Attenzione!
Renaming Contest Winners to Be Announced
The New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Commission (NJIIAHC) will announce the winners of The Universality of Italian Heritage Curriculum Renaming Contest on Friday, May 13, 2011 (a day of good luck in Italy). If selected as a contest winner, one high school will receive a new computer and student or class prizes include valuable gift cards.
The New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Commission conducted a statewide contest for renaming of its The Universality of Italian Heritage Curriculum. All New Jersey school districts were invited to participate in this exciting event for high school students. The NJIIAHC was looking for a "catchy" short title, keeping the existing one as a sub-title.
The contest was a creative way to put students in touch with a valuable curriculum designed to infuse the contributions, history and achievement of Italian cultural heritage in all subject areas. Each lesson meets the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards.
Students can discover how Italian art and science influenced Thomas Jefferson. They can investigate prejudice toward Italians and other ethnic groups in the United States. Italians and the Holocaust and the achievements of Italian and Italian American Women can be explored. With each lesson, students acquire important knowledge of past and present cultures to enable them to reflect and develop positive values as citizens in a global society.
If you have any questions, please contact the Commission's Executive Director, Vito Totino, at 732.932.0670 or vtotino@nj-italytrade.org. Copies of the curriculum can be downloaded at www.njitalia.nj.gov.
Congratulations! You are about to embark on a journey until now little traveled in the realm of education. By integrating The Universality of Italian Heritage into your school's curriculum, you will be a pioneer in preserving the worldwide cultural legacy of Italy.
This exciting and enriching program was developed by the Curriculum Development Committee of the New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Committee. It consists of a Curriculum Infusion Model whereby Italian and Italian American content material is integrated into existing curricula K-12.
These consecutive lesson plans were developed in consultation with the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) and meet all DOE Core Curriculum Content Standards. The lesson plans are carefully designed, inclusive, thoroughly tested, and, beyond question, relevant to all students.
Those teachers who choose to do so will receive ongoing training on effective infusion strategies. Others may prefer to rely solely on the corresponding Teacher's Manual provided. We ask that you complete the Registration and Italian Heritage Curriculum Evaluation Forms. Submission of the documents will enable us to know you, ascertain effectiveness of the Curriculum, and to provide you with newly-developed material.
The AMICIZIA (Friendship) project is a complimentary component of the Curriculum. This program provides opportunities for students in the United States to correspond with their counterparts in Italy.
The K-12 Curriculum is only available online for ongoing input, expansion and review. We are confident you will find The Universality of Italian Heritage to be an educationally stimulating and rewarding experience for teachers, students, and, indeed, the entire community.
Tante grazie,
Cav. Gilda Rorro Baldassari, Ed.D.
Chair, Italian and Italian American Heritage Commission
Chair, Curriculum Development Committee
