Fourth grade students at Middle Gate Elementary School explored how other people may experience life on Wednesday, February 15, at rotating stations for the school's annual Diversity Day.

At one station, students were blindfolded before they used a cane to navigate walking around plastic cones. After, while still blindfolded, students tried writing their own name on one of the walls in the gymnasium. At another station students maneuvered around cones while in a wheelchair, and at another students wore gloves while trying to do a number of activities involving fine motor skills.

The day was coordinated by volunteers and the school's Safe School Climate Committee,  according to fourth grade teacher Linda Baron. Middle Gate PTA President Debbie DeBlasi said PTA member Jennifer Chaudhary puts "heart, organization, and energy" into running the program each year.

"The end result is that the children come out of this event with more understanding and empathy and really appreciate the needs of others," said Ms DeBlasi.

Visiting specialists also offered lessons for the students. In one room, Monica Cegelka, who has worked with students with hearing loss for more than 25 years and who works for Soundbridge in Wethersfield, shared information about hearing loss. She also offered a few demonstrations and lessons for the students. One lesson asked the students to raise their hands once they heard her make a noise while she was covering her face with a piece of paper. The students were surprised by how fast their ear picked up the noise without seeing her mouth moving.

Sisters Suzanne Cappiello and Michele Finkenstadt teamed up in the gymnasium to run lessons on blindness and Braille. Ms Cappiello is employed by the state's Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind as an education consultant and vision teacher and Ms Finkenstadt is a Braille transcriptionist with Newtown's visually impaired students.

Ms Cappiello and Ms Finkenstadt shared a number of demonstrations about using Braille and students tested their newly learned skills through activities.

Later, after lunch, Rebecca O'Brien, a registered dietitian who works for Whitsons Culinary Group, which provides food services for Newtown Public Schools, also talked with students, according to Ms Baron.