“Toolkit italiano: Building Innovative Pathways to Success” was the theme of the eighteenth annual Teaching Italian Symposium/Workshops, Montclair State University’s annual professional development program for teachers of Italian. A signature collaboration between the Italian program’s Prof.ssa Enza Antenos and the Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America, this year’s program featured two intensive, hands-on workshops co-led by Diana Maria Zoino (Cresskill High School, Cresskill, NJ) & Alessandra Savarese (Arthur L. Johnson High School, Clark, NJ) and Elda Buonanno Foley (Bruswick School, Greenwich, CT/St. John’s University) & Daniela Bisello Antonucci (Independent scholar). A lively panel discussion moderated by Symposium Chair Prof.ssa Enza Antenos also featured all workshop facilitators and Amanda Seewald, the Executive Director of the Joint National Committee for Languages, National Council for Languages and International Studies. Also on the agenda: the presentation of the Coccia-Inserra Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Teaching of Italian (K-12) was presented to Benedetta Liccardo (La Scuola International School, San Francisco, California) and introductory remarks and congratulations delivered by various representatives, including Dr. Fatma Mili, Interim Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kathleen Loysen, Chair of the Department of World Languages & Cultures, Daniele Castellani, Dirigente, Ufficio scuola del Consolato Generale di New York, Alessandra Oliva, Console Aggiunta del Consolato Generale di New York, and Margaret Fontana, Executive Director of the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission.
