Napa teen who was born blind gets 2nd shot at international Braille competition in LA

For 14-year old Napa native Miel McGrath, competing at this year’s Braille Challenge against 49 other blind and visually impaired students isn’t a new experience.

But it could be a moment for her to shine.

The challenge, hosted Saturday by the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, will offer students the chance to compete on their braillers — similar to a manual typewriter — in five skill categories, including reading comprehension; spelling; chart and graph reading; proofreading; and speed and accuracy.

With 10 students competing in five categories based on their grade, each competitor had to achieve the highest scores in a braille literacy testing competition out of 1,100 students across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.

McGrath, who was born blind, has been competing in the challenge since she was in third grade. But this is only the second time she’s made it to the finals.

“I’m excited, I think it can get a little nerve-wracking because you only get 25 minutes per test and you have to finish those,” McGrath said. “I think it's really fun and I always try to do my best and I'm always excited, and it's also good because you can meet other kids there and I've made a lot of friends there.”

The competition will include a welcome reception, parent workshops and a closing dinner and awards ceremony. Winners of the competition receive cash prizes, certificates and braille devices.

A recent graduate of Unidos Middle School, McGrath will compete in the junior varsity category, which includes seventh to ninth graders.

“Some people probably study maybe months, some days,” said McGrath, when asked how she prepares for the competition. “It just depends on the person, but I try and do it as much as I can.”

McGrath studies for the highly anticipated competition with the help of her teacher, Dustin St. John, who works for the Napa Valley Unified School District, in assisting McGrath inside and outside the classroom.

“I teach her everything to access her curriculum for her general ed classes,” St. John said. “So a lot of that is just a lot of preparation for this academic challenge.”

McGrath, who said her favorite subject is English, will head to Napa High school in the fall. There, she’ll also join choir.

“I also really like reading and writing,” McGrath said. “I read a lot and I’ve also written some stories just in my free time, and then outside of school I’ve done a lot of singing, and I also play the piano and recently started songwriting.”

McGrath also runs track with the help of a tethered guide, participates in a Napa Valley theater group called Cafeteria Kids and listens to her favorite singers of the moment, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.

“My dream job is being a singer or doing something in the music industry because I’ve been doing music for a while,” she said.

Living in Napa her whole life, McGrath shared that she enjoyed attending her elementary school as she was growing up due to it being dual immersion, in which both English and Spanish are taught, and that she’s been able to make some incredible friends.

“There’s a lot of vineyards, a lot of wine, and sometimes it’s hard to find things to do, but it’s OK,” McGrath said with a laugh.