Italian Day 2011
By Rita PrigioniL'Italia unita (1861-2011) - Welcome to Italian Day 2011, A Celebration of Italy for Middle and High School Students. On Thursday, April 14, 2011, middle and high school students participated in the fourth Italian Day event held at the UW-Madison campus. This fun event takes place every two years among some of the schools that offer Italian as part of their curriculum.
Schools that Participated
This year, a total of 90 students participated, with 34 students from Bradford High School, 14 from St. Joseph's High School and 33 from Tremper High School, (all from Kenosha), as well as 9 students from Spring Harbor Middle School in Madison. View the list of students who participated (pdf) in Italian Day 2011.Events of the Day
View the Schedule for the Day (pdf) to get an overview of the day's events. During the day, students competed in activities with their peers to show off their ability and proficiency in the Italian language and culture: spelling, reciting of poems, performing in skits, creating multi-media presentations and designing cultural posters. Italian graduate students from the UW-Madison Italian Department, as well as other interested persons from the community volunteered as judges.
Students also experienced a cultural element by listening to presentations by UW-Madison Italian Department faculty, former students of Italian, and remarks from special guest, Dr. Eleonora Cammareri, Director/Dirigente of the Ufficio Scolastico, Education Office of the Consulate General of Italy located in Chicago. At the conclusion of the competitions, the students made a quick visit to the UW-Madison's Piazza Italia and its immersion Italian dormitory/program. To top off the day, a lunch and awards ceremony took place at the Italian Workmen's Club of Madison.This was a unique and desirable opportunity to encourage and compliment the students on their choice of Italian as a foreign language, and their interest and efforts toward that language.
Il Pranzo!
While the students were on the tour of the Piazza Italia, members of the Italian Workmen's Club were busy cooking up the sauce, meatballs and spaghetti, awaiting the arrival of the students. Sitting: Gene Urso (white shirt), Nick Baldarotta (red shirt), Mario Mussacchia (red apron), George Fabian (West Bears shirt), Louis Cassini (grey shirt). Standing: Frank Alfano, Tony Bruno, Joe Schiro, Jack Parino. Grazie to Sandy Hunter (Dolci Italian-American Sweets, LLC) for her delicious homemade biscotti!
Competition Highlights
Grazie mille to the volunteer judges. Without them, the event would not be possible. Poetry: Anna Rockwell (UW) and Andrew Muller; Spelling: Sara Mattavelli (UW), Marco Lettieri (UW), Maria Giulia Carone (UW), Antonio Raut, Giovanna Miceli Jeffries (UW); Skits: Manuela Francavilla (UW), Chiara Fioroni (tutor); Multi-Media: Chiara Fioroni (tutor), Rita Prigioni (WisItalia); and Posters: Chiara Fioroni (tutor), Rita Prigioni (WisItalia), Csanád Siklós (UW).Rina Pignone, co-coordinator of the event and Italian teacher at Tremper High School in Kenosha, and Rita Prigioni, WisItalia Webmaster and Secretary, announced the student names and their awards. Each school received a plaque for their overall participation and performance, and individual medals were given to the students.
View the List of Winners (pdf) for each of the categories: poster contest, poetry contest, spelling contest, skit contest, and multi-media contest. All the students did a wonderful job in all the categories. As a result, students from each school received awards in one or more events.
Cultural Poster Competition:
Poetry Competition:
For the poetry reading contests, students had to memorize their poems composed by Italian poets. Each recitation was judged on the basis of pronunciation, clarity of recitation, and the ability to show that the student understood the poem. This was probably the toughest competition to judge as there were quite a few ties for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places! Coincidentally, April is National Poetry Month.
See which students took first, second and third places for the following poems:
First Place Poems (pdf) - "Tristezza," "Sole e cioccolato," and "Italia"
Second Place Poems (pdf) - "Sole e cioccolato" and "Pro memoria"
Third Place Poems (pdf) - "Chiamiamoci fratelli," "Sole," and "Pro memoria"
Spelling Competition:
The majority of the students took part in the Spelling Level 1 competition. Words, such as azzurro, dopodomani, macchina, formaggio, giallo, and indirizzo were a few of the words testing their skills. Spelling Level 2 included words such as francobollo, appoggiare, parrucchiere and sciarpa. Students spelled the words using the standard Italian alphabet, along with proper pronunciation. Students competed in teams of three students per team.
Skit Competition:
Only one team entered the skit competition. Five students from Tremper High School put on an original production of "La Commedia l'unificazione d'Italia." The script was written by the students, with the language all in Italian. For the performance, all lines were memorized, and the skit lasted approximately 5 minutes. The students did a fine job in acting.
Multi-Media Competition:
A new feature this year was the multi-media competition where students showcased their ability to incorporate media resources into their Italian studies. All three presentations were unique: the team from Tremper High School took 1st place with their DVD drama of "Cena Nell'Inferno-Dante," followed in 2nd place by Bradford High School's DVD production of "Un Viaggio Attraverso Kenosha," and another team from Bradford presented a PowerPoint on the "Unificazione d'Italia."
Online Web Album
View more photos of this event. Photos taken by Rita Prigioni (WisItalia, Madison), Solveig Rossi (Madison), Chiara Fioroni (Madison), Ralph Annina (Bradford High, Kenosha), Gillis Benson-Scollon (Spring Harbor, Madison). Photos taken by Pellegrina Pignone-DeBartolo, Italian teacher, Tremper High School, Kenosha, will be added to this web album at a later time.
Sponsors and Special Thanks!
The event was sponsored by WisItalia, the Center for European Studies (UW), the French and Italian Department (UW), the Italian Workmen's Club of Madison and Dolci-Italian-American Sweets, LLC.A huge thank you to the following people who worked tirelessly to make this event happen: Co-Chair-Giovanna Miceli Jeffries, Ph.D., Dept. of French and Italian, UW-Madison; Co-Chair-Pellegrina Pignone-DeBartolo, Italian teacher, Tremper High School, Kenosha; Csanád Siklós, Assistant Director, Center for European Studies, UW-Madison; Faculty members of the UW-Madison French and Italian Department (Patrick Rumble and Kristin Phillips-Court); Tony Bruno and Frank Alfano (IWC); Sandy Hunter (biscotti baker extraordinaire); Italian teachers Ralph Annina (Bradford, Kenosha), Fausto Frassine (St. Joseph's, Kenosha) and Rachel Hildebrand (Spring Harbor, Madison); and of course all the students who worked extremely hard to show us how much they love the Italian language.
Thanks to everyone for making this event a great success. Bravi, gli studenti!
Grazie a tutti di cuore!
Updated April 28, 2011
