Last school year, two students from Elora Public School were presented with a project by teacher Jennifer Morris. The goal of this project was to get students thinking about helping people with accessibility needs during National Accessibility Week in May.
Grade 8 students Owen E., and Rayyan S., came up with the idea of building a robotic car that could speak to an accessibility device that one of their peers uses at the school. After brainstorming the idea, Owen and Rayyan presented Morris with the idea of actually building a physical robotic car. Owen said, “We decided on this because we really wanted to choose an idea that's in our capability. Since we were both on the vex robotics team for the last three years” we had the skills to create the car.
Scarlett D., was a classmate of Owen and Rayyan last year at Elora PS and was the inspiration for this project. Scarlett has Rett syndrome, a rare genetic neurological disorder that usually occurs in girls. It leads to the inability to speak and walk, leads to difficulty eating and breathing, and has progressed to seizures. However, through the use of technology, Scarlett is able to communicate through her speech generating device, the Tobii Dynavox eye gaze. By looking at a button on the screen, Scarlett can communicate answers to questions about how she’s feeling.
After a week in the shop, Owen and Rayyan were ready to test the car with Scarlett’s help. After successfully testing the car, Scarlett’s mom, Melody gave Owen and Rayyan the idea to improve the car so that Scarlett could drive it with the help of her device. Owen and Rayyan spent the summer working in Rayyan’s garage changing and coding the car so that Scarlett could have another opportunity to drive the car. The work resulted in them adding a camera view to the car that could be controlled by Scarlett’s eyes.
According to Owen, this project was “always a passion project for us. Once we realized that with Rayyan's coding skills and my build and electronic skills, that we could [actually] do this, we gave it a shot. We really wanted to show the best versions of our skills. So not only was this an opportunity so Scarlett could have one more time to drive it, but also with a much bigger time limit we could make this [car] better.”
When thinking about this experience through the eyes of a parent, Scarlett’s mom, Melody, said, “This is a perfect example of why I am passionate about inclusive education: if Rayyan and Owen were not in her [Scarlett’s] class, having seen her needs and challenges up close, they might never have been able to put their skills to this kind of use. We are better together - all of us. When we rub shoulders with those who are different from us, we can learn so much and be inspired to be our own best selves...”
Owen and Rayyan said that this project wouldn’t have been possible without the support of staff at Elora PS. They indicated that without educators Jennifer Morris, Britni Scott, and numerous other staff at the school, they wouldn’t have been able to execute their vision. Furthermore, without the encouragement of Melody, and her patience through all the troubleshooting, they know the project may not have been so successful. Owen said the project was “a great experience, and I am motivated to keep creating other things that could help more people.”
Rayyan said, “Seeing Scarlett drive the car for the first time in the L.R.C. (Library Resource Centre) and hearing her cheer using her Tobii speaking device felt really good. I felt more inspired than ever. It felt good to know that a robot we built made a positive impact on her life.”
After being approached by Owen and Rayyan with the request to turn their idea into a physical creation, it is clear to see how proud Jennifer Morris is of her students. She said that this story is “one of those moments that any educator hopes for: we're always hoping for something introduced in class to be bigger than the assignment itself.... The two boys no longer looked at it as just coding in math, but an opportunity to connect with and help Scarlett....To see two young people care so deeply about making a difference for their peer and then commit their own time over the summer is incredibly special. I'm not only proud of what they created but for their empathy, determination, and kindness behind it. As an educator, you can't really ask for more than that!”
Educator Britni Scott shares the same sentiment with Morris. Scott said, “I was incredibly proud of these students. Seeing them take the initiative to identify a challenge their classmate was facing and then dedicate themselves to creating a solution that could make a meaningful difference in that student's life was truly inspiring. What made it even more special was watching them apply the skills and knowledge they had learned in the classroom to a real-world situation with such a positive and impactful purpose.” She continued to say, “As a teacher, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing students set their minds to something, work through the challenges, persevere, and ultimately achieve their goal.”
Through the unwavering dedication and teamwork of Owen and Rayyan, these two students went above and beyond to help a peer, turning a school assignment into a triumph of shared success. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for these young minds.