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MARCH/APRIL 2008<strong>Italian</strong> language isalive and well in<strong>Tampa</strong>!At least that’s what members <strong>of</strong> the<strong>Tampa</strong> <strong>Italian</strong> Americancommunity would like to say.After a successful effort to reinstate<strong>Italian</strong> level III within Gaither HS(the only high school in <strong>Tampa</strong> that<strong>of</strong>fers <strong>Italian</strong>), a coalition <strong>of</strong> Bayarea <strong>Italian</strong> Americans set its sightat the county level. Led by one <strong>of</strong>our newer members, RonQuartararo, a meeting wasorganized with MaryEllen Elia,superintendent <strong>of</strong> schools forHillsborough County to exploreways in which the teaching <strong>of</strong><strong>Italian</strong> could be expanded withinthe district. . Ron reached out tothe <strong>Italian</strong> <strong>Club</strong>, and otherprominent <strong>Italian</strong> Americanrepresentatives to invite them to ameeting with Ms. Elia and her staffon January 10.Attendees included: VictorPeppard, Chairman WorldLanguages, USF; Patrizia LaTrecchia, Chair <strong>of</strong> <strong>Italian</strong> LanguageDepartment, USF; Pietro Floris,Education Director <strong>Italian</strong>Consultate in Miami, Patrizia Coc<strong>of</strong>rom ODLI in Miami; Vince Pardo,<strong>Italian</strong> <strong>Club</strong>; Grace Ippilito, <strong>Italian</strong><strong>Club</strong>, Antoinette Caporice, MonaLisa Lodge, OSIA; Ed Mottola,vice president <strong>of</strong> the OSIA from theState <strong>of</strong> Florida; Sandra Alfieri,teacher <strong>of</strong> <strong>Italian</strong> at Gaither HighSchool, Roberto Alvarez, <strong>Italian</strong>instructor.Discussion focused on a widerange <strong>of</strong> issues. On the positiveside it was noted that the pilotprogram at Phillip ShoreElementary School was a novelconcept (seeded initially by ODLIand later adopted by the county).However, that is only one <strong>of</strong> twoschools <strong>of</strong>fering <strong>Italian</strong> in acommunity whose <strong>Italian</strong> Americanresidents number up to 10% <strong>of</strong> thepopulation.A question was raised aboutpotential demand for <strong>Italian</strong>. It wasnoted that first, without actuallysurveying the students it would beimpossible to gauge the interestlevel <strong>of</strong> a course which was not<strong>of</strong>fered. Second, Pr<strong>of</strong>. Peppardfrom USF added that <strong>Italian</strong> wasgiving French “a run for its money”in terms <strong>of</strong> demand at the collegelevel. Third, Mr. Flores from theconsul general’s <strong>of</strong>fice added that<strong>Italian</strong> language has moved from anethnic focus to a cultural and evenbusiness focus (as Italy is amember <strong>of</strong> the G-8 group <strong>of</strong> worldeconomic powers), and its studyhas increased throughout the U.S.It was agreed that “demand” wasnot the issue.Discussion then focused on thesupply <strong>of</strong> <strong>Italian</strong> teachers, whichled to Ed Mattola providing thegroup a recap <strong>of</strong> his efforts to get abill passed that is currently beforethe Florida Legislature – HB207,which will fund the creation <strong>of</strong> an<strong>Italian</strong> exam by the state to allow<strong>Italian</strong> language certification to beobtained by taking a test. This willmake it easier for those interestedin teaching <strong>Italian</strong> to becomecertified with the state.PAGE 9<strong>The</strong> meeting concluded with anumber <strong>of</strong> concrete actionitems ranging from thepossible addition <strong>of</strong> <strong>Italian</strong> tocurriculum at “feederschools” to Gaither (i.e.middle schools whosestudents would be going on toGaither), to its addition to themiddle school for studentscoming from Phillip Shore sothey could potentiallycontinue their study. Ms. Eliaalso pledged her support forMr. Mottola’s effort to passNB-207, and would ask thedistrict’s legislative liaison toget involved. <strong>The</strong> groupagreed to reconvene in theSpring.In the meantime, Ed Mottola justannounced that <strong>The</strong> State <strong>of</strong> FloridaBoard <strong>of</strong> Education met onFebruary 19, and approvedamendments to Department <strong>of</strong>Education rule 6A—4.0243. Ineffect, the <strong>Italian</strong> language andother world languages were addedto this rule, allowing certificationthrough a pr<strong>of</strong>iciency exam by theAmerican Council on the Teaching<strong>of</strong> Foreign Languages. <strong>The</strong>amended rule will now beforwarded to the <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> theFlorida Secretary <strong>of</strong> State who willsign <strong>of</strong>f on the rule and a date thatthe amended rule goes into effectwill be announced at that time.Sempre Avanti!Ron Quartararo