Event description

We’re taking over Columbia Center Mall in Kennewick for a day packed with adventure, good food, and great company.

Put your O&M skills to the test with a mall-wide scavenger hunt, then navigate your way to exactly what you’re craving in the food court – because lunch is your choice!

You can expect to learn tech designed to help you navigate the busy mall environment, plus a personalized 1:1 lesson with a certified O&M specialist.

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.