The American Council of the Blind is proud to announce the winners of the 2019 BADIE Awards (the Benefits of Audio Description In Education), a “Listening Is Learning” initiative of the Council’s Audio Description Project (ADP) and the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP).
The winners of this year’s honors (all young people who are blind) are:
Grand Prize Winner: John Xander Holstein, West Virginia School for the Blind, Romney, W.Va. – Review of “Snowflake Bentley and Voyage to Mars”
Senior Category (ages 16 to 21):
First Place – Michael Gast, South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Aberdeen, S.D. – Review of “Sister Act 2”
Second Place – Kimberly Drudge, Goochland High School, Goochland, Va. – Review of “America’s Symbols”
Third Place – Alyssa Spillum, North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind, Grand Forks, N.D. – Review of “Work Ethic: A Commitment to Work”
Junior Category (ages 11 to 15):
First Place – John Xander Holstein, West Virginia School for the Blind, Romney, W.Va. – Review of “Snowflake Bentley and Voyage to Mars”
Second Place – Edward Freer, North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind, Grand Forks, N.D. – Review of “My Brand New Life: Ballet Dancer/Hockey Player”
Sophomore Category (ages 7 to 10):
First Place – Hunter Knotts, West Virginia School for the Blind, Romney, W.Va. – Review of “The Magic School Bus in a Pickle”
Second Place – Wyatt Kuncl, West Virginia School for the Blind, Romney, W.Va. – Review of “The Magic School Bus Cold Feet”
Third Place – Noel Marinaccio, West Virginia School for the Blind, Romney, W.Va. – Review of “The Magic School Bus Works Out”
Alternate Assessment Category *:
First Place – Hayden Miller, West Virginia School for the Blind, Romney, W.Va. – Review of “The Night Before Christmas”
* The Alternate Assessment category refers to students whose participation in their general statewide assessment program (testing in math, science and language arts) is not appropriate, even with accommodations. Academic expectations are written specifically for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
The premise of the BADIE program is simple: kids love movies. If a young person can’t see or can’t see well, audio description provides access to all the visual images of the movies that their sighted peers enjoy. Description benefits children who are blind and others who have learning disabilities, and it has been shown to boost literacy for all children.
The BADIE program asked young people who are blind or have low vision to submit short reviews of any described movie.
“Audio description uses words that are succinct, vivid, and imaginative to convey the visual image from television, film, DVDs, theater, museums and many other settings,” stated Kim Charlson, president of the American Council of the Blind. “The young people honored with these awards not only appreciate the ability to enjoy films and television right along with their peers — description helps them and their sighted friends develop language skills through exposure to varied word choice, synonyms, metaphors and similes. I love audio description, and wish I’d had access to it when I was growing up!”
Additional information about ACB’s Audio Description Project is available at www.acb.org/adp. More information about the Described and Captioned Media Program may be found at www.dcmp.org.