Welcome to our newest board member Tara Baird from United Southern Bank! At her recent board orientation, she made the “mistake” of asking for a cup of coffee so certified vision rehabilitation therapist Jayne Maravola showed her how to make her own under blindfold.
New board member Tara Baird, with the guidance and supervision of certified vision rehabilitation therapist Jayne Maravola, makes a cup of coffee for herself under blindfold. She stands at the counter with a tray in front of her, the dual coffee/kcup maker to her left. The tray, to which Tara affectionately referred to as “my tray”, has a jug of water, her paper cup and lid, a liquid level indicator, and creamers.
New board member Tara Baird, with the guidance and supervision of certified vision rehabilitation therapist Jayne Maravola, makes a cup of coffee for herself under blindfold. She stands at the counter and feels the buttons on the face of the dual coffee/kcup maker. After successfully pouring water into her cup and then into the machine, and using the app Be My Eyes to determine which kcup of the bunch was French Roast, she had to find the button for one cup, which was tactually marked with a piece of velcro, and then the brew button, which came “pre-marked”: it felt different than the other buttons by default.
New board member Tara Baird, as part of her board orientation, holds up the cup of coffee she made for herself under blindfold with the guidance of CVRT Jayne. (She’s beaming!)
Experiential activities such as this are a requirement for all non-blind board members and are just as important to us as the boilerplate board training of fiduciary and legal responsibilities. However brief the blindfolding, it serves as a powerful means of demonstrating the journey of fear to hope, from “I can do that!” to “I did it! What’s next?”
Would you like to join Tara on our board of directors? Click here for more information and to apply!