Celebrating Our Braille Challenge Finalists

Three Ohio Regional Braille Challenge competitors advanced to Braille Challenge Finals in Los Angeles, with two of them winning gold in their divisions in late June. This is the first time students from Ohio have medaled at the international event.

High School senior, MaKenzie Love of Ashville, and sixth grade student Anne Ye of Lewis Center (pictured with Clovernook Center’s Sam Foulkes and Stephanie Jones) both won first place in their divisions at the Braille Challenge Finals. Love also won first place in the Charts and Graphs category. Both qualified following the Southern Ohio Regional Braille Challenge hosted by Clovernook Center in Cincinnati in February. This marks the fourth time Love has advanced to Braille Challenge Finals and the third time for Ye.

Bryanah Thornton, a senior at McKinley High School in Canton, also qualified for Braille Challenge Finals following the Northern Ohio Regional Braille Challenge competition in March. This is her first time competing in Braille Challenge.

“These students qualified for the top 50 finalists in a year of record participation for Braille Challenge,” said Samuel Foulkes, director of braille production and accessible innovation at Clovernook Center. “Just getting to finals is a significant achievement to celebrate. Only 4% of students qualify. Out of over 1,300 students, two of the five winners are from the Ohio Regional Braille Challenge. This is huge for them and for Clovernook Center.”

More than 1,300 students in grades 1 – 12 competed in 66 regional challenges across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Braille Challenge Finals were held June 26 – 29 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.