Sarah Kassim
Visually Impaired Teacher, Truman School and West Jefferson High

What is the best part about teaching? 

• The best part that I enjoy about teaching is seeing the students learn Braille. I am a Braille fan and I am all for literacy. I feel it is very important that students learn how to read and write in Braille. 

Is there a quote or saying you live by?

• Since I am a teacher of visually impaired and blind students, there are 2 quotes I live by. The first one is "blindness is not a disability, it's a different ability." Another is "Braille rocks!" It's a short quote that we always say in our class. 

What is the best thing about working at your school?

• The best thing that I enjoy about working at this school and other schools I visit is spreading awareness about blindness and visually impaired students. Instead of just working with students, I like to enlighten the teachers and staff. I've even taken the Braille sheet out and showed them how they can better support the students. I feel like my role aside from teaching is to advocate for students and spread awareness to make them more comfortable in their school. 

Why is your role very important at school?

• I feel my role is very important, being that there are not too many visually impaired teachers. We have a large population of blind and visually impaired students so I feel like it's important that I make sure I work with other teachers to provide a fair education for my students. 

What motivates you to do your job?

• What motivates me is seeing the kids every day and seeing the smile on their faces. I also love it when they are having fun while learning.

What is your favorite sport? 

• I actually have 2 favorite sports. One is soccer. We always get together with the family and we watch soccer tournaments or games like the World Cup. My second favorite sport is swimming. My kids are both on swim teams, even my blind daughter. I enjoy supporting them and watching them because it's a self-motivated skill, so you are working for yourself.