Girl wins in Braille contest
Star-Bulletin staff
HILO » Cricket Bidleman, 9, of Waimea on the Big Island won second place in her age category in a national Braille contest for blind students, the Braille Institute of America announced.
The National Braille Challenge took place last month in Los Angeles.
Cricket was one of 60 students chosen to compete out of an initial field of 500. The contest called for the entrants to transcribe, type and read Braille on a machine called a Perkins Brailler.
Born in China, Cricket lived in an orphanage until age 4 when her adoptive parents, Clifford and Sally, brought her to America. This is the third year in a row that Cricket has won in the annual Braille contest. This year, she received $1,000 and a trophy.