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On Friday 8 March I visited Whakatane Intermediate School as part of Operation Truffle. From my travelling suitcase I unpacked all of my Cooking Without Looking gear, and in front of a school assembly I told my story. Which started in the hospital waiting room in 1997, where I was about to be declared legally blind, and ended up in Paris for Louis Braille’s 200th birthday bash! While I was doing this I was also making my famous truffles!
I also shared with the school how turning my “no” into “why not” has lead me to walk seven half marathons, go to Premier House and speak to Prime Minister John Key, touch the great Pyramids in Egypt and write my own book!
I then presented this book to the school as I actively encouraged questions from the students. 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 to learn loads of new skills!”
“You get to travel”
“You get to be an inspiration to others!”
“You get to find out who you are!”
And finally……
“You don’t have to worry about what wallpaper is on the wall!”
Perhaps the feedback I have had from the students can be best summed up by Jade who emailed me saying:
“hi Julie it’s jade here from whakatane intermediate school I worked out the braille code as soon as I found the first letter and saw it was two words its WHY NOT! i want to say thank-you for coming to our school you nearly made me cry because your so happy and such an inspiration to so much people! my friend gave me some truffle because shes a class Councillor it was absolutely beautiful! the best i ever had thanks again for coming you rock!”
Special thanks go to Gemma, Victor, Cheyenne and Taylah for their emails.
And congratulations also to Paige, Angel and Portia for texting the correct answer for the braille message which read why not!
Go Jade!!
Go Whakatane Intermediate.
The visit to Whakatane Intermediate was made possible by product sponsorship from Pams and RJ’s Licorice. Brian Skilling from Little Orchard Preschool was responsible for hosting me in Whakatane as well as transporting me to and from Dunedin!
On Thursday March 8 I got the opportunity to visit Te Puke Intermediate School as part of my nationwide project aimed at inspiring kiwi kids.
Named after my famous truffle recipe, “Operation Truffle” is my project to visit the 119 Intermediate Schools around the country.,
On Thursday March 8 it was Te Puke Intermediate’s turn to host Operation Truffle. From my travelling suitcase I unpacked all of my Cooking Without Looking gear, and in front of a full school assembly told my story, which started in the hospital waiting room in 1997, where I was about to be declared legally blind, and ended up in Paris for Louis Braille’s 200th birthday bash! While I was doing this I was also making my famous truffles! I also shared with the school how turning my “no” into “why not” has lead me to walk seven half marathons, go to Premier House and speak to Prime Minister John Key, walk along the Great Wall of China and write my own book!
I then presented this book to the school as I actively encouraged questions from the students. 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 to experience new things”
“You get to go to lots of cool places!”
“you get to use your other senses!”
Perhaps the feedback I’ve had from the students can be encapsulated by the following email.
“Hi Julie its Shanae Brown from Te Puke Intermediate School.
I just wanted to say that i have worked out the secret braille it is Why Not. I believe in this saying and use it in the future instead of No.
Also Thank you for coming to our school and i hope we will cross paths again in the future.”
Go Shanae!
Thanks to Jaspreet, Jessica, Chloe, Johnny, Nicole, Sarah, Ranjot, Dylan, Ella and Tusani for their awesome messages too!
Go Te Puke Intermediate.
Special thanks to Air NZ and Tauranga Zonta for getting that blind woman to Te Puke Intermediate.
The truffles were made possible by product sponsorship from Pams and RJ’s Licorice.
And check out the school cat called appropriately – I got a cuddle after I’d done my demonstration!
Woo hoo!
Last Friday I visited Longford Intermediate School, the most southern Intermediate school in NZ!
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.
On Friday 25 November, 2011, it was Dunedin North Intermediate’s turn to host Operation Truffle.
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!
On Friday July 1, I visited BalmacewenIntermediateSchool as part of my nationwide project aimed at inspiring kiwi kids.
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 Keller was born on this day in 1880. If you don’t know much about her then read on.
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!
Who was born on this day in June 27?
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!
Yes – that’s right – Operation Truffle is hitting TV 1 tomorrow morning – Sunday 26 June, at 8.30 am.
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!
Wehn I visited Wanganui recently for the Disability May Day, I received some fabulous art work from one of the schools who attended my Cooking Without Looking demonstration – – James Cook.
Check it out!
It says “hope” in braille!
Go James Cook School!
You are all rock stars!
Operation Truffle 