AP Italian Language and Culture Updates
Latest News - March 25, 2010:
Belle Notizie - AP Italian Update
NIAF SUPPORTS AP ITALIAN with $500,000 CHALLENGE GRANT. The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is proud to announce that they will support the Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Culture Program in Italian for high school students across the nation with a $500,000 matching grant. Hon. Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Ambassador of Italy to the United States, secured a commitment from the Italian government for $1.5 million over a three-year period toward the program. The Embassy of Italy and NIAF join a coalition organized by The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, of which NIAF is an active member, in launching a nationwide campaign to raise the funds necessary for the remaining $1 million needed by the College Board. Other members include OSIA, UNICO, the Columbus Citizens Foundation and the American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit. To support the NIAF AP Italian Matching Fund and for more information, contact Serena Cantoni, NIAF director of education and culture, at 202-939-3111 or serena@niaf.org.View the entire press release (htm) by Elissa Ruffino.
Previously - January 21, 2010:
Belle Notizie - AP Italian Update
The Government of Italy has authorized the allocation of US $500,000 in support of maintaining the Advanced Placement Program in Italian Language and Culture. It was made possible through the direct efforts in Italy by the Prime Minister¹s Office and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Washington. Major Italian American organizations also lent significant support to the effort.View the entire e-mail (htm) by Anthony Tamburri.
View the English and Italian version (pdf).
Previously - December, 2009:
Summary of December 11 Briefing
The College Board and the Italian Language Foundation, with the participation of Vice Counsel of Italy Cristiano Maggipinto, conducted a briefing on December 11, 2009, via the internet and telephone to provide an update on the efforts underway to reinstate the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program in Italian Language and Culture (AP Italian) course and exam in schools worldwide, a program that requires a collective investment of approximately $1,500,000 annually.View the entire summary by Lauren Reynolds, College Board, regarding the AP Italian Exam status.
Previously - May, 2009:
AP Italian Language and Culture Exam on May 13, 2009
Five Wisconsin students took the AP Italian Language and Culture exam on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. Two of the students (Rachel Kolbeck and Christopher Banholzer) were enrolled in the AP Italian course at Trinity Academy in Pewaukee, while two students (Jennifer Babcock and Alexandra Schmidt) at Tremper High School in Kenosha were taking Italian 302, and 1 student (Doria DeBartolo) at Bradford High School in Kenosha was taking Italian 202. View the summary table (pdf) for more details.The AP Italian Langauge and Culture exam began at 8:00 am on May 13, 2009. It was exactly 2 hours and 55 minutes in length. The purpose of the exam was to test the level of Italian language competence and cultural knowledge. It was divided into two sections. The first section tested listening and reading comprehension through the use of multiple choice questions. The second section tested writing, culture knowledge and speaking, and consisted of free response questions. We congratulated all these students for preparing for the exam and wished them well - in bocca al lupo!
Previously - January 8, 2009:
Links on the College Board site about the decision to suspend the AP Italian exam for the 2009-10 school year:
http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/203101.html - announcement from the College Board about suspending the AP Italian exam for the 2009-10 school year
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/195950.html - letter that went to all schools
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/203097.html - message from the Italian Language Foundation
Previously - October 28, 2008: Sons of Italy Launches Grassroots Campaign to Save the Advanced Placement Italian Program. The Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the nation's biggest organization for people of Italian heritage, has launched a national grassroots campaign to promote the study of Italian in the U.S. and save the Advanced Placement (AP) Italian program it helped establish in 2005. View the Press Release (exit WisItalia) for more information.
Previously - October 6, 2008: The Consul General of Italy, together with the Education Office need your valuable help in order to spread to the Italian-American community an appeal aimed at saving the AP Program in Italian. The "Appello APP IT," (pdf letter) written by the Consul General Alessandro Motta, specifies the need that contributions to such a worthwhile cause are crucial at this time. A meeting, held on October 2, 2008, in Chicago, IL, with Dott. Margaret Cuomo, organized by the Education Office at the De Paul University, was very successful. It focused on the strategies to adopt in order to help flourish and establish AP Italian programs, to increase the enrollment of students in the AP Program in Italian and to strongly advocate for Italian language education.
The following people attended the meeting: Eleonora Cammareri, with the Consul General Motta and the Lecturer Dott Puggioni and with many teachers of High Schools and of numerous Universities, also AATI Vice President, former Sen. Renato Turano, the President of Order of Sons of Italy Della Croce, the President of Chicago Joint Civic Committee, Mrs. Jo Ann Serpico Persico, Senior Advocate Mr. Gene Farina, Attorney at Law Sciaccotta for NIAF, President Barghini, Treasurer Verdecchia and Dott. Di Martino for Italidea, Dott. Miceli and Dott. Annina for WisItalia, etc. Please help spread the information to your friends and colleagues by viewing the website at http://www.italianlanguagefoundation.org (exit WisItalia).
Article in Italian from la Repubblica.it, Scuola & Giovani,
Usa, italiano in estinzione la comunità immigrata si mobilita, (exit WisItalia) dated September 30, 2008, features Margaret Cuomo.
Previously - August 23, 2008: Launching of the website of the ITALIAN LANGUAGE FOUNDATION, INC., http://www.italianlanguagefoundation.org (exit WisItalia)
Information from Margaret I. Cuomo, President and Louis Tallarini, Chair of the Board of the Italian Language Foundation, Inc.:
"The Italian Language Foundation, Inc., is fully incorporated and authorized by the IRS to accept tax exempt donations.
Please visit the exciting new website, which is filled with information and offers practical opportunities to support the Advanced Placement Program in Italian, and also, Italian language programs at the high school level.
We welcome your interest, dedication, and practical support."
Previously - July 2008: Important Changes for 2009-10 from the College Board's Website
"...We are also making changes to AP Italian. The Board of Trustees of the College Board originally approved a significant investment to support AP Italian's first three years; however, the overall low levels of interest and participation among schools, teachers and students have necessitated that the College Board significantly exceed that investment just to sustain AP Italian. The College Board's investment of resources, 400 percent higher than originally committed, demonstrates our passion for this program, but only allows us to offer AP Italian through the 2008-09 academic year.
Therefore, the May 2009 AP Italian Language and Culture Exam is scheduled to be the final offering of this program.
We hope that between now and May 2009, external partners will come forward to supplement the College Board's investment and that we are able to announce a three-year extension of AP Italian through May 2012"
Read the Full Article >>
Previously - July 2008: Italian American Leaders Establish Italian Language Foundation to Support High School Studies in Italian
"New York, NY, July 3, 2008 – Matilda Cuomo, former first lady of the state of New York and chair of
the Committee to Establish the Italian AP Program, Margaret Cuomo, M.D., a member of the committee,
Louis Tallarini, president of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, and Salvatore Zizza, president of the
National Italian American Foundation, today announced the incorporation of the Italian Language Foundation, Inc., a non-profit entity that will promote and help underwrite the AP Italian Language and Culture Program..."
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Previously - May/June 2008: According to a College Board press release on June 12, 2008, "On May 21, the Italian Ambassador to the United States, Giovanni Castellaneta, met in New York with College Board President Gaston Caperton to discuss possible solutions to the challenges faced by the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) course and exam in Italian Language and Culture. The meeting concluded with a call for the creation of a task force dedicated to raising the funds needed to sustain the AP course and exam in Italian beyond the 2008-09 academic year...
...
In summary: Educators can expect an update from the College Board by October 2008 announcing whether sufficient funds have been raised to enable AP Italian to be offered during the 2009-10 academic year."
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