Mary is a 6th grade honor student at a middle school in the southeastern United States. As in elementary school, Mary is the only blind student at her school. She is mainstreamed right alongside her peers at school. She plays the violin and the piano, but her first love is singing. Mary has sung in various retirement homes in her community, and hopes to do more singing in the future. She recently got to meet her favorite jazz singer who is also totally blind! A little known fact of Mary is that she has a wonderful voice talent for radio drama. To hear a sample clip of Mary’s imitations (hold on, you won’t believe it!), go to www.juanamikels.com, click on “Mary’s Story,” and then click the light blue button that says “You gotta hear this.” Mary loves all people, and especially her new friends at MIRA!