News Release
Laura Bush Welcomes Six National Achievement Award Winners to the White House
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photo caption: see below
WASHINGTON, DC (March 6, 2002) - Today, Laura Bush welcomed the top six recipients of prestigious 2001 National Achievement Awards (NAAs) from the nonprofit organization Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic® (RFB&D®) to the White House. As early as the Eisenhower administration, RFB&D's NAA winners have been invited to meet with Presidents, First Ladies and cabinet officers in the nation's capitol.
Established in 1948, RFB&D (www.rfbd.org) is the largest national nonprofit organization providing accessible recorded textbooks to students of all ages who cannot read standard print effectively because of a visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disability, and who are learning through listening. RFB&D's national headquarters are in Princeton, NJ.
"Reading is the skill that makes all other skills possible," said Mrs. Bush. "Whether they learn to read by sight, by touch, or by sound, children who learn to love books, learn to love learning."
Winners of the top three Marion Huber Learning Through Listening awards - given annually to high school seniors with learning disabilities who have demonstrated superior scholarship, leadership, enterprise and service to others - who were at the White House today were Abbe Finberg of Ft. Lauderdale, FL (now a student at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA); Richard Booton of Cold Spring Harbor, NY (now a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY); and Sean Cronin of West Bloomfield, MI (now a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia).
Winners of the top three Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Awards - presented annually to blind college seniors who have demonstrated superior scholarship, leadership, enterprise and service to others - who were also at the White House today were Jeremy Johansen of Davis, CA (now a grad student at University of California at Santa Barbara); Kimberly Satcher of Kennesaw, GA (now a grad student at Georgia State University, Atlanta); and Arthur Congdon of Lansdowne, PA (a recent graduate of Temple University, Philadelphia, now exploring graduate schools).
Richard O. Scribner, RFB&D's president & CEO, said, "RFB&D is privileged to have these outstanding students be invited to the White House and be recognized by the First Lady. We applaud Mrs. Bush's ongoing support for the importance of developing strong reading skills and the Bush Administration's commitment to education and serving students with special needs."
About RFB&D
RFB&D (www.rfbd.org) is the largest national nonprofit organization providing accessible recorded textbooks to students of all ages who cannot read standard print effectively because of a visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disability, and who are learning through listening. Nationwide, RFB&D has over 102,000 members in kindergarten through graduate school and beyond. RFB&D taped textbooks are recorded by 5,400 highly trained volunteers working in studios around the country, including in Washington, DC. RFB&D's master library in Princeton, NJ, houses over 90,000 textbook titles in every subject and grade level. Last year, RFB&D circulated nearly a quarter of a million accessible textbooks among its members.
photo caption: First Lady Laura Bush (seated, at right) invited Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic's top National Achievement Award winners to the White House to congratulate them on this honor. Pictured are (seated) winner Arthur Congdon of Lansdowne, PA, a recent Temple University graduate; (standing, l to r) RFB&D National Board Treasurer Thomas Trainor; winners Jeremy Johansen of Davis, CA (now a grad student at University of California at Santa Barbara); Richard Booton of Cold Spring Harbor, NY (now a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY); Sean Cronin of West Bloomfield, MI (now a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia); and Abbe Finberg of Ft. Lauderdale, FL (now a student at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA); RFB&D President and CEO, Richard O. Scribner; and winner Kimberly Satcher of Kennesaw, GA (now a grad student at Georgia State University, Atlanta).
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Editors Note: Winners are available for interviews. For information on the availibility of high resolution digital photographs of the event, call Noreen Braman at 609-243-7059.
additional media inquiries:
RFB&D News Desk 1-800-803-7201, press 6
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