It was school visit number 15, and I was helped by two of their students and awesome Master Chef winners, Jacob and Shania! Thanks guys – you rock!

Congratulations to Morgan, Darcy, Flynn and Cain for texting me with the answer to the secret braille message. It was of course “why not”

Go Longford Intermediate

Longford’s presentation also had a special visit from local resident and baker Hazel Taylor. Mrs Taylor’s daughters had published a cook book earlier in the year, featuring Hazel’s recipes and Mrs Taylor had been a guest on Julie’s Cooking Without Looking Show on Otago Access Radio when the book was published. Mrs Taylor came along to meet Julie as well as to donate a copy of her recipe book to Longford Intermediate.

Go Hazel!

The visit to Intermediate was made possible by product sponsorship from Pams and RJ’s Licorice with the visit being sponsored by the Otago branch of NZ Federation of Graduate Women.

At the end of my truffle demonstration I presented my book ‘How to Make a Silver Lining’ to Wiremu who accepted it on behalf of the school. I actively encouraged questions and feedback from the students throughout the presentation. Some students were lucky enough to receive a chocolate truffle for their question but not before telling me “what the best thing about being blind was.”

“You get new challenges”

“you get to learn new things”

“You get to use your other senses”

“You don’t have to see what some people look like!”

Go Wiremu!

Go Dunedin North Intermediate.

Go the Otago branch of the NZ Federation of Graduate Women for sponsoring this visit!

You all rock!

See the photo of the Balmacewen pupils with me!

The feedback I’ve had from the students has been phenomenal. Here’s what some of them had to say –

“Hi Julie, it’s Abbey from BalmacewenIntermediateSchool. I think you are an amazing person and your truffles were yum! I hope to see you again soon”

“Hey Julie its Laura Taylor from balmacewen intermediate

I think your an amazing woman and your truffles looked amazing too!!!

Why not…

From Laura”

Skylar wrote: “hi its skylar from balmacewen intermediate i cant wait to se the worlds largest truffle ”

Thanks to all the pupils who sent in texts, emails and wrote on my facebook wall! And yes, that’s right –two lucky Balmacewen pupils will be helping me make the world’s biggest truffle on Friday 21 October.

Go Skylar!

Go Balmacewen Intermediate!

Special thanks to Mrs Buttery, Devon, Caitlin and Charlotte for supporting me on the day!

The visit to Balmacewen Intermediate was made possible by product sponsorship from Pams and RJ’s Licorice.

Helen Adams Keller was born, physically whole and healthy, in Tuscumbia, Alabama on.

June 27, 1880 in a white, frame cottage called “Ivy Green.”

The illness that struck the infant Helen Keller and left her deaf and blind, was diagnosed as brain fever at the time; perhaps it was scarlet fever. Popular

belief had it that the disease left its victim an idiot. An d as Helen Keller grew from infancy into childhood, wild, unruly, and with little real understanding

of the world around her, this belief was seemingly confirmed.

Helen Keller’s real life began on a March day in 1887 when she was a few months short of seven years old. On that day, which Miss Keller was always to call

“The most important day I can remember in my life,” Anne Mansfield Sullivan came to Tuscumbia to be her teacher. Miss Sullivan, a 20-year-old graduate

of the PerkinsSchool for the Blind, who had regained useful sight through a series of operations, had come to the Kellers through the sympathetic interest

of Alexander Graham Bell. From that fateful day, the two–teacher and pupil–were inseparable until the death of the former in 1936.

Miss Sullivan began her task with a doll the children at Perkins had made for her to take to Helen. By spelling “d-o-l-l” into the child’s hand, she hoped

to teach her to connect objects with letters. Helen quickly learned to make the letters correctly, but did not know she was spelling a word, or that words

existed. In the days that followed she learned to spell a great many more words in this uncomprehending way.

One day she and “Teacher”–as Helen always called her–went to the outdoor pump. Miss Sullivan started to draw water and put Helen’s hand under the spout.

As the cool water gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other the word “w-a-t-e-r” first slowly, then rapidly. Suddenly, the signals had meaning in

Helen’s mind. She knew that “water” meant the wonderful cool something flowing over her hand. Quickly, she stopped and touched the earth and demanded its

letter name and by nightfall she had learned 30 words.

Thus began Helen Keller’s education. She proceeded quickly to master the alphabet, both manual and in raised print for blind readers, and gained facility

in reading and writing. In 1890, when she was just 10, she expressed a desire to learn to speak. Somehow she had found out that a little deaf-blind girl

in Norway had acquired that ability. Miss Sarah Fuller of the HoraceMannSchool was her first speech teacher.

Even when she was a little girl, Helen Keller said, “Someday I shall go to college.” And go to college she did. In 1898 she entered the CambridgeSchool

for Young Ladies to prepare for RadcliffeCollege. She entered Radcliffe in the fall of 1900 and received her bachelor of arts degree cum laude in 1904.

Throughout these years and until her own death in 1936, Anne Sullivan was always by Helen’s side, laboriously spelling book after book and lecture after

lecture, into her pupil’s hand.

Helen Keller’s formal schooling ended when she received her B.A. degree, but throughout her life she continued to study and stayed informed on all matters

of importance to modern people. In recognition of her wide knowledge and many scholarly achievements, she received honorary doctoral degrees from Temple

University and Harvard University and from the Universities of Glasgow, Scotland; Berlin, Germany; Delhi, India; and Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South

Africa. She was also an Honorary Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland.

Anne Sullivan’s marriage, in 1905, to John Macy, an eminent critic and prominent socialist, caused no change in the teacher-pupil relationship. Helen went

to live with the Macys and both husband and wife unstintingly gave their time to help her with her studies and other activities.

In addition, Helen was a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, writing most frequently on blindness, deafness, socialism, social issues, and women’s

rights. She used a braille typewriter to prepare her manuscripts and then copied them on a regular typewriter.

Go Helen, can you imagine going to live with your teacher and her new husband nowadays? The thing that amazes me about this story is the quest for knowledge by Helen and the dedication of Helen’s teacher Anne Sullivan.

Have a happy 27th June and remember Helen on this day!

Can you gain a clue by working out what these braille biscuits say?

I’ll be posting details of this famous person later in the day!

Attitude came down to film that blind woman earlier this year and they followed me walking, cooking, shopping, radio announcing and Operation Truffling!

I’ll be putting the link up when the programme is uploaded to the Attitude web site.

Attitude is a weekly programme that promotes positive people with disabilities. It’s a very inspiring programme and I’m honoured to be this week’s feature!

Check it out!

It says “hope” in braille!

Go James Cook School!

You are all rock stars!

So along with two classes from Wanganui Intermediate 9 other schools got to see me do my Cooking Without Looking demonstration.

Some of the feedback from the day has been super awesome – let’s hear some of it now -

Hello Julie,

It’s Caitlin from ChurtonSchool! How are you? I hope you are good!

I hope you are getting around ok. Oh yes I nearly forgot the answer to the secret Braille! It was ”Why not” I’m sorry you got blind. I hope everything is going well! I hope to run into you soon.

Remember always keep your head held high and try and live your life as long as you can because there may be new challenges ahead of you.

Don’t turn down things even though they may sound scary but say

Why Not! =)

So please email mYours Sincerely,

Caitlin Whiteman

“It was amazing how you can read emails without seeing, it even inspired me to do a bit of “blind cooking” with brownies. The good thing was i eventually made them BUT i made alot of mess by accidently missing the bowl and sifted the flour on the floor! Mum wasn’t too impressed with that!! I hope that you enjoyed the gifts that my peers made and have a fantastic weekend”

love Hetal Patel

Janes CookSchool – Wanganui

And this text from Bee at St Annes School –

The answer to your braille is why not! I think you are so inspiring and I will look up to you forever. hugs galore. Bee!

Go Caitlin, Hetal and Bee!

Special thanks to the students at James Cook School who made me a special piece of art saying the word “hope” in braille. It’s at the picture framers getting foam backed and when it’s back I’ll take a photo and add it to this blog.

It was awesome – check out the pics! 299 kids that had heard Christian Cullen in the morning – then they sat so patiently through that blind woman too!

Here’s what Lisa emailed me after the event.

To Julie
”Hi Julie it’s Lisa here from Rutherford Junior High Intermediate School”
The answer to the question is why not. It must have been hard learning how to read braille with your fingers.You are a brilliant cook.
From Lisa
Please write back Thank You

Go Lisa!

Thanks too to Devon and Grace (who are shown in the pic) who helped me set up!

Woo hoo!