Elementary education students from UNA will soon have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller’s famous teacher, through working at “Camp Courage,” an educational outreach project, as announced in a press conference at Bibb Graves Hall on Thursday, Sept. 5. The camp will be sponsored by UNA, as well as the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Keller Birthplace Foundation and the American Optometric Association.

“Camp Courage – an intensive broad-based three-day program designed for hearing-impaired and visually-impaired children between the ages of seven and 14 – will take place Oct. 24-26 at Ivy Green, the historic birthplace of Helen Keller,” read the conference’s press release from the Office of University Communications.

Speakers at the conference included UNA President William Cale, Samuel Pierce, a trustee of the American Optometric Association Board, Mike McMackin, president of the Helen Keller Birthplace Foundation and Russ Darracott, assistant director for graduate admissions at UNA.

Due to sponsorships on the university and corporate levels, the camp will be free to students, Mackin said.

“Basically, Camp Courage is something we are hoping to take and develop (into) the Helen Keller experience, along with Anne Sullivan, (where we hope to) take these campers who have disabilities and show them that, (despite) these disabilities, they can truly make a difference in their life and someone else’s life and the life of others in society,” Darracott said, who also serves on the Keller Birthplace board of directors, in addition to the Camp Courage committee, at the conference.

Instructors and students from both UNA and UAB will have the opportunity to be directly involved in the camp’s planning and operation. Activities will include field trips, drama, arts and crafts, discussions about the life of Helen Keller, according to the press release.

“Some (of the UNA students assisting with camp) are undergraduate and some are graduate students hoping to get a degree in special education,” said Victoria Hulsey, interim chair of the department of elementary education at UNA. “The benefits for these students (will be to receive) specialized training (to assist with the camp) and individual interaction with the campers themselves.”