Ciao a tutti:
This past Saturday we had the opportunity to attend and present the attached report of the Italian Education, Culture and Language Committee (IECLC) at the summer plenary session. It was obvious from the discussion that followed this report, that our culture, heritage and the Italian language still carry the passion of heart, mind and direction in the Sons of Italy.
We are pleased to report that the Italian Language Curriculum Guide has been approved by the Grand Council and will soon be sent to the printer. We especially give the SINCERE APPRECIATION of the IECLC to the Grand Council brothers and sisters who wholeheartedly supported this project and now have made it a reality.
We should also note our sincere appreciation to our sisters and brothers who have accepted leadership roles in this committee. Your dedication and spirit have made this committee one of the most active and productive in our Order. Be proud of the good work you are doing. Your efforts are appreciated by our membership. As Dr. Sellaro noted: "it is up to us." It is always up to us.
Fraternally,
Robert Necci
GRAND LODGE OF NEW YORK, OSIA
ITALIAN EDUCATION, CULTURE & LANGUAGE COMMITTEE
IECLC COORDINATOR’S REPORT
Summer Plenary Session - July 29, 2006 –Blauvelt, NY
Rockland Lodge #2176
Worthy State President, National Officers, State Officers, Host Lodge, Sisters, and Brothers:
IECLC OSIA WEB SITE: The IECLC website continues to generate substantial e-mail and telephone correspondence to the Coordinator. We are very pleased with the growing membership interactive participation in the areas of heritage, culture and language. We are also delighted with the growing list of non-OSIA organizations which have asked to receive this weekly report and the positive recommendations of these organizations to other organizations. We should also note that our reports are being used in several Long Island and upstate colleges as a teaching tool.
BOCCE: Our state bocce tournament, which was well received, concluded very successfully at convention. We are looking into the possibility of holding league tournaments in each district in the fall, spring and summer seasons. Each tournament will be six weeks and the team with the most wins will advance. Further information will be forthcoming after the IECLC District Chairs meet and work out the details.
CONVENTION: The IECLC Table at our state convention was very well received. Many positive comments were received as to the number of cultural events which were held in the state in the first half of this year. The display of these events (prepared by Brother Joseph Pastore) gave further evidence that our heritage and culture is a living element of many New York State lodges. We are grateful to The Italian Tribune and US-Italia for the donation of current issues of their publications for distribution at the convention.
ITALIAN LANGUAGE CURRICULUM: We now have a fully completed draft of the Italian Language Curriculum for NYS OSIA for the September launch of a low-cost after-school program for use in our lodges. We are working to have the printed curriculum ready for September presentation. We would suggest that this presents a unique opportunity for the intergenerational transmission of Italian and Italian American heritage and culture for all involved. Our Italian Language Chair, Sister Giulia Prestia will assist the lodges in setting up this program. This New York State approved curriculum covers grades K – 12. We have sent a letter (attached) to our state president and grand council requesting the necessary funds for publication.
LITTLE ITALY PROJECT: Little Italy in New York City is an historic place and we seek to preserve its character and to highlight its significance to all Americans and to Italian Americans in particular. Brothers William Medici and Anthony Sinocchi from the Lt. Joseph Petrosino Lodge #2741 are working towards gaining official governmental designation declaring Little Italy as an historic landmark, which you may be surprised to learn has never been granted! We fully and wholeheartedly support this initiative and recommend its being designated a state-wide project of the IECLC. On August 5th & 6th, WNBC Channel 4 will air “Little Italy: Past, Present & Future” at 7 PM. This “accurately represents the current state of Little Italy and portrays a thoughtful view of the community” said William Medici, a member of the Lt. Joseph Petrosino Lodge and founding member of The Medici Foundation. Brothers John Fratta and Joseph Morrone, president of the Petrosino Lodge, are two additional board members and longtime residents, share their experiences growing up in the neighborhood. Fratta discusses the discrimination many of the honest and hardworking Italian Americans often faced while trying to carve out a better life for themselves. “This is a very important time for the neighborhood as The Medici Foundation is working towards honoring and preserving the integrity of Little Italy,” says Fratta. “It is shocking that out of 42 historic landmark districts in New York City, Little Italy is not one of them.” We have sent a letter (attached) to our state president and grand council requesting the appointment of Immediate National Past President Joseph Sciame to represent NYS OSIA as a board chair in the Medici Foundation, which is working to gain national and state geographical landmark status for Manhattan’s Little Italy.
COMMISSION: We have written a letter (attached) to our state president and grand council asking for the elevation of the Italian Education, Culture and Language Committee to the status of Commission. We have recommended that this be named the Commission for Italian Heritage, Culture, Language and Education.
ITALIAN EDUCATION PROJECT: We have asked Sister Silva Montemurro, our state education chair to work on a project of gathering a list of Italian cultural events which will be occurring in our state colleges this fall. So many worthwhile cultural events will be taking place and it is important to publicize this to our membership. Additionally, we need to support these programs in order for them to continue.
ITALIAN HERITAGE & CULTURE MONTH: October 2006 marks the 30th anniversary of Italian Heritage & Culture Month. For the very first time, we will be preparing a booklet of all the heritage and cultural activities that will be taking place in NYS OSIA Lodges during this period. Lodge activity forms will be sent to lodge presidents after the conclusion of the convention. To ensure that the excellent work being planned in your respective lodges is highlighted and advertised not only to other lodges, but to your local community as well, it is important to adhere to the deadline.
THE LIGHTING CEREMONY DINNER/DANCE: We will work with our state president and first lady in preparing a cultural presentation for the evening’s festivity, the official kick-off of Italian Heritage and Culture Month (October 2006) – This year’s theme is: The Legacy of Leonardo da Vinci: Celebrating Italian Genius.
COLUMBUS DAY PARADES: We will be working with each of the IECLC District Chairs to investigate low turn-out and offer suggestions to lodge presidents to encourage greater participation from each district in this year’s Columbus Day Parades.
CENTER FOR ITALIAN STUDIES, STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY: We continue to build on the fine work of our predecessor and continue the fine collaboration between Dr. Mario Mignone, Director for the Center for Italian Studies and NYS OSIA. We are in the process of setting up a Saturday morning breakfast at Stony Brook for our state president and grand council. We are seeking to develop a greater working partnership between the Center and NYS OSIA. More information will follow.
STATE CHAIRS: The following are state chairs:
Language Chair – Giulia Prestia, 718-921-6483
Education Chair – Silvia Montemurro, 631-242-7280
Heritage & Culture Chair – Robert Necci, 631-256-6397
DISTRICT I CHAIR: We are please to announce the appointment of Brother Michael Ferrato as District I’s IECLC Chair. Brother Michael is a member of the Constantine Brumidi Lodge of Deer Park. We welcome him to the IECLC.
DISTRICT CHAIRS: The following are district chairs:
District 1 – Michael Ferrato 631-243-1414
District 2 – Anthony Sclafani 516-759-2313
District 3 – Mary Ann Re 908-547-3102
District 4 - Joseph Zingone 845-221-7234
District 5 – Carmelo Greco 845-359-9484
District 6 – Biagio Isgro 518-861-5304
District 7 – Joseph Pastore 607-785-2567
District 8 – Michael Cutillo 315-398-1351
We thank the district chairs for their continuing service and commitment to the IECLC and NYS OSIA.
Respectfully submitted: 29 July 2006
Robert Necci
Coordinator
Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
Attachments:
TO: State President Carlo Matteucci and Executive Council Members
FROM: Robert Necci – Coordinator: Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
RE: Italian Language Curriculum Guide
DATE: June 28, 2006
Cari Worthy President Matteucci and Executive Council Members:
In previous reports and personal conversations, we have announced that the Italian Language Curriculum Guide is complete and ready for the printer.
This curriculum guide was written under the auspices of Dr. Joseph Tursi, Stony Brook University, for the Italian Consulate in New York City. It was over a year in the making and adheres to current Regent Standards for use in the New York State Public School System.
We have received the permission of Dr. Tursi and through him, the Italian Consulate, to adopt this curriculum guide as the official Grand Lodge of New York State Italian Language Curriculum Guide, Order Sons of Italy in America for use in our lodges.
We have sourced out and received three estimates for printing 150 copies of the curriculum guide. The approximate cost of this would be $875. The book would be 120 pages, GBC bounded with index stock covers and 10 gauge plastic protective covers front and back.
As the Italian Language Program Initiative, we would like to present one copy to each of the lodge presidents and the remainder to be sold, as needed, for $10 each. Proceeding in this manner, the Grand Lodge would be able to recoup its original investment in this program to further the teaching of “la bella lingua.”
Fraternally,
Robert Necci
Coordinator
Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
TO: State President Carlo Matteucci and Executive Council Members
FROM: Robert Necci – Coordinator: Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
RE: Little Italy Historical Landmark Designation Project
DATE: July 4, 2006
Cari Worthy President Matteucci and Executive Council Members:
As a follow up to conversations concerning the involvement and participation of the Grand Lodge of New York in the Little Italy Historical Landmark Designation Project, may I respectfully submit the name of Immediate Past National President Brother Joseph Sciame as a candidate to be the representative of the Grand Lodge Council to the Medici Foundation Board of Directors.
It is imperative to have a senior OSIA official on this board. The genesis of our Order is in the heart of lower Manhattan’s Little Italy. So much of the early work of Dr. Sellaro was done here. As the recipients of his legacy, we have the responsibility to keep the memory and physical dimensions of Little Italy intact.
The next meeting of the Medici Foundation is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, July 11 at 6:30 PM. With your permission and Brother Sciame’s consent, I would like to introduce him as the official representative of the Grand Lodge of New York to the Medici Foundation Board of Directors.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Fraternally,
Robert Necci
Coordinator
Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
TO: State President Carlo Matteucci and Executive Council Members
FROM: Robert Necci – Coordinator: Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
RE: Elevation of the Italian Education, Culture and Language Committee to the: Commission for Italian Heritage, Culture, Language and Education
DATE: July 17, 2006
Cari Worthy President Matteucci and Executive Council Members:
We are pleased to request that the Italian Education, Culture and Education Committee (IECLC) be elevated to the Commission for Italian Heritage, Culture, Language and Education.
Dr. Sellaro and his compatriots, in setting up the foundation for OSIA, established our heritage, culture and language as one of the jewels of the Order. Dr. Sellaro knew that this was the one way to keep the arriving immigrants connected to what was left behind and to help them build the bridge to assimilation in the new world.
Worthy President, Sister and Brothers, if this is the jewel that Dr. Sellaro envisioned so many years ago, then we, as the leaders of this legacy, need to place this in a position that will enable it to develop to its full potential.
At the present time the IECLC terminates at the end of a president’s term of office and then the president-elect appoints a new chair, with the result that the work begins anew, thus losing what has already been built.
Elevating the IECLC to a commission will keep the organizational framework, projects, and budget intact for the succeeding chair. We need only to look at the productive results that have occurred because previous leadership had the vision to elevate the committee that fought bias and bigotry to what today is the Commission For Social Justice.
Fraternally,
Robert Necci
Coordinator
Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
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