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Saint Peter's Sight-Saving Class By Mike Esposito As St. Peter's Parish in Troy celebrates its 175th Anniversary it can be justly proud of its many contributions to its parishioners and to area residents. An example of concern and dedication was the establishment of St. Peter's Sight-Saving Class, a classroom for children with vision problems, which existed from 1944 to 1973. It was the only school of its kind in the area. According to the pamphlet Sight-Saving Classes: Their Organization and Administration, "the sight-saving class as a form of specialized education originated in England in 1908. The first sight-saving class in the United States was established in Boston in April 1913". Many years later in referring to St. Peter's program in a 1967 article in The Evangelist, Mary Millard wrote that the aims were "to save sight, to help children keep up scholastically by providing work in large print, to help them develop the keen senses of hearing and concentration, and to help them accept and adjust to their limitations". The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet opened St. Peter's School in 1864 and taught there until 1978, the year the school closed. Sr. Jane Rapp was the instructor at the sight-saving class from its first year in 1944 to 1960 and later from 1967 until 1973 when the class was discontinued. Instructors following Sr. Jane were Sr. Anna Pauline Carrigan, 1960-1963, and Sr. Gabriel Francis Murray, 1963-1967. Sr. Agnes Kelly of Albany's Convent of the Sacred Heart, explained that the Kenwood Braille Association supplied the books and equipment for the sight-saving class through funds raised by the Association's Albany thrift shop which closed in 1992. (The Association has a long history of supporting programs for area residents with vision problems.) A typical pupil in the sight-saving class was a child with progressive eye troubles or a disease of the eye that seriously affected vision, or one who may have been able to read ordinary print but only at the expense of their vision or general health. Classroom teachers, a school doctor or nurse, a parent or family physician were most likely to be the first to observe children with eye problems. Students learned the same lessons taught in any school but classroom equipment and procedures and the method of instruction were modified so students could use their eyes as little as possible. Mary Millard's article reported that the children attended regular classes for science, social studies, history, religion and art. In their "home-room" classes (the sight-saving class) the children were in different grade levels and often required individual instruction. Average enrollment in a class was twelve. A classroom environment was created to provide adequate natural and artificial lighting and elimination of glare, in a room large enough to provide adequate space for pupils to move around. At St. Peter's this was a corner room with four large windows. Seats were adjustable. Desktops were adjustable to support books at the proper reading angle. Walls, woodwork, and blackboards contained a dull, non-glare surface. Teaching supplies included oversized, clear-type books with 24 point type, typewriters with large, clear keys, extra large world globes with land areas in relief, a large-print dictionary braced on a movable stand, magnifying glasses, pens and pencils that made broad, heavy, even lines, unglazed manila paper, and other materials usable or adaptable to weak eyes. Notebooks contained cream-colored sheets of unglazed paper, ruled with green lines spaced three-quarters of an inch apart. Some lessons would be done on blackboards (which were dark green to offer visual help) to ease the eyestrain caused by paperwork. Oral instruction was emphasized. In some sight-saving classrooms pupils used a Dictaphone. Instead of reading an assignment they would listen to the spoken question and then type the answer. Larraine Colvin Downes who was referred to the program by Troy ophthalmologist Dr. John Sulzman, attended sight saving classes from grades 3 to 6 (1948-1952). She remembers that Bill Fountain was responsible for providing transportation to the class for several South End children. Larraine and classmate Raymond Bonneau of Cohoes, who attended classes from grades 1 to 5 with his sister, Ida, remember the value of the one-on-one instruction they received from Sr. Jane and the annual summer picnics at the Kenwood Academy in Albany. They credit Sr. Jane with making it possible for them to return to regular classes after several years of special education. Hundreds of area children were able to continue their education in regular classes as a result of the nearly thirty years of support from St. Peter's Parish and the Kenwood Braille Association and the dedication and encouragement of Sr. Jane, Sr. Anna Pauline and Sr. Gabriel Francis. This article would not have been possible without the assistance of Sr. Ann Clark, Sr. Rita Michael and Sr. Charla Wimple of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and Sr. Agnes Kelly of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Special thanks to Larraine Colvin Downes and Ray Bonneau who shared their memories of the Sight-Saving Class and to St. Peter's parishioners, Maureen Noonan and Peg Noonan Dorn. Editor's Note: As a child I remember "our" sight saving class, the children and the dedicated teachers. It makes us proud now to remember and highlight their contributions to the community today in our community newsletter. In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation 
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