In May 2023, a group of seven students at Dante Alighieri Academy were awarded the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program (RHFSP) Difference Maker of the Year Award.
These students worked closely with their teacher, Mr. Angelo Tocco, to develop an educational video to raise awareness around accessibility and inclusion. They called themselves the Dante Accessibility Team. This is their story.
As a teacher who has hearing loss, Mr. Tocco uses an app on his phone that translates speech to text, so he can understand the students. Upon seeing how Mr. Tocco used this app, the students took it upon themselves to download it onto their phones and to use the smartphone's mic to transcribe voice to text.
“What was so inspiring for me was how the students put in such an effort to help make communication more accessible and more inclusive,” Mr. Tocco commented.
After discussing it as a group, the students and Mr. Tocco thought, “What if we go on this journey to educate the whole staff and student body?” This was the start of their journey to creating an educational video called “Exploring Speech To Text, Inclusion and Belonging.” The video focuses on addressing information and communication barriers, technological barriers, and attitudinal barriers that people with disabilities face, using the speech to text app and Mr. Tocco’s hearing loss as an example in their own community.
Students chose to participate in the project, and, in total, seven students accepted the challenge.
“Mr. Tocco has profound hearing loss and always advocated for accessibility at my high school. When I first met him in grade 9, he accepted me for who I am and has always been super supportive and kind to me,” Alexis Lopes, a member of the Dante Accessibility Team said.
For one student, it hit closer to home.
“I always felt like I didn’t fit in due to my hearing loss and always felt like the odd one out, but throughout my years in high school, my friends sure made me feel better. I took on this project to let students and youth who feel the way I felt know that if you are confident in yourself, then you will be just fine,” student Josue Alonso-Villagran said.
Creating the Video
The students began with a brainstorm. They reflected on the project for themselves and drilled down into why they were doing it.
“I had done a lot of self-reflecting before I began the project. I made it a point to think about how and why I wanted to do what I wanted to do,” Sara Galinato, one of the students on the team said. “I also talked to a lot of people about it and what their opinions are regarding it just to get a glimpse of different perspectives.”
Victoria Andrade, another member of the team, added that speaking with those directly impacted by a lack of accessibility really helped broaden her perspective of what needed to be done, whereas Wesly Maciel Gonzalez explained: “The first steps I took were investigating more about accessibility and things I could do to promote accessibility.”
This became a year of commitment and more and more of the school community got involved in helping in the ways that they could. The media arts teacher, Mr. Anthony Labriola, agreed to help the group develop the video with his technology and media expertise. He also recruited some of his media arts students to assist.
“I was approached with this project by my media arts teacher. Upon learning more about the Rick Hansen Foundation and their goals regarding this project, I was immediately inspired and filled with ideas,” Victoria said. “As someone who does not have a disability, I went into this thinking of all my friends and others who would benefit from the positivity and general change that could come from the video itself.”
With the students involved, there was an opportunity to learn about how to make media content as accessible as possible.
“I have learned a great deal from this collaboration; including the hurdles that people with disabilities face each day. I have been able to pass along certain lessons and practical production tips about accessibility and inclusivity to my students,” Mr. Labriola said. “For example, each video includes closed captioning for those in our community who are experiencing hearing loss.”
Creating a Culture of Access and Inclusion
“I’ve struggled with a physical disability my entire life and so the project was a very personal one to take on. It felt like something I needed to do, and it allowed to me be able to make a difference toward something I’ve always felt passionate about,” Sara said.
“What is often a barrier in schools stems from accessibility being treated as a low priority. I’m saying, our experience was the complete opposite,” Mr. Tocco explained.
“As a school community, we are very proud that our Dante Alighieri Academy students are committed to building awareness about inclusion and accessibility as we work together to support the achievement and well-being of all our community members,” Principal Caroline Falzon said of the work that was done at Dante Alighieri Academy.
The video premiered during National AccessAbility Week (NAAW 2023) in front of the entire student body. It was here they were presented with the RHFSP Difference Maker of the Award during NAAW.
Mr. Tocco was grateful for the support the Dante Accessibility Team received from the entire school community and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). Mr.Tocco also extended his appreciation to Superintendent Flora Cifelli for her unwavering support for this project and her ongoing dedication and commitment towards promoting a culture of accessibility at TCDSB.
“The Toronto Catholic District School Board is committed to providing services that are free of barriers and biases to our students, parents/guardians, trustees, the public and our staff,” Superintendent Cifelli said. “Our dream is to create an accessible, inclusive, caring learning and working environment for all.”
The impact the video made was felt by the team members.
“Seeing the final project definitely brought me the most joy. The thrill of seeing something that so many people put time and energy into bringing to life is truly unexplainable”, Victoria noted. “I loved working with this team, making our vision come true, and finally having it put out into the world.”
