Hadley Participates in Florida Vision Summit; Presents Leadership in Education Award

On February 8, 2011 at the Florida Vision Summit held at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, The Hadley School for the Blind presented a Leadership in Education Award to Joyce Hildreth, director of the Division of Blind Services of the Florida Department of Education. The award recognizes Hildreth’s commitment to education and lifelong learning.

 The award is reflective of the success of the partnership between Hadley and the Florida Department of Education, Division of Blind Services (DBS), which was formed in 2010 and will continue through September 2011. The goal of this partnership is to expand Hadley’s presence in Florida, concentrating on unique collaborations to better serve Hadley constituents and increase enrollment, particularly among those who want to earn a high school diploma.

 Randy Morgan, who retired from the DBS after 30 years of service, now serves as an instructor and outreach coordinator for Hadley in Florida. He is based in Jacksonville. Thanks to Randy’s work, enrollments in Florida have increased by 74 percent, making the state number one in Hadley enrollments in the United States.  Nationwide, of the professionals who downloaded Seminars@Hadley (Hadley’s webinars on a variety of topics) for continuing education credit, nearly one-third were from Florida.

 “Thanks to the hard work of our collaborative partners in the DBS, our partnership has been an overwhelming success. We are honored to have been a part of the Florida Vision Summit and to present this award to Joyce,” says Hadley President Chuck Young.

 The fifth annual Florida Vision Summit is organized and co-hosted by the Florida Legislature’s Vision Caucus, which is a bicameral, bipartisan Caucus of over 50 Senators and Representatives; and FAASB, which is a statewide association of local nonprofit agencies that provide direct support services to blind and visually impaired Floridians, from blind babies and visually impaired school-aged children to low vision workers and seniors with age-related vision loss. This year’s summit included a three-hour General Session and speakers from both the public and private sectors. Participants included state elected officials, state agency heads, members of Legislature from Florida, vision care professionals, nonprofit and industry leaders and visually impaired and blind Florida residents.

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About Hadley:  Founded in 1920, The Hadley School for the Blind’s mission is to promote independent living through lifelong, distance education programs for people who are blind or visually impaired, their families and blindness service providers. The world’s largest educator of braille, Hadley enrolls more than 10,000 students in all 50 states and 100 countries each year. For more information, visit www.hadley.edu or call 800-323-4238.