At the Bronx High School of Science senior award ceremony, my son Yuri received a certificate of excellence in the study of Italian. The Nadine Kowalsky family and the Alumni Association co-sponsored this award. Kowalsky was a student when, with the help of her family, she recruited the first-ever Italian teacher at Bronx Science in 1982.

Senior awards were bestowed on 250 of the 700 students who graduate from the class of 2010.

Yuri also received a certificate of recognition from the University at Albany, NY for the study of contemporary astronomy. The Bronx Science is one of the two top-level public schools in the State of New York from which seven Nobel Price winners graduated. Before being accepted at Bronx Science, Yuri was a student at La Scuola d’Italia.

With the class of 2010 Bronx Science terminated its Italian AP diplomas for lack of financial resources, a clear indication of the failing leadership from Italy and the Italian-American cultural and social organizations. The Italian AP program was offered by the College Board in 2004 and it was removed in 2009.

Currently, the Bronx Science has two Italian teachers, prof. Lisa Rocchio, who’s also the assistant principal, and prof. Renata Paolercio.

Another Italian institution that Italian-American organizations are not able (or willing) to support is La Scuola d’Italia. Based in New York City on two campuses, La Scuola is the only Italian school in North America with a bi-lingual program recognized both in Italy and in the State of New York with classes that span from kindergarten to high school.