NJIHC Funds Scholarships for Summer Italian Intensive Course for High School Students

The Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies and the Italian Program are profoundly grateful to the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission, in particular to Mr. Robert DiBiase, for the generous donation of $10,000 which funded scholarships for the 2019 Summer Italian Intensive Course for College Credit.

The summer course, now in its third edition, is an innovative approach to fostering the study of Italian across education systems: HS students are immersed in Italian language and culture for three weeks on a university campus. The result of a dynamic synergy between a HS teacher and two university professors, the course benefits the HS system by taking students to a more advanced level thanks to this pre-AP experience, and it strengthens the university efforts in outreach and retention. Studying a language for many years is an asset for personal success as much as it is for community building. The long and rich history of the Italian presence in NJ (and the Tri-State area at large) has created a large network of schools where Italian is taught: this state investment can only be made more impactful if students continue studying Italian after graduation. The support of a state-wide commission is fundamental in this effort.

The generous donation of $10,000 enabled the assignment of several scholarships for the Summer Italian Intensive Course. Scholarships have been granted based on demonstrated financial need and have covered tuition only, or tuition, room and board combined.

“The New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission is constantly in pursuit of our mission to educate and raise the awareness of our culture and positive achievements. The development and implementation of the Summer Italian Intensive Course for College Credit by the Italian Program and Inserra Chair in Italian American Studies at MSU is an example of a perfect project that coincides with our mission and is inspirational in our vision: we commend Teresa Fiore, Patti Grunther and Marisa Trubiano for their untiring efforts to bring this project to fruition. We know that funding is a necessity for young students, so we seek ways to channel donations to programs such as this one,” said Robert DiBiase, Chair of NJIHC.

Scholarship winners:

Kimberly Briceno (Watchung Hills Regional HS), Christine Tanko (Watchung Hills Regional HS), Varronika Siryon (Elizabeth HS), Chelsea Flores (Elizabeth HS), Jessica Martinez (Elizabeth HS), Nicole Trucios (Bloomfield HS), Carmen Nieto Walle (Lenape HS), Gabriella Rayne Raad (Red Bank Regional HS), Andrew Little (West Orange HS)

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