Niagara teacher one of five to receive Rick Hansen award
Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School’s Tony Gambale receives honour
With much of the world fiercely focused on protesting racism and discrimination, Tony Gambale wishes he was in front of his classroom leading a discussion about those issues.
The teacher at Grimsby’s Blessed Trinity
Catholic Secondary School has been conducting curriculum virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, like everyone else in his profession.
A 2020 recipient of the Rick Hansen Foundation Difference Maker Award in the educator category — one of just five in Canada, and the only teacher from Ontario to receive the accolade — Gambale called the recognition a great honour.
“To be selected among all these other educators we have in our country — I’m still shocked,” he said.
As the Black Lives Matter movement makes daily headlines across North America, and Indigenous issues remain a focus in Canada, it is an important time for young people to learn about different cultures, says Gambale.
“I wish I was able to meet with my kids face to face because then we could have more dialogue about what’s going on,” said Gambale, a social sciences and arts teacher who is active in Orange Shirt Day, Indigenous
Peoples’ Day, Black History Month and participation in the youth and philanthropy initiative.
Gambale has been a teacher since 1995 and a staff member at Blessed Trinity since 1998. A field trip to the
Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford a few years ago is what woke his passion for social justice. It led him to take the lead on teaching students about residential schools.
Money raised from Orange Shirt Day benefits a restoration project at the Woodland Cultural Centre. The trip was organized by a former colleague who took a position elsewhere, so Gambale took the reins when he left.
“I felt a need to continue the journey of learning and understanding about residential schools and the Indigenous identity in Canada,” he said.
He teaches a Grade 12 Indigenous studies and a global perspectives class, and is behind the school’s social justice league. For the month of September, First Nations issues are a topic throughout the school with videos and content in the morning announcements.
The plight of minorities is something that still needs a lot of work: “We have to keep pushing forward as a global community,” Gambale said.
He was nominated for the award by a former student who was so inspired by his teaching that she became a teacher herself, according to a news release from Niagara Catholic District School Board.
In her nomination form, Chelsea Weir described Gambale as someone guided by two principles — accessibility and inclusivity. She said he encourages students to embrace academic excellence, their identity and to become the best versions of themselves.
Education director John Crocco offered congratulations and praise to Gambale.
“Tony continuously inspires students in his vocation as a Catholic educator, and we are all exceptionally proud of him for this accomplishment and this national recognition by the Rick Hansen Foundation,” Crocco said in the release.
“Tony is an exemplary Catholic educator who inspires all students every day throughout the year.”
Gambale said he accepts the award on behalf of the school, as there are many staff who deserve recognition.
“My department I work with is unbelievable,” he said.
He said he wants to thank Weir for her nomination, as well as Ralph DeFazio, a wellknown educator in Niagara who retired as principal from Notre Dame College in Welland in 2018.
Gambale had him as a teacher while he was a student at Denis Morris Catholic High School in St. Catharines. He said DeFazio was his “inspiration” to become a teacher.