By: Seth Johnson

As a high school student dealing with vision loss due to cone-rod dystrophy, James Michaels remembers the transformative impact Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) had on his life.

Now, decades later, the ISBVI alumnus is excited to empower individuals like himself as the school’s new superintendent.

“I felt different growing up and didn’t want to be different — I wanted to be like the other kids,” Michaels recalls of dealing with vision loss as a teenager. “I didn’t want people to know that I couldn’t see very well. But when I went to the school, within three or four weeks, I realized I wasn’t so different — I just had to do things in a different way. I learned the kids at Indiana School for the Blind and the kids at public school…they’re all just kids. So my self-esteem and self-confidence grew so much over those two years when I was there. I felt like, ‘Man, I’m okay. It’s okay to be who I am.’”

Following in the footsteps of longtime superintendent James Durst — who served as ISBVI’s superintendent for more than 30 years — Michaels enters his new role at ISBVI with a wealth of experience in the field of serving those with disabilities. Having most recently worked at Bosma Enterprises as the Vice President of Program Services, Michaels has also previously held positions with ISBVI (as a social worker), at Indiana School for the Deaf (as a residential supervisor), and at State of Indiana Blind and Visually Impaired Services (as a counselor).

“I have the background of working with adults and helping them ready themselves for the next step after a visual impairment, and I also have the time I’ve had working with kids and being a part of their educational programming as well,” Michaels says. “So I just felt like it was the right time for me, and I feel like I have some experiences that can help get us [at ISBVI] to the next level.”

In his new role as superintendent, Michaels has several areas he plans to focus on when it comes to leading ISBVI into the future. First and foremost, he believes assistive technology is key. “We have to become the leaders in technology at Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and have these kids ready for when they graduate,” Michaels says. Stemming from this point, Michaels says he would also like to see the school improve on its graduation rate overall.

“I really want to see our graduation rate increase,” Michaels says. “This past year, it was really good, but the last five years, it wasn’t where we’d want it to be. So I want to see the graduation rate improve.”

In reflecting on students’ success post-graduation, Michaels also says he would like to continue improving on ISBVI’s Extended Core Curriculum.

“With our Extended Core Curriculum, I want to continue building upon what we’ve got going now,” he says. “Extended Core Curriculum is where we look at things like independent living skills and experiential kinds of things in the community.”

While ISBVI is currently serving hundreds of students who are blind or have low vision — both on the school’s campus and through outreach — Michaels also hopes the school can serve an even bigger population of Indiana youth going forward.

“There are a lot of kids out there that I feel like we’re not tapping into, and we need to have our expertise at the table for those kids as they grow,” Michaels says. “According to the CDC, about 48,000 kids under the age of 18 in the state of Indiana are dealing with vision loss. If that’s the case, what can we do to help get them the services they need to change the trajectory of their lives? Just like it changed the trajectory of mine.”

As he continues to keep tabs on ways he’d like to see ISBVI improve, Michaels says he will ultimately do a great deal of listening.

“I’m not going to come in with my team acting like I know everything,” Michaels says.” I have a plan, and they all know my core strategies. But I’m going to do a lot of listening in the beginning.”

At the end of the day, his hope is to be a role model for the students at ISBVI as someone who is also blind.

“I’m also a person who’s blind,” Michaels says. “I’ve lived it when I had a lot of vision, and I’ve lived it without any vision. So I feel like I can be a really good role model for these kids too.”