Honoring Val Ogden

Sunday, February 03, 2008
By Stephanie Rice, Columbian Staff Writer

Nearing 84, the lawmaker still lobbies for blind students

Former legislator Val Ogden used her birthday party Saturday as an opportunity to show the Washington School for the Blind campus to well-connected well-wishers, including Gov. Chris Gregoire.

As the name of the school’s Ogden Resource Center attests, Odgen has long championed the needs of students.

Addressing the crowd of approximately 100 in the Emil Fries Auditorium, Ogden asked how many people were in the beautifully restored concert hall for the first time.

Several hands went up.

"That’s the reason we decided to do this," she said.

Ogden, a Democrat who served the 49th District in the state House of Representatives from 1990 to 2002, turns 84 on Feb. 11.

She and her husband, Dan, entered the auditorium to applause Saturday and were followed in by Gregoire.

Superintendent Dean Stenehjem recalled for the crowd how Ogden was recruited to help change state law in regard to requirements for teaching the blind. Advocates worked seven years to get the legislation passed, and toward the end they sent Ogden a banner with the Nike slogan, "Just Do It," written in Braille.

Before Ogden’s legislation, most school districts in the state served blind students by having a sighted person read to them. When they graduated, then, they were illiterate.

Today, a warehouse in the Ogden Resource Center stores 10,000 items which are used not just by the 70 students at the school but by 1,400 students statewide. The center also makes materials, such as voters’ guides, for the blind and visually impaired.

Gregoire said the resource center has produced more than seven million pages in Braille since opening in 2003.

"That, my friend, is a legacy second to none," Gregoire said.

"You’re here to thank her on behalf of this community," Gregoire told the crowd. "I come on behalf of six-and-half million Washingtonians."

Student Karley Patching, 11, read aloud birthday cards created by her fellow students.

One boy wrote to Ogden, "Because of you, I can read."

Stephanie Rice can be contacted at 360-735-4549 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.

Photos by Janet L. Mathews/The Columbian
Val Ogden spent most of her birthday reception, which was hosted Saturday by the Washington School for the Blind Foundation, educating the crowd about the school. “This is a facility that teaches life skills,” Ogden said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, left, led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” on Saturday to former lawmaker Val Ogden, center, with Ogden’s husband of 61 years, Dan.

Val Ogden thanks fifth-grade student Karley Patching, 11, after Patching read birthday cards that were made by her classmates at the Washington School for the Blind.

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