Convivio and its auxiliary, the Little Italy Heritage Foundation, were proud to host 38 students and five chaperones from La Scuola d’Italia Guglielmo Marconi, a bilingual Italian school based in New York City. La Scuola D’Italia is one of only two schools in the United States that provides K-12 bilingual education firmly rooted in the best Italian, European and American traditions for internationally oriented students.
The evening began with a tour of Little Italy by Anthony Davi of San Diego Hospitality Group and included a scavenger hunt through the neighborhood. Afterward, the student teams came together at Amici House to enjoy traditional wood-fired oven pizza, cannoli, and tiramisu from Cucina Caprese’s Giuseppe Monaco; and Tarantino Sausages provided by Bernadette Tarantino.
Convivio volunteers and members from the community joined in the festivities, as well as a special guest—Pietro Bellinghieri, the deputy consul of the Italian consulate in Los Angeles. We are also grate-ful to the Little Italy Association for its support of our event and to Lou Palestini, cultural affairs direc-tor for the association, for his attendance.
But perhaps the greatest highlight of the evening was the students meeting Sergio Davì, the adventurer and environmentalist who arrived in San Diego on Thursday after traveling 10,000 miles across two oceans in a ribbed inflatable boat (RIB). Captain Davì addressed the students in Italian and explained a bit about his journey, after which the students asked questions about his incredible accomplishment.
Convivio’s involvement with La Scuola d’Italia furthered a few of its important objectives including:
- Cultivating partnerships with academia.
- Promoting the study of Italian language, arts, and culture.
- Supporting scholarly research in Italian Studies.
As Convivio’s heritage foundation strives to bring an educational component to its goal of establishing a cultural center and museum to San Diego County, our efforts in support of Sergio Davì and La Scuola d’Italia could not have been a better way to spread the message of our mission.
