Learning English and Braille, teen takes on many challenges

Not much to say, except "Wow!"   - - Donna Poisl

By: Jennifer Johnson, Grand Forks Herald

Jyoti Rai sat slightly hunched over a table Wednesday at Red River High School, fingers clutching a small stylus as she rapidly nicked a piece of paper clasped between two plastic slates.

After a few moments, the ninth-grader removed the paper and flipped it over, running her fingers over the top to check her work. Rai, who was born in a Nepalese refugee camp, is blind and has been using the Braille slate for the past eight years.

Rai represents the district’s first blind English language learner student and is one of a growing number of refugees, particularly ethnic Nepalese from Bhutan, who have been attending area schools. The district has added about 28 refugee students each year since 2008, according to last year’s annual district report.
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