We’re pleased to announce this year’s Council Scholarship recipients! Each year, we award $2,000 scholarships to students from around Wisconsin who are blind or low vision and will be enrolled in post-secondary education in the fall. Past recipients have used the scholarship funds in a variety of ways to help fuel their college experience. In… Continue Reading Introducing our 2025 Council Scholarship Recipients
Karen Heesen Karen Heesen has been teaching students who are blind or low vision at the Wisconsin School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (WSBVI) in Janesville how to read braille for 25 years. In that role, Karen has helped generations of students with vision loss connect with written language. Her efforts have not gone… Continue Reading Former Board Member Karen Heesen Wins Crystal Apple Teaching Award
The Spring 2025 Issue of the Council Courier newsletter is now available on our website! In this issue: The Case for Insurance Coverage of Vision Services Provided by the Council Message from Executive Director Denise Jess: Advocacy is About Making Change Inside and Outside of Government Promote Independence with a Gift to the White Cane… Continue Reading Spring Issue of the Council Courier Newsletter Now Available Online
It wasn’t hard for former Council Scholarship recipient Ashley Handrick to decide on where to go to school. Edgewood College in Madison was just a short drive from her hometown of Mount Horeb, and she had a few friends also going there with whom she could share a dorm suite. Having a friend who knew… Continue Reading Past Council Scholarship Recipient Ashley Handrick Brings Smiles to Her Students’ Faces
It didn’t take long for former Council Scholarship Recipient Annika Konrad to discover her love of writing. While in middle school, Annika found that writing helped her express her thoughts. The once-shy kid then spent all four of her high school years working for the school newspaper. When she started college and began taking classes… Continue Reading Former Scholarship Recipient Annika Konrad Continues the Cycle of Learning
Last year, the Wisconsin Legislature passed into law a new tax credit for workers who are blind. If you (or your spouse if you’re filing a joint return) are blind, employed and paid for transportation services to get to work, you can claim a credit for 50% of your transportation costs on your 2024 Wisconsin… Continue Reading Wisconsin Workers Who Are Blind Can Claim the New Transportation Credit on their 2024 State Taxes
Before her 2023 trip to Bali, Indonesia to earn her yoga teacher certification, 2024 Council Scholarship recipient Mia Zutter dedicated her life to being the best at everything she took on. After losing her vision at age 12, she felt she had to be the best so that she wouldn’t be seen as just “the… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Mia Zutter
For most people, the idea of uprooting their life to move to Turkey would be incredibly daunting. But not for 2024 Council Scholarship Recipient Miso Kwak. Miso moved to Izmir, Turkey for nine months on a Fulbright Scholarship to work as an English Teaching Assistant. While she knew little about Turkey at the time and… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Miso Kwak
When 2024 Council Scholarship recipient Marin Gundlach first got her hands on an iPod Shuffle at age 5, she says she immediately became interested in technology. That was when the Belleville native, who has been blind since birth, first encountered VoiceOver technology that allowed her to fully utilize the music device. “Finding that really opened… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Marin Gundlach
As three-time Council Scholarship recipient Kaylee Mueller enters her final years of undergraduate study at UW-Green Bay, she says she feels mixed emotions. On the one hand, she’s nervous about what life will look like after graduation. On the other, her four years in college have been a time of immense growth. “I was so… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Kaylee Mueller
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We’re pleased to announce this year’s Council Scholarship recipients! Each year, we award $2,000 scholarships to students from around Wisconsin who are blind or low vision and will be enrolled in post-secondary education in the fall. Past recipients have used the scholarship funds in a variety of ways to help fuel their college experience. In… Continue Reading Introducing our 2025 Council Scholarship Recipients
Karen Heesen Karen Heesen has been teaching students who are blind or low vision at the Wisconsin School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (WSBVI) in Janesville how to read braille for 25 years. In that role, Karen has helped generations of students with vision loss connect with written language. Her efforts have not gone… Continue Reading Former Board Member Karen Heesen Wins Crystal Apple Teaching Award
The Spring 2025 Issue of the Council Courier newsletter is now available on our website! In this issue: The Case for Insurance Coverage of Vision Services Provided by the Council Message from Executive Director Denise Jess: Advocacy is About Making Change Inside and Outside of Government Promote Independence with a Gift to the White Cane… Continue Reading Spring Issue of the Council Courier Newsletter Now Available Online
It wasn’t hard for former Council Scholarship recipient Ashley Handrick to decide on where to go to school. Edgewood College in Madison was just a short drive from her hometown of Mount Horeb, and she had a few friends also going there with whom she could share a dorm suite. Having a friend who knew… Continue Reading Past Council Scholarship Recipient Ashley Handrick Brings Smiles to Her Students’ Faces
It didn’t take long for former Council Scholarship Recipient Annika Konrad to discover her love of writing. While in middle school, Annika found that writing helped her express her thoughts. The once-shy kid then spent all four of her high school years working for the school newspaper. When she started college and began taking classes… Continue Reading Former Scholarship Recipient Annika Konrad Continues the Cycle of Learning
Last year, the Wisconsin Legislature passed into law a new tax credit for workers who are blind. If you (or your spouse if you’re filing a joint return) are blind, employed and paid for transportation services to get to work, you can claim a credit for 50% of your transportation costs on your 2024 Wisconsin… Continue Reading Wisconsin Workers Who Are Blind Can Claim the New Transportation Credit on their 2024 State Taxes
Before her 2023 trip to Bali, Indonesia to earn her yoga teacher certification, 2024 Council Scholarship recipient Mia Zutter dedicated her life to being the best at everything she took on. After losing her vision at age 12, she felt she had to be the best so that she wouldn’t be seen as just “the… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Mia Zutter
For most people, the idea of uprooting their life to move to Turkey would be incredibly daunting. But not for 2024 Council Scholarship Recipient Miso Kwak. Miso moved to Izmir, Turkey for nine months on a Fulbright Scholarship to work as an English Teaching Assistant. While she knew little about Turkey at the time and… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Miso Kwak
When 2024 Council Scholarship recipient Marin Gundlach first got her hands on an iPod Shuffle at age 5, she says she immediately became interested in technology. That was when the Belleville native, who has been blind since birth, first encountered VoiceOver technology that allowed her to fully utilize the music device. “Finding that really opened… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Marin Gundlach
As three-time Council Scholarship recipient Kaylee Mueller enters her final years of undergraduate study at UW-Green Bay, she says she feels mixed emotions. On the one hand, she’s nervous about what life will look like after graduation. On the other, her four years in college have been a time of immense growth. “I was so… Continue Reading 2024 Student Spotlight: Kaylee Mueller
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Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired
