What Italian Teens Think about the US

Is it possible that it's hasn't even been a week since the election?  Read on if you're curious about what Italian teens are thinking about the US.

This entry is excerpted from an email to a friend at the New Hope YMCA.

I think the question of yours I can anticipate is this- what do the Italians think of us here in the US, and what do they think of the election and the results?  I can't encapsulate it all, but I can tell you about a cool experience I had last month that addresses at least part of your question.  

My Friend Philippa from Monterenzio works in a local high school.  She invited me to be a volunteer guest English lecturer for a couple of weeks.  Here are a few photos.  Students chose what they wanted to learn from a selection I offered, including: The 2024 US Presidential Elections, African American History, Cultural Diversity in the US, Rights and Freedoms in the US, or North American Geography, Travel, and Sports. For each topic, I asked students to share words they knew in English related to the topic and to come up with some questions in small groups.  I based my presetations on short print or online articles that I shared with the teachers for a follow-up reading activity.

The students had an insiatiable appetite to know more about politics, society, freedoms, rights, opportunities, and history (especially African American!) in the US, no matter which topic they initially chose.  You can see some of the words they already knew on the chosen topic and the questions they asked.

You might be wondering about the students.  Bologna has changed immensely in the last 15 years- the world has arrived here and they are trying to figure out (teachers, students, families, the whole community) how to move foreward in this new reality.  Students of color in the classes I worked with here were especially curious to learn how we welcome students from cultures around the globe.  I was proud to share about and reflect on the things we do in MN and what Edison High School does.  We haven't figured everything out, but we do a lot, we know a lot, and we know how to show we care.  Here's a group I got to learn with:

 I'm going back to the high school later this month to do a day of French presentations.  I'm curious to see what questions I get then, post-election.  One thing I feel sure about- these students are watching, and not just for the election results, but for what happens next.  They are watching how we, the poeple, respond.  They get that we are not perfect, but they are fascinated by the stories of freedom, justice, welcome, diversity, opportunity, and overcoming adversity that we have shared so far.  I believe there is more to that story we will write together.