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Published: August 27th 2016
14 days of Italian language, culture, new friends and, of course, food! Mike Bodin and I accompanied 18 students and 2 adult chaperones on an amazing two week trip that included homestays with wonderful families near Brescia (a city of approximately 200,000 in between Milan and Verona), two days of Italian high school at Istituto “V. Capirola” (http://www.capirola.it/) and an amazing tour of some of the most beautiful cities in Italy.
My friend Cristina and her family (husband Stefano and high school age daughters Sofia and Camilla) welcomed our group into their home (literally a castle). Some of us slept there while the rest of us stayed with other families nearby. Chef Dani Leone prepared amazing dinners for us and also provided cooking lessons for the students.
The hospitality of the families and the school was incredible. Each of our students was paired up with an Italian student on the first day of our visit. The Capirola students gave tours of the campus and included us in “Creativity Day” - a day in which students become the leaders and set up their own classrooms to share activities with their classmates. This sounds like a great idea for Leyden too!
The second day at Capirola the students played basketball and some of the Leyden guys gave a wrestling demonstration. The Italian students gave a powerpoint presentation in English describing the Italian education system. Two East Leyden students (Youssef Dib and Angel Castillo) then went to the front of the room and talked about the American education system. We also showed the assembled students and teachers one of our Leyden video announcements and our “Call Me Maybe--Leyden Style” video. The teachers and students were tremendously impressed - so much so that the students went on to produce their own “Call Me Maybe” videos. Both the teachers and the students took note of our video announcements--I could see the wheels of their minds spinning with new ideas!Surveying is one of the possible 5-year tracks of study at Istituto Capirola. A 4th year student, Gabriele Secchi, won the 2013 national “Aspiring Surveyor” competition! Here is an article about it
While our students were enjoying the Italian high school experience (albeit a bit unusual since these were two special days at the end of the school year), Mike and I were given a wonderful tour of the school. We met amazing administrators and teachers--all enthusiastic about beginning an exchange program with our district. In fact Mike and I would say that Capirola was sort of like Leyden in a Northern Italian setting!
The assistant principal, Antonella Malvicini teaches English besides performing administrative duties and is a passionate educator devoted to expanding her students’ horizons. Her dedication is matched by that of the school’s principal, Ermelina Ravelli, who, while we were there, received two gifts honoring her 25 years of service to the school from different groups of students! Her connection to the school is also evidenced by her participation in an anti-bullying video. It was made by a class of freshman, entered in a contest run by the region of Lombardy and was the top video of the high school division! Here is the link: http://goo.gl/dms8oG “Bullo filmato, bullo fregato” = “Bully caught on film, bully caught!” And here is a video of Preside Ravelli receiving a plaque from the students--the video is a bit long (6:25); she salutes us (“the American students”) around 4:36 - 5:05.
Mike and I had lunch with the staff and administrators of Capirola and discussed details of an ongoing exchange program that would take place in June and July alternating between Italy and our area here in “Leyden Land”. All were very enthusiastic!
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Some Capirola students and students from our Dello host families also accompanied us on our excursions to visit Brescia, Soncino, Milan and Venice. Many of these students would love to visit Leyden and Chicago in July 2014.
We also visited Sirmione, Limone del Garda, went on a boat ride on Lake Garda, visited Verona and were invited to an amazing party at Stefano’s parents’ house in the mountains where Chef Dani provided the ingredients and assistance needed for us to make our own wood-burning-oven pizzas!
During our stay in the Brescia area, Mike and I also had the opportunity to visit a Brescia high school specializing in languages and international studies: "Istituto Lunardi" (http://www.lunardi.bs.it/). It too is a very impressive school that that has numerous exchange programs in operation with schools all of the world. Mike and I enjoyed visiting the school with one of the English teachers. In fact the principal of Lunardi, Fausto Mangiavini, happens to be in the US for a conference this summer and will visit East Leyden on Monday, August 19.
After the incredible week of fantastic hospitality offered to us by the families of Dello and the Istituto Capirola community, we went on an amazing road trip. Some of the highlights included: a parmigiano reggiano cheese factory tour in Reggio Emilia, the Ferrari museum in Maranello and the cities of Bologna, Firenze (Florence), Roma and the Vatican.
I took a few pictures (http://goo.gl/dICCJF) 😉
Quotes from some of the participants:"The 2013 Italy trip was just amazing. All the history, culture, language, and new friendship I created were a once in a life time experience. It really opens your eyes to how people across the world live. I recommend Leyden students to take advantage of the amazing program, you'll fall in love with Italy and the culture, and your new friends! I am so thankful I had the opportunity to be part of this program while still studying the language." - Kelly Presa
“Italy was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I could have never imagine it any better then it was when we went there. The people are so nice and very different then the kind of people here. I would 100%!r(MISSING)ecommend anyone who has the opportunity to go should go and take the time to do something that they will never forget.” - Felipe Marquez
“One of the best experiences I've ever had! Meeting new people and seeing so much beautiful scenery and experiencing it with such an amazing group was just breath taking! My favorite part was going to Lago di Garda and staying in the monastery or walking in Rome feeling as if I'm in a movie by just looking at the Fontana de Trevi, walking by the ancient ruins, or being able to personally encounter and experience the Coliseum. Something I look forward on doing again in the future soon!😊" -Jasmine Garcia
"The trip was awesome! Not only did we visit the obvious locations such as the Colosseum and the Vatican, but we were also introduced to Italy by true Italians. I highly encourage going on the trip with LHS!" - Kathleen Estelle Trujillo
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