By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Using their fingertips, a Crim Elementary student and her paraprofessional are opening windows to the world with Braille.
Watching third grader Cassidy Hummel twirl and skip down the school hallway, it’s tough to fathom that the 9-year-old is blind. And on this particular day, in a rush to get to school, she forgot her white cane in her other backpack.
“One happy morning, which was this morning,” Cassidy began in describing her hasty mistake. But she doesn’t let the cane’s absence slow her down as she bounces her way to a small room specially equipped for her.
It’s a cramped space, created by her magical paraprofessional Sara McGill. Together, the two explore and push through the barriers to learning for Cassidy, who has very, very limited vision.
“Miss Sara came to me in second grade,” Cassidy said. “She’s made a big difference in my life. She’s taking Braille classes so she can teach me more. She helps me train my fingers.”
And Cassidy is teaching McGill of all the possibilities.
“She’s a tricky blind kid,” McGill said with a grin. “The little vision she has, she uses really well.”
Cassidy is gifted in math, and scores high in reading. “She’s very smart,” McGill said. She played “Cuckoo” on the piano for the school talent show, and has memorized her way around the school and the playground.
Last month, McGill was named May staff member of the month for Bowling Green City Schools. As a paraprofessional, McGill has found that Braille has opened up the world for her as well.
In 2020, McGill found refuge at The Cocoon shelter in Bowling Green. She went from a stay-at-home mom to a preschool teacher.
“I’ve always loved working with kids,” McGill said. “It teaches you a lot about human nature.”
When she was offered a position working with a blind student in Waterville, McGill immersed herself in Braille. She taught herself the alphabet in one weekend.
“I got to learn in a way that made it come alive to me,” she said.
When a similar position opened up in Bowling Green, McGill jumped at the chance to come to Crim Elementary, where she was paired up with Cassidy.
The banter between the two is quick and bright, as Cassidy demonstrates the use of her Braille educational equipment. Her nimble fingers travel across the globe, identifying continents and mountain ranges. She uses the embosser to create a tactile piece of artwork – a raised heart.
And she uses a light board with Braille and raised images to do a little teaching herself. “This is the life cycle of a Monarch,” Cassidy said, pointing out the egg, pupa, caterpillar and butterfly.
“I love animals, I really do,” she said.
McGill has worked to learn advanced Braille, and knows shortcuts that make reading the series of six raised dots easier. As Cassidy’s paraprofessional, McGill tries to give her student similar experiences as her classmates. She has acquired crayons with the colors written in Braille on the sides, and she has translated the bulletin boards and materials on the classroom walls into Braille for Cassidy, “so she has the same information that the other kids get.”
A big treat for Cassidy is being read aloud to by McGill. She fell in love with the Little House on the Prairie series of books.
And together, the pair is educating the entire school on vision deficiencies. Earlier this year, Cassidy read a book in Braille to a kindergarten class – showing that the raised points are more than just random dots. And she and McGill work with sighted students to use the embosser to make raised pieces of art. On “White Cane Day,” students learn how Cassidy uses her cane … on the days she remembers to bring it to school. Every once in a while a kid on the playground will grab the cane – not realizing Cassidy momentarily discarded it. In instances like that, Cassidy gently explains the purpose of her cane.
“She’s actually really good at advocating for herself,” McGill said.
