By Anthony Rifilato
A senior at Baldwin High School, the Italian honors student became interested in the language and culture at an early age. In elementary school, she met a girl who had moved to Baldwin from Italy, and the two quickly became "buon amici."
"What inspired me to take Italian was when a friend of mine moved to America from Italy, and we became very good friends," said Soumakis. "I became interested in the culture. I enjoy my class because we learn so many different things. We learn how to speak the language, obviously, but there's other aspects to the Italian culture in the class as well."
These days, Soumakis, whose family is Greek, isn't just speaking the language, she's listening to the music of contemporary Italian artists like Eros Ramazzotti and Lucio Battisti, and watching films starring actresses like Monica Bellucci. Her class just finished a unit on Italian opera, and she has been studying classic Italian fables and stories, while also learning about the country's art, food and culture. For Soumakis and many other students, Italian studies at Baldwin High have been an enriching learning experience, she said.
"Students in my class are very enthusiastic about learning the language, and we practically begged our teacher to take us on a field trip to Italy," Soumakis said.
Next year, the school's Italian program will get a boost when Baldwin High offers its first Advanced Placement Italian course, one of many A.P. classes at the school. On Dec. 12, the Board of Education approved two A.P. courses - Italian and statistics - as well as a new elective, stage crafts and entertainment technology. The new courses, staff and school officials said, are examples of the rich curriculum the school offers.
"It's part of our goal to keep a good, strong academic program with lots of opportunities for students," said school board President James Scannell. "Advanced Placement courses are becoming, more and more, what colleges like to see on a transcript."
The new A.P. classes will be added to the 18 already offered at the school. Board members said there has been a demand for such courses, which are recognized for college credit by many universities across the country. The Advanced Placement Program offers college-level courses at high schools across the U.S.
'We have enrollment rising, and that's been a 10-year trend," said school board Trustee B.A. Schoen. "It reflects the awareness of students and parents of taking advantage of an A.P. course. A.P. is big because it's a standardized test and administered nationwide. If a kid does well on an A.P. exam, a college admissions office is impressed."
The high school offers a wide range of A.P. classes, from biology, calculus and physics to art, music and European history. School officials said that the new Italian course would complement other language courses, such as French and Spanish. School officials said that students take more than 500 A.P. exams each spring, and 83 students from the classes of 2005 and 2006 were named A.P. scholars.
"It is true that there has been a significant growth in the number of students who have been taking A.P. courses, and they're doing very well," Scannell said. "We have lots of kids that not only take the courses and score well, but who become A.P. scholars and A.P. scholars with distinction. If you get a bunch of kids excited about Italian, you have to give them a course of study that provides them with the opportunity to study the language in depth."
While the school board approved the course based on student interest and what it said was its commitment to students who wanted to progress in that study area, there has been a broader push over the last several years by the Italian government and Italian-American organizations across the U.S. to create an Italian A.P. program.
In 2003, representatives of the Italian government and the College Board, the nonprofit organization that administers the A.P. program, announced the creation of A.P. Italian Language and Culture, part of an initiative to promote appreciation of all things Italian in the U.S.
"This is the third year that A.P. Italian has been given across the country, and there has been a lot of interest from the Italian government, Italian organizations and the school community," said Baldwin High Italian teacher Ignazio Stracquandanio, who will teach the new A.P. course next year. "The Italian government has been very active for the past two years or so to bring the language and culture to the U.S."
The course will be available to students who have completed Italian 4H, and there are currently 18 students who expressed interest in taking it.
"Students have an interest to pursue their education and become more proficient in the language and culture," Stracquandanio said. "On the other hand, I think the community has been looking for the opportunity to have these specialized courses. There has always been an interest among the students here to have A.P. Italian."
Stracquandanio promises that the new course will be rigorous, yet engaging. No English will be spoken. "The course is exclusively in Italian, and students will be exposed to authentic material, whether it's music or film," he said. "Because A.P. Italian is not only about language, it includes a huge component of the culture. It's more than just language and history. In everyday life, you are exposed to its clothing, fashion, food and art."
Soumakis, who plans to attend Nassau Community College and later Queens College, said there has been much talk about the new class among her classmates. "Students in my class are very happy about this Italian A.P. class coming," said Soumakis, who is already taking A.P. art. "I'll be graduating, so I can't take it, but I'm very happy for my classmates."
Comments about this story? Baldwineditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
