It is Italian-American Heritage Month, and to celebrate, Padua Franciscan High School finalized an international cooperation agreement with Liceo Classico e Linguistico Carlo Alberto in Novara, Italy.
This initiative is the culmination of nearly a year of research and collaboration with Liceo Novara’s Italian teacher, Ilaria Domenici, and English teacher, Marianna Marino. Coordinated by Padua Italian teacher Mrs. Claudia Capuano, the program was developed through collaboration with the Education Office of the Italian Consulate in Chicago, the Italian Consulate in Detroit, and support from the Ebano Group.
The signing ceremony, held via Google Meet, included key participants such as Allegra Baistrocchi, the Italian Consul of Detroit, and Marina Lenza, Director of the Education Office at the Italian Consulate in Chicago. Padua President Dave Stec ‘86 and Principal Bob DiRocco were also in attendance, along with special guest Carlo Robiglio, President of the Ebano Group, who committed to financially supporting the program. Junior students Giancarlo Bontempo and Jacopo Del Paggio, along with Senior Jaden Flowers, represented Padua, exchanging greetings with their Italian counterparts. The students shared their expectations for the program in front of their pen pals and Italian teachers, Marino and Domenici.
Key objectives of the agreement include promoting cultural diversity, enhancing communication skills, and fostering critical thinking and global citizenship. The program aims to deepen students’ appreciation of their own and others’ cultures, preparing them to be active participants in the international community and contributors to global, cultural and environmental heritage.
As President Stec said during the meeting, “The Italian Pen Pal program is a wonderful opportunity for our students to connect and build friendships that transcend borders. This exciting initiative opens up a world of cultural exchange and language learning that reaches well beyond the walls of our classrooms.”
The program will kick off with monthly video exchanges. This initiative will enable sixteen Italian students at Padua and sixteen students from Liceo Carlo Alberto in Novara, Italy, to practice their language skills while gaining valuable insights into daily life at a high school in Italy.
In the second year, students will collaborate in small groups on a Project-Based Learning (PBL) project. With the help of their pen pals as cultural informants, they will work on creating a brochure about Padua in Italian, while their Italian peers will do the same for their school in English. The best brochure will be selected for internal use and distributed to future Italian-speaking international or exchange students visiting Padua.
At the end of the school year, the teachers will gather to evaluate the program’s progress and invite both students and their families to discuss the possibility of an in-person exchange in the future. This exchange program is a two-year cohort initiative that Padua plans to offer once every two years.
