind last year and saw tremendous changes to my SAT score. We would meet individually with instructors for an hour and a half weekly, and 2 hours with the class. The individualized work helped me pinpoint areas that I would often get wrong. This helped strengthen my score overall,” said Cindy.
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Cindy Liu - senior at LaGuardia High School in New York City
National Grid Foundation once again put communities first –donating $500,000 to nearly 40 organizations
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