About 20 students from the business and technical high school "G. Piovene" of Vicenza visited Caserma Ederle Jan. 30 as part of an exchange program, which annually schedules some pre-planned school visits to the Vicenza High School.
During these field trips, Italian students have the opportunity to learn about the American school system, meet with their peers and speak another language. They were welcomed by Michela Ambruoso, Italian language teacher and culture who coordinates these events.
"Vicenza High School has been having a long standing relationship with this school for the past five years. Our Italian classes visited the Italian school in November," said Ambruoso.
She added that ITC Piovene has a population of about 1,000 students. It specializes in business, finance and tourism.
"That is why this is one of the schools that helps us with the new students orientation. Together with S2S members, students from ITC Piovene take our new VHS students on a tour of Vicenza from a teenager's point of view," said Ambruoso.
As most of the Italian students who see the American school for the first time, ITC Piovene students noticed how the way of teaching is different if compared to the lessons they attend in the Italian school.
"I liked the way teachers were able to be friendly and I felt interested in attending the lesson," said Riccardo Morbisto, one of the ITC Piovene participants.
Another student, Silvia Guardo, pointed up some of the visible differences.
"I really like the fact that every student has his/her own computer to do homework. It is also great that every teacher has his/her own classroom and the American students switch classes compared to our habit of staying in our class while the Italian teachers switch classes at the end of the lesson," she said.
If these are a few of the peculiarities that most students would notice during their first visit, what was unique during this specific one was that the Italian students also joined their peers and experienced the afternoon pep rally. The goal of this activity, sponsored by the VHS student council, is to encourage school spirit and motivate school participation.
"The pep rally for VHS is an exciting seminar assembly that happens three times a year and introduces the sports team for that season. The assembly aims to get students involved with a series of dress up days starting on Monday of that week," said VHS student Kaely Wilson.
"This year, each grade level (freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior) selected one guy member of their class to dress up like a girl and compete for the title 'Misster Pep Rally'.
All the participants had to strut down the gym, perform a special talent, and answer a series of silly questions while their class cheered them on," said Wilson.
Surrounded by the Vicenza High School marching band, color guard, cheerleaders and students cheering for their class, Italian students certainly had a memorable experience of extracurricular activities.
At the end of the event, all the class members said they will certainly keep in touch with the new friends via texting and Facebook while waiting for their returning visit.
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