Event description

Meet us at the Valley Mall for a fun-filled adventure packed with mall travel, mouthwatering food, and a trip to the movies!

You’ll get hands-on with the latest tech to help you navigate the mall like a pro, plus enjoy your very own 1:1 lesson with a certified O&M specialist. When hunger strikes, you’ll practice ordering your own lunch – because nothing tastes better than independence!

Then we’re heading to the theater, where you’ll learn to navigate theater-style seating like a total pro, order your own movie snacks, and settle in for the show. For those using audio description, we’ve got you covered with a lesson to make the most of that feature, so you don’t miss a single moment of action.

You’ll also will have the opportunity to practice work readiness skills, including:

• Sensory Regulation: Managing the sights, crowds, background music, and varying common scents in a mall setting, using tools like visual timers or noise-canceling headphones.
• Financial Literacy: Creating spending budgets, carrying exact cash, and utilizing ATMs or debit cards independently.
• Navigation & Mobility: Identifying store layouts, locating entrances and exits, understanding mall directories, and planning transit to and from the location.
• Safety Awareness: Identifying security personnel, locating emergency exits, and knowing who to safely ask for help if confused.

About our instructors

River Ridge Vision Services is led by Kina Griffith, TVI, COMS, and Brittany Valicoff, TBLVL, COMS bringing decades of combined experience serving students who are blind or have low vision throughout the Yakima Valley.

Kina founded RRVS after 15 years with the Yakima School District as a TBLVL/COMS, holding a bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University and a master’s in special education from Portland State University, where she also earned her Visually Impaired Learner and Certified Orientation and Mobility Endorsements. Brittany brings 13 years as a Teacher of Blind/Low Vision Learners and 6 years as a COMS, and is passionate about empowering students to build independence and confidence. Both contract with DSB, and RRVS provides functional vision assessments, learning media assessments, CVI Range evaluations, orientation and mobility instruction, assistive technology training, and IEP support, with programming grounded in the Expanded Core Curriculum.

Kina and Brittany are longtime, active members of the Washington vision education community: Kina served as President of PNWAER for six years and Secretary for three, while Brittany served six years on the PNWAER board and volunteers with the North West Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA) and the Lions Club.

Registration information

Please register online by August 3, 2026. Contact Jazmin Rials with questions or for more information.