KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A rising high school freshman came away with a first place trophy in a North American competition for the visually impaired.
Last month, KSHB 41 introduced you to some of the area’s best at Braille who were competing at a national level. One of them won top honors representing the community.
Brooke Petro said she was nervous when testing began.
"Felt my hands sweating, which you know when you have to type with them is not exactly the best thing," she said.
Years of preparation started to pay off.
"Once I started testing, and my, my experience just kind of took over and I went and just did it," Petro said.
A rising high school freshman, she’s had her sights set on a gold medal for a while. Her mom, Lyn, can recall that first conversation.
"We were driving home from the regional challenge after kindergarten and she said, 'Mom, I'm gonna make it to nationals next year.'"
Pandemic protocols made for a remote competition this year, and a live stream of the final results.
"I was watching the live stream of the ceremony at home with my sister," Petro said. "And when they called my name I think she screamed louder than I did."
The Petros had a good reason to be excited. The Braille Challenge featured 52 finalists in five age groups. Petro was one of five first place winners in the North American competition, but this achievement didn’t happen overnight.
"If you give kids early intervention, literacy skills and the support that they need, you know, they will succeed. It's no different than a print reader," Lyn Petro said.
Brooke Petro said she wants all of her peers in her community to have the same chance.
"Having a disability being visually impaired can be a little bit of a downer sometimes but having this thing, saying 'yeah, I have this competition, it's for me and I excel at it,' — it makes me very proud and I think that all blind kids should have that experience," she said.
Opening those doors of opportunity goes well beyond a competition that has an age cutoff at high school graduation.
"There's no reason that they can't live independently or get a job. It's just they have to be given the chance, and so we as a society need to give them opportunities to live independently, and, you know, make enough money to where they can you know get an apartment or live on their own," her mother said. "We want her to experience life just like anyone else and hopefully achieve success, like other people."
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