Teacher of the Year Banquet
2008 5th Annual WisItalia Awards Dinner
On April 12, 2008, WisItalia held its 5th annual fundraising dinner at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This year, the Wisconsin Teacher of the Year Award went to Pellegrina Pignone-DeBartolo of Kenosha Tremper High School.
We also honored Professor Christopher Kleinhenz, Emeritus Professor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with WisItalia's first Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to not only WisItalia, but to the Italian Language initiative throughout the United States. Professor Kleinhenz wrote the proposal to the “College Board” to have Italian approved as an AP Language.
Read "The Italian Times" article (pdf) published by Milwaukee's Italian Community Center to learn about the accomplishments of both Pellegrina Pignone-DeBartolo and Christopher Kleinhenz.Special guests: Students, ages 4 and 5 years old, from the Italian Immersion Program at Victory School (exit WisItalia), Milwaukee, gave a delightful performance by singing several Italian songs. Victory School’s Italian Immersion Program is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States. These students are taught exclusively in Italian as they learn about the Italian language.
Online Web Album of Event
To see more photos of the event, view the online web album.
Past Teacher of the Year Recipients
- 2004 Giovanna Miceli Jeffries, Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin-Madison
- 2005 Alison Daneka Ferrentino - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- 2006 Ralph Annina - Bradford High School, Kenosha
- 2007 Elizabeth Mitchell, Ph.D. - Trinity Academy High School, Pewaukee
Updated May 5, 2008
