In celebration of St. Joseph's Day, the CCRI Department of
Foreign Languages and Cultures and RITI (The Rhode Island
teachers of Italian) once again organized the annual "Immersion
Day in Italian." This wonderful event, now in its 9th year,
took place on Monday, March 12, 2001 at the Community College
of Rhode Island, Knight Campus, Warwick. From 9 AM to 1 PM,
students of Italian immersed themselves in the Italian language
and culture. They had the opportunity to interact in the
language with students and teachers from other schools in the
state.
Over 320 students and their teachers attended from six
different schools in Rhode Island: Bayview (Sean Drury),
Cranston High School East (Dianne Fonseca and Maria Conte),
Narragansett High School (Bruna Boyle, Daniela Johnson, Beth
Lavigne, and Antonella Servant), North Providence High School
(Amalia DeAngelis, Louis Lanni, and Mary Matos), Warwick
Veterans Memorial High School (Susan Erinakes) and West Warwick
High School (John Giovanelli, Greg Gonsalves, Rosario Tramontana,
and Sabrina Zirilli). The CCRI Italian Club (Maria Mansella)
assisted with the activities.
The highlight of the program included a new "Spettacolo di
Varieta:" songs, dances, skits, and presentations in Italian
performed by students from participating schools (Cranston East,
Narragansett, Warwick Vets, and West Warwick). Other events
included karaoke singing to Italian songs, an "ice-breaker"
conversational activity, and a delicious Italian luncheon,
including pasta, meatballs, focaccia, and of course, zeppole.
A tremendous raffle, "Toto-italiano," concluded the event, and
students had the opportunity to win beautiful prizes, many of
which were donated by businesses, members in the community,
members of RITI and CCRI Italian Club.
The Immersion Day Committee, consisting of Bruna Boyle,
Madeline Capasso, Susan Erinakes, Dianne Fonseca, John Giovanelli,
Greg Gonsalves, Maria Mansella, Antonella Servant, Rosario
Tramontana, and Sabrina Zirilli, wish to thank all the teachers
and students who participated in this event. We encourage other
teachers of Italian to join us in planning next year's event.
