Archives September 2020

PNW AER Mixer Re-Cap and New Logo

If you were unable to attend our mixer last night, stay tuned for more exciting events and connections from our board in October! If you would like to provide input or feedback for future events and connections, please complete the survey at the bottom of this email.

We would like to take this time to introduce our board and the significance of AER & PNWAER as professional organizations.

Please welcome our 2020-2021 Board Members.
Stacey Gibbins, President
Sean McCormick, President-Elect
Brittany Valicoff, Past-President
Julie McEnderfer, Treasurer
DeEtte Snyder, Secretary
Board Members’ at Large – Pam Parker, Scott McCallum, Sara Zachariah

 

What is AER and PNWAER?

Pacific Northwest AER (PNWAER) is a chapter of The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER).  This chapter provides a unique opportunity to connect with local professionals who provide services and resources that enable individuals who are blind or visually impaired to achieve their educational, employment and personal independence goals. Example, our spring conference held every year or our newest virtual mixers!

Our chapter covers professionals living in the state of Washington.

PNWAER is active all year round. It is led by a group of board members that are voted into position by PNWAER members!

Why Join: When you join AER and our chapter, you join a community of excellence. This membership brings professionals together to ensure success of one another and success of the people we serve. Added bonus, members have access to AER’s learning series and discounts on AER conference registrations.
How To join PNWAER officially you need to be a member of AER. An AER membership provides an automatic membership to our chapter if you reside in Washington State. There are several membership types, click the link to find the best fit for you! https://aerbvi.org/membership/

Not ready to commit but want to follow along? Join us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pnwaer/

Last night we unveiled our new PNWAER logo. Image description, PNWAER’s logo, a circle inside the image is a whale that is dark blue and lighter, the whales tail is flipped up, geometric white waves are placed above the whale.

PNWAER Mixer Invite

On behalf of PNWAER’s Board of Directors we are happy to invite you to our first ever PNWAER Virtual Mixer! On September 24, joined by special guest Dr. Craig Meador, President, American Printing House from the Blind, from 5pm-6pm we will be hosting a mixer for professionals across the state to share, connect and spread joy! This event is free to attend and will be hosted by our board. Our hope is to engage, inspire and pave the way for future mixers creating a platform for diverse content in a relaxed setting. Put on your comfy clothes, pour your favorite beverage and join us and your colleagues for an hour of connection.

We’re using SignUp.com for registration. Once you are registered you will receive a link to the Zoom meeting.

Here’s how it works in 2 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: https://signup.com/go/mQCkFML

2) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Support and Materials Needed- Southern Oregon ESD

The Southern Oregon ESD lost their main office last night due to the on-going fires in the area. The office housed a lot of the TVIs, COMS and braillists materials serving the area.

April Love shared this with us, “The devastation in our community is widespread. We have yet to do an inventory of all that is lost but I thought I would reach out to this group of vision professionals to ask you to keep us in mind if getting rid of any vision materials.”

Any materials can be sent to the address below:

Attn: April Love

Southern Oregon ESD

409 NW 3rd Street

Grants Pass, OR 97526