By Tiziano Thomas Dossena (Courtesy of Golden Lion Magazine)
Year after year, the Eastchester/Tuckahoe OSDIA Garibaldi Lodge #2583 has assigned numerous scholarships to deserving students of the Italian language using a proven and classical method of judging the students’ capabilities: the interview. A student presents a written curriculum and, if chosen, is interviewed by a committee. This system has worked wonderfully for the Lodge, and I am sure for other Lodges too.
Somehow, though, the Garibaldi Lodge Scholarship Committee—chaired by Laura Raffiani and formed by Vito Catania, Virginia Holek, Lina Astarita, Domenica Rinaldi, Rosetta McArdle, and Terri Tomany— believed that a shakeup was necessary. They thought that asking students to prepare a digital presentation on their roots, their achievements and goals would be ideal.
And so, a new system was born, and how interesting and efficient it turned out to be! The students had the opportunity to create what they believed was the optimal introduction of their lives, with illustrations and proper explanations.
On the nights the awards were assigned, the introductions were repeated by the winners, with great joy of the families and the members of the Lodge.
The winner of the Raffiani Family Foundation Scholarship was Ava Tsapatsaris (Eastchester HS). There were eight winners of the Giuseppe Garibaldi Lodge Italian Excellence Scholarship from Eastchester High School: Marco F. Casale, Matteo M. Casale, Melina Caviris, Gabriella J. Galgano, Jenna M. LaBarca, Jacob K. Naclerio, Mia R. Siciliano, and Ava G. wade. Two Tuckahoe High School students also won that Scholarship: Isabella G. Pepperman and Noelle L. Simone.
GALLERY
