Smithsonian – Mr B’s Classroom

It is always an awesome day when I get another Ability Guidebook finished! This February I was in Washington, D.C. to attend the NEA Foundation Gala and took the opportunity to get pictures for several books.

Many thanks to Precious Crabtree and Kristen Record. The three of us were NEA Global Fellows together in Peru and this is not the first time I’ve dragged poor Kristen off to pose for a book.

In July I have the honor of speaking at the Lincoln Memorial during the Save Our Schools rally and march and in 2017 the NNSTOY conference will be in Washington. It is my hope by the end of these visits that I will be able to do books for all of the Smithsonian Museums!

I lament that the West Coast does not have a Smithsonian Museum, in fact, more than lament it, I protest it! The National Mall offers free museums for Native American History, African American History, the Holocaust Museum, that National Gallery and more… all free to all comers. But all those free museums are lumped in a few acres almost 3000 miles away from Portland. As much as I’d like to make books for, say, the Smithsonian Museum of Northwest Culture in Portland, Oregon, I’ll hope that day comes some day and in the meantime I will create books for the Smithsonian Museums we do have.

So, without further ado:

Ability Guidebook_ I Am Going To The Renwick Gallery

Brett Bigham is the 2014 Oregon State Teacher of the Year and was awarded an NEA National Award for Teaching Excellence in 2015.

As many of you know, I have been working on my Ability Guidebooks for years but I had always stuck pretty close to home. It was a big deal to me when I made the book for the Oregon City Elevator and Willametter Falls because they were my first books outside of Portland.

Last week I posted my new book for the Inca Museum in Cusco, Peru and was thrilled to have gone international. Today I am crossing the country and presenting my newest guide: I Am Going To The National Museum of the American Indian.

Since being Teacher of the Year I have travelled over 85,000 miles and visited many different states. I’ve taken pictures for books on every trip. My goal is to get the ball rolling in other cities with the hopes other teachers may create more books for their community.

In February I attended the NEA Gala in Washington D.C. as part of being an NEA Global Fellowand took the opportunity to visit the museum. I’m super excited that students and people with autism will now have this guide on how to visit the museum. I hope it makes their world a little bit bigger and a little bit better.Ability Guidebook Museum of the American Indian

A Little Bit About Brett….

Brett Bigham is the 2014 Oregon State Teacher of the Year and the recipient of a 2015 NEA National Award for Excellence in Education. He is the first Oregon Special Education Teacher to be named with these honors.

As a 2015 NEA Global Fellow Brett travelled to Peru to meet with Peruvian teachers, students and dignitaries. He has visited schools in more than 20 countries and is proud to be a voice both here and abroad for people with disabilities. He has created Ability Guidebooks for people with autism or who are near-diverse.

In 2015 Brett was honored with the NEA LGBT National Teacher Role Model Award and he is proud to advocate for LGBT teachers and youth.

In July Brett will be presenting at the NNSTOY conference in Chicago and at the Save Our Schools Rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall and Conference at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Tag: Smithsonian

I Am Going to the Renwick Gallery! A new Ability Guidebook for people with autism.

My Newest Ability Guidebook!! National Museum of the American Indian in D.C.