Hi! I’m Brenda Lee, TVI and COMS, currently working at an Education Service Center Region 14 in Abilene, TX.
I am so excited to become a trainer for the Monarch!!! We had a Monarch in R14 for field testing in the fall and having instant tactile graphics is amazing! I can’t wait to for the 2 days of instruction learning what all the Monarch can do and sharing with our students using Braille.
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I’m Tricia Marsh with Region 9 ESC in Wichita Falls TX. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to attend this training and look forward to sharing with TVIs and Students.
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Hello My name is Sarah Kassim, I am a Teacher of Visually Impaired and Blind Students in New Orleans, LA. I work with students from K-12th grade. I am also a parent of a Deafblind student. I am really excited to be a part of this training and using the Monarch with my students. In particular to solve the textbook delay issues and tactile graphics. I am also looking forward to seeing how the Monarch can be used in Math class with Nemeth. I am looking forward to see everyone.
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Rebekka Berry
TVI
West Wichita Co-Op
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Hello! My name is Jo Ellen Fisk Cloyd.
I am at TVI in Texas with San Antonio ISD. I’m fairly new to the VI world (4 years), but I have many years in education both as a classroom teacher and a campus administrator.
Our district serves about 70 VI students. My caseload consists of 15 students and all the infant evals.
I work with one kindergarten academic braille student (blind) who is currently excelling and excited about braille and tactile graphics. Hoping he’ll stay this way for a long time!!! 
I am most excited to learn how the Monarch can enhance my student’s braille and tactile graphics experience AND eager to get texts, books, graphics, and other materials to him faster.
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Greetings all! This is Allen Huang from the TN School for the Blind in Nashville, TN.
I have a background as a TVI and AT specialist, and nowadays I am the Director of the TN Resource Center for the Visually Impaired, primarily tasked with providing large print and braille books to students, alongside APH materials available for purchase using Federal Quota funds. In this work I primarily support TVIs and other professionals working with students with visual impairments.
One space we are growing into since COVID is becoming a go-to source of professional development opportunities, specifically just-in-time/on-demand supports for TVIs and our TN VIVA (visual impairments virtual academy) learning series coordinated with Vanderbilt University’s Visual Disabilities Program.
I have noticed a number of promising uses of the Monarch in just this first day of learning. No doubt there is more to learn in day 2, and I look forward to sharing these great features with our TVIs and see how they believe it can help them better support their students.
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Niki Rogers
Teacher for the Visually Impaired
North Texas, Lewisville ISD
I am one of 3 VI’s in our district whom serve over 70 students, with over a handful of those being academic braille learning elementary and high school students.
I am most excited to see how the Monarch is able to help bridge some gaps in access to tactile graphics with school districts that do not have a braille transcribers.
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Hello,
My name is Shelley Franklin. I am a TVI at the Mississippi School for the Blind. I currently teach braille, psychology, sociology, and piano. I work with students from kindergarten through the 12TH grade. I am excited to learn more about the Monarch and am excited to use this device with my students.
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Hello! I am Jill Smith. I work as the TSVI and COMS in Kennedale ISD- which is near Fort Worth, Texas. I am also the parent of two young adults who are blind. I have 13 students on my VI caseload and 11 on my O&M caseload. I am super excited about the math potential for the Monarch- even though I don’t have upper level math students today.
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Hello! I am Dawn Stearns, CTVI & COMS from Abilene, Tx. I currently teach a 6th grade Braille student. I am excited to provide on-site access to math and science graphics. I am thrilled to be part of this process!
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Hello I am Julie Jones. I am a TSBVI in Arizona. I work with K-12 students statewide in person and virtually with a focus on assistive technology. My students are in public schools in classrooms with sighted peers. They are usually the only braille readers in the school. I am excited to learn how this could allow my students to get access to materials at the same time as their peers especially in rural areas that we need to mail braille materials.
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Hi Everyone!
My name is Vanessa Herndon. I am an AT Specialist at California School for the Blind in Fremont, Ca. We serve students at the school, and students throughout the state of California between 3 - 22 years old. I have a special interest in tactile graphics and math, and for that I am so excited to be working with the Monarch!
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Aloha everyone! My name is Haruka Hopper, and I work as an Educational Specialist for the Visually Impaired Program at the Hawaii State Department of Education. I live on the island of Oahu, serving K-12 students and providing support, training, and resources to the field, including administrators, school teams, and educators across grade levels. I am also a sibling of a deafblind brother who guided and motivated me to work in this field. I am thrilled and very excited to have a hands-on learning experience with the Monarch and understand how this device could support our students’ access to their educational materials at the same time as their peers. I am looking forward to using it with students in our state!
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Hi! I’m Arianne Sevillano and I’m an O&M Specialist and AT Specialist for Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. In previous years, I was an itinerant O&M Specialist, but this past year, I had the opportunity to provide services primarily to deafblind students. I’m excited to finally see what the Monarch has to offer! I think it could be a great resource to provide tactile maps and graphics relating to O&M.
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My name is Carol Begay Green & I have been an Itinerant TSVI since 2010. I served as the first district TSVI for Farmington Municipal Schools in the Four Corners of New Mexico until 2020. I created a Navajo Braille Code for the Navajo language while I served there & I am Navajo myself. I have been working for the Utah School for the Blind since 2021 & am in my 2nd year serving as their Assistive Technology Instructor for Campus Programs. I serve student enrolled in campus programs from Salt Lake to Ogden & in Springville when a braille student in enrolled there. I am excited to create tactile graphics for Navajo rugs, the landscape of Monument valley, Navajo children’s stories written in Navajo braille, graphic organizers for students to utilize for class assignments & recreating the old Intellikeys overlays I loved when first began teaching braille. I
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Hi all! Late to the party here - I am Lindsay Orcutt, and I am a TVI/COMS for the NYC Public School system! I also teach several courses in the BVI program at CUNY Hunter College, also here in NYC. In my work with the public school system, I serve mostly tactile learners in the middle to upper grades (grades 6-12); additionally, I am an assistive technology trainer for the district with a specialization in braille technology (notetakers, displays) and screenreaders. In my work at CUNY Hunter College, I teach the math literacy and Nemeth Code course. I am excited to explore the math capabilities of the Monarch (spatial alignment, graphing calculator, etc.), as well as the ability to integrate text and graphics into one document (hopefully!).
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Hello, This is Laura Quiroz. I am a TVI working in Yuba City. I attended the Monarch training last week from April 17-18, and have to say I really did enjoy the training. I look forward to using this device with two my students. I have been wanting some more information regarding how to assist a one of my students with math graphics and the Monarch absolutely amazed me with its raised line graphics, not to mention the production of more than one braille line when writing, and being able to research items and have them reproduced in a tactile format.
Most of the students I have are low vision, 3 are learning typing and braille skills. I plan to use this device with 2 of my students. I am super excited to have them use the Monarch for math, reading and writing.
As for the Monarch T-shirt, if you could send me one, large v-neck t-shirt, that would be great. Thank you.
My work address is listed below;
Andros Karperos School
1700 Camino de Flores
Yuba City, Ca 95991
Attn: Laura Quiroz VI
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Hello! My name is Mary Theivagt and I am a TVI/COMS in the northern most part of Wisconsin. I have two braille students that will benefit from the Monarch immediately and I have a few other braille learners that will likely find it to be a really cool device and maybe even get them excited about braille. I’m excited to learn more about the math and graphics features. I’ve been producing all the math materials for a 9th grade geometry student and it is extremely time consuming-I hope the Monarch can help with that!
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My name is Sara Larkin. I am the Statewide Math Consultant for the Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. I am interested in learning how it can be used in math classes.
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Hello!
My name is Julya Johnson and I am a TVI/COMS in Eugene, OR. I serve a wide range of ages, abilities, and visual needs. I also serve a number of students who are DeafBlind.
The student who I will be working with on the Monarch is an academic 7th grade dual media learner who has had a significant loss of vision over the last two years. When I first introduced her to the Monarch, she was creeped out by the sound it makes when brining up a whole page (i.e., the flash icon of the Butterfly). It scared her as the pins started popping up.
I am most excited about learning how to do tactile graphics for my student’s science and math classes!!!
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