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Article published Dec 7, 2004
School for deaf and blind honors Allison

ASHLEI N. STEVENS
Staff Writer

The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind is naming its new teacher computer lab for Rita A. Allison.Allison, a Lyman native who has served in several capacities in the state Legislature, was instrumental in creating a graduate program to train teachers in visual impairment education at the University of South Carolina Upstate, said Sheila Breitweiser, president of the School for the Deaf and the Blind.The dedication ceremony for The Rita A. Allison Assistive Technology Training Lab will be held today. "We had no question it was going to be named after her," Breitweiser said. "It wouldn't even be there if it weren't for her."Allison also set up a $50,000 continuing grant and helped acquire a one-time $150,000 grant from the state Department of Education to equip the Vision Teacher Training program at USC Upstate."Because of the grant, we now have a lab to train teachers around the state on new technology," Breitweiser said. "I really feel we owe this program to her."Allison also is working with Breitweiser on reapplying for a federal grant of $800,000.The Allison lab was created through a partnership among SCSDB, USC Upstate, the state Department of Education, the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina.The lab opened about six months ago, but it will be fully equipped this week with Braille keyboards and printers, and computers with unique audio features.Allison said she is honored to have the lab named after her."Great collaboration between USC Upstate and SCSDB is what it takes to really stay abreast of technology in the 21st century," Allison said. "We're going to be able to do a lot more to train teachers."Allison is now education adviser to Gov. Mark Sanford and communications director for the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.She formerly served in the state House of Representatives for 10 years, as the chairwoman of the K-12 and Special Schools Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, as chairwoman of the Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation, as a board member for Spartanburg School District 5 and as a board member of the R.D. Anderson Vocational School.Ashlei N. Stevens can be reached at 562-7425 or ashlei.stevens@shj.com.