Teacher of the Year Banquet
2010 7th Annual WisItalia Awards Dinner
By Larry Godding
WisItalia celebrated its 7th annual Awards Banquet on May 22, 2010, at the Italian-American Society of Kenosha, 2217 52nd Street, Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Awards went to:
- Joanna Stenson - Teacher of the Year
- Vincent F. Ruffolo - President's Award
- Rita Prigioni - Outstanding Service Award
To start off the evening, South East Wisconsin Performing Arts Director, Kathryn Peperkorn, and three of her students, Jane Wermeling, Kiersten Gonzales and Wesey Brown, provided delightful musical entertainment, taking turns singing beautiful arias. Geneva Whitmire accompanied them on the piano.
WisItalia Teacher of the Year
Giovanna Miceli-Jeffries introduced the 2010 WisItalia Teacher of the Year, Joanna Stenson. Giovanna noted that Joanna began in 2008 at Bradford High School, teaching one level of Italian. However, she now teaches at both middle school and high school levels at St. Joseph's, in Kenosha. Giovanna praised Joanna's dedication, enthusiasm and love of Italian culture.In her remarks, Joanna expressed appreciation for the support of her fellow teachers, and for the support of her parents and husband. Joanna and her students are looking forward to a class trip to Italy next year, where together they will further deepen their knowledge of Italian language and culture. Joanna concluded her remarks by saying, "Molto grazie per questo premio."
Read the article (exit WisItalia) in the "Kenosha News" written by Terry Flores.
WisItalia President's Award
Peter Pingetore introduced the President's Award winner, Vincent F. Ruffolo. Mr. Ruffolo, a retired medical administrator, and Nash car enthusiast, has been an avid and generous supporter of WisItalia's efforts to reestablish Italian language instruction within the Kenosha schools. Peter described Vince as a "rennaisance man," citing his involvement in preserving Kenosha's history, health care issues, and, of course, Italian language and culture and encouraging their presence in Kenosha's schools. Through his efforts, courses in Italian are now offered at Bradford High School, Tremper High School, St. Joseph Junior and Senior High Schools, and in a number of elementary schools within the wider Kenosha area, where he was instrumental in starting all of their children's programs.Oustanding Service Award
Last, Ralph Annina and Tony Bruno introduced Rita Prigioni. Rita received an Outstanding Service award for her tireless work developing and maintaining the WisItalia website. Ralph noted that the website is the public image of the organization. It has positively impressed many people with its wealth of information about curricular materials, conferences, licensure, scholarships, trips and more. There's even a Facebook page! Rita explained that her work is most gratifying when the information she collects and passes along enables others to access opportunities they might not otherwise have known about. She thanked Giovanna, Ralph, Tony and the other board members. She also thanked her husband, Larry Godding for his continuous support, and her son, Nathan Godding, for his graphic design collaboration. "Vi ringrazio per questo riconoscimento stasera. Sono contento che il sito web piace a molte persone. Spero che il sito web continua ad essere utile per gli appassionati della lingua e cultura italiana."
Online Web Album of Event
View the online web album. Approximately 40 people attended the event. Photos by Nathan Godding.
Past WisItalia Award Recipients
2009- Teacher of the Year: Enrica Tarantino-Woytal - Italian Community Center, Milwaukee
- President's Award: Joseph Mangi, Kenosha
- Outstanding Service Award: Peter Barca, Kenosha
- Outstanding Service Award: Al Rolandi, Milwaukee
- Teacher of the Year Award: Pellegrina (Rina) Pignone-DeBartolo - Tremper High School, Kenosha
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Christopher Kleinhenz, Madison
- Teacher of the Year: Elizabeth Mitchell, Ph.D. - Trinity Academy High School, Pewaukee
- Teacher of the Year: Ralph Annina - Bradford High School, Kenosha
- Teacher of the Year: Alison Daneka Ferrentino - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Teacher of the Year: Giovanna Miceli Jeffries, Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin-Madison
Updated March 15, 2011
