PARKVILLE, Md. — The Maryland School for the Blind is inviting the community to spend a day learning, playing and seeing the world from a different perspective at its annual See Beyond Festival.
The free event brings together students, staff, families and visitors for a day of music, food trucks, sports demonstrations and hands-on activities designed to showcase how people who are blind or visually impaired navigate everyday life.
For 18-year-old student Eboni Garrett, the school has been like a second home since she enrolled at just three years old.
"If one person comes in, we do treat them like they're family," Garrett said.
Garrett credits the school and its athletic programs with helping shape who she is today.
"I always played sports. Sports is a big part of my life," she said. "It's how I experience different things and new opportunities and just overall really found myself as a person."
Athletics are a major part of campus life, according to longtime coach Chris Wellman, who has worked at the school for nearly 40 years.
"Soccer is a sport that's played all around the world, and if you have a visual impairment, there's no difference," Wellman said.
The school's close-knit atmosphere is something Wellman knows personally. His father taught there before him, and his daughter attended the school as a student.
"There's a lot of excellent things that go on here at school, so I'm glad to be a part of it," he said.
Garrett now gives back by volunteering at the See Beyond Festival, where she helps younger students and introduces visitors to adapted sports.
"I just like seeing people, how they see us at first, but then after, their whole experience changes and their thought process," Garrett said. "Even though we have disabilities, we still are people at the end of the day."
Superintendent Rob Hair says that's exactly the goal of the festival.
"What they're going to learn is to do things with adaptations," Hair said. "I hope they'll walk away from this not only having fun but having learned something about what we do at the school."
Founded in 1853, the Maryland School for the Blind serves students from across the state, helping them develop academic, athletic and independent-living skills. Hair says many students grow up attending programs, camps and activities at the school, creating lifelong connections.
"It's a real feeling of closeness," he said.
The school is also nearing completion of a new gymnasium and aquatics complex, which will include both a competitive swimming pool and a sensory pool designed for students with multiple disabilities and young children.
The See Beyond Festival will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Maryland School for the Blind in Parkville. Admission is free and open to the public.
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