VIDBE-Q 2025 Volume 70 Issue 3
the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation,
conversed with the Anchorage Police Department School Resource Officers about
safety and disability disclosure, practiced balance, falling and self-defense skills
with Alaska Jundokan (a non-profit, volunteer martial arts school), experienced
blind soccer with the non-profit Challenge AK, hiked and snowshoed with support
from the Bureau of Land Management and learned to ice-fish in the winter in
partnership with the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and the
Anchorage Parks Foundation. Our ice fishing experience provided the capstone
winter travel experience. Everyone used ice cleats to walk confidently on the ice
and their canes with Dakota Disk tips to detect cracks in the ice and navigate
around either open or previously opened holes in the ice. Proper outdoor clothing
facilitated being out on the ice for several hours. The caught fish were taken home
by two students who are both Alaska Native and then shared with a grandmother
and school Yu'pik teacher who both prepared the fish using traditional methods.
Another unique opportunity was meeting a local celebrity in person, Star the
Reindeer. Our students got to feed Star apples from their open outstretched palms
and feel the thickness of her hollow fur, all while utilizing upper protective
technique (a fantastic natural learning opportunity to stay safe from those swinging
antlers as Star went from student to student looking for apples). Our younger
students in small groups have also toured the Anchorage Fire Department,
