Staff photo by Fritz Busch Colton Reinhart, 11, of New Ulm holds the Braille Challenge 3rd place award he received June 27 at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

NEW ULM — For the second straight year, a New Ulm grade school student proved to be one of the brightest kids in the world, competing in the Braille Challenge Finals June 25-27 in Los Angeles.

Colton Reinhart placed third among fifth- and sixth-graders in the only academic competition of its kind for blind and visually impaired students to display braille literacy skills.

“It was pretty similar to last year,” he said about the event. “I did a lot of studying and practicing for the finals and regional contest at Bethel University last winter. I like the friendly competition, testing my skills and making friends.”

“We noticed many of the same families and winners we met last year at meet and greet events,” said his mother Ashley Reinhart. “It was great for Minnesota too with four students among 50 finalists. They included third- and fourth-grade division winner Elizabeth Cibuzar of Prior Lake, who also had a perfect spelling test score. She is the niece of Mary Fischer of New Ulm.”

The other Minnesota students competing in the contest were from Blaine and Andover.

“I think most of the kids really enjoyed the pool party in Los Angeles that included lots of flotation devices,” said Ashley Reinart. “The traffic was heavy and there were big crowds all over including L.A. International Airport due to the World Cup (soccer tournament).”

Reinhart finished third in his division last year too but was the only contestant among all 50 to record a perfect 100% score on his 40-question, timed reading comprehension test with 10 questions following each of four reading passages.

He also competed in spelling and proofreading tests in which he found mistakes in Braille passages.

Students took a series of timed tests of speed and accuracy, charts and graphs, proofreading, spelling, and reading comprehension.

More than 2,000 students in grades 1-12 competed regionally last winter. From there, the top 50 students from around the world were invited to compete in the Braille Challenge at the University of Southern California.

In 25 years, the event has grown from a local initiative to a global movement, reaching students, teachers, and partners on multiple continents, underscoring the universal important of braille literacy as a pathway to education, independence, and opportunity.

The three-day celebration brought top finalists for testing, workshops, student events, and special programming for families and educators.

Colton Reinhart said he’s looking forward to taking a family vacation to San Diego in July.

“We haven’t been there but we’ve heard wonderful things about it from people who visited there,” said Ashley Reinhart.

For more information, visit https://www.brailleinstitute.org/braille-challenge/finals.