Immigration Poetry

In the poem “Hopefully flying home”, originally written in Italian, my father  focuses on the concepts of separation and loss perceived by an immigrant.

He expresses the feelings of an immigrant son returning to his dying father.

His  “looking up” and “ looking down” on the plane journey  symbolize death and life and the poet’s  uncertainty of finding his father still alive. 

The concept of death is dealt with serenity and strength.    

Obviously the translation has no poetic value, but I’d like to share the English version of the  poem with you so it can reach as many people as possible. I hold family bonds the most precious treasures to cherish.                                                          

                                         

                                           It was suddenly dark and

                                           the rain was pelting down.

                                           Waiting for more than an hour, 

                                           sitting in a jet plane,

                                           I saw only blinding lightning through the window.
                                           When a sudden  break in the clouds peeped out,

                                           the jet plane took off.

                                           For eight long hours I remained

                                           between heaven and earth 

                                           at  boundless height,

                                           and, when I was torn apart by doubt,

                                           I wished the jet plane flew higher and higher

                                           to reach up to my dear father's soul.

                                           But an ineffable eagerness

                                           drove me to hope

                                           that  at my arrival

                                           his heart would still beat.

                                           Looking up at the sky

                                           I was blinded

                                           by falling unlit stars.

                                           Secular seemed to me that night

                                           and  as it ended

                                           the stars vanished,

                                           whilst the grey sky appeared

                                           and the faraway dawn seemed so feeble.

                                           The emerging sun

                                           inspired me with strength and courage

                                           and heralded the landing.

                                           Looking down I saw my ancestral land.

                                           In the same moment as I arrived home

                                           my beloved father exhaled the last breath.

                                           Cold tears poured down his unaffected face

                                           and his lips still warm I kissed.

                                           I was tempted to massage his chest

                                           to stimulate his heart,

                                                      but I kept from doing it

                                           for he had found serenity.

                                                                                     Dante Manganelli

People who make the difference

    The end  of  the school year  induces insight into  educational excellence. Looking  back over years of  teaching I would  like  to pay tribute  to  two colleagues and  two  principals whom  I  have recently  worked with.

Antonio Moccia  - principal  at “Leonardo da Vinci” Middle School in  Avellino, Italy-  He  has  worked  hard  to  raise  the attainment of  my school this  year.  In everything  he has done he has  given off  messages of high  quality  education and innovation.  

Thank  you for  having  appreciated  my competences  and  having  tried  to retain me at your  school.

Alfonsina  Manganiello -principal at “Aurelio Covotta”  Primary and Middle School  in Ariano Irpino  (AV), Italy-   She  first introduced  me into planning, implementing, monitoing and evaluating school projects. I admire  her  firmness,   problem posing  and problem solving attitude  and her approaching  work with an entrepreneurial attitude. 

Thank you for your  guide. 

Eliana De Negri- Colleague  at  “Dante Alighieri”  Middle School in Avellino -  She is a self-starter, involved  in so many  different  educational initiatives  and research work.  She knows that innovation and facing challenges  are paramount  to quality teaching. What a pity there are so  few people in the school system who breed self-starters  and  so many  people who  chop down initiatives!!!!!

Thank you  for helping me understand  how important it is to set high goals  and strive to achieve them.

Carmela Di Gaeta -Colleague  at “Salvatore Aurigemma”  Primary and Middle School in Monteforte Irpino (AV), Italy. - Her unstinting effort in all kinds of  school experiences  has  provided support  for all her colleagues.  She  is a very responsible person  with energy  and follow  through.  She always makes the most of  herself.

 Thank you  for having provided me with motivation and encouragement.

Teacher thanks

To  my  students who have attended  grade  1E  at  “Leonardo da Vinci”  Middle School  in Avellino, Italy.

    The  school year  has  come to an end  and it’s  time  to say  good- bye.

We’ve  been  together  only one  year but  enough  time  for me to see you grow and  for you to treasure  what  I’ve taught you.

    You  have all done your part in making  the  school  year a truly  great one.

Thank  you  for having  appreciated   my professional   qualities and  my  personal  worth (something  really exceptional  for your age),  for   having participated  in the  school  lessons   so enthusiastically  and  having understood  so easily  the  difference  between right and  wrong.

You  have  made  my task  of molding  your personality  and shaping  your  mind  so much easier.

    I  am  glad I was  your  teacher  and  so important   in your  life.

Remember , always  try  to  do  your  best  and try to  get  the  best  you  can  from  school.   Move  ahead in life  with  the  same  effort  you  carried out all   your  tasks.  Some  of you   have  given  really great  contributions  to school  life.

   A  special  thanks  to  your  parents!

Peace People

When I was a  young  girl   I  often  used  to hear of  the  civil and  religious  uprest in Northern Ireland: the  conflict  between Catholics  and Protestant. We would  talk  about it at school with our  History or Religious  Education teacher, reflecting on what life  would  be like  at the time in Northern Ireland, especially for  children. It was  so unusual  for me  living  peacefully side  by side   with  people of different races  and  religius creeds in the USA.
As a teacher I  have dealt  with  this  topic with  my students several times. Once I asked them to imagine being a Catholic or a Protestant  child in the  years of the "Troubles" and meeting  an Italian tourist  one day in Belfast.  Here's  what  they  wrote:

Fancesca:  Hi! I’m from Italy. My name is  Francesca. I’m  on here on holiday.
Sean:  Hi, Francesca. My name is Sean.
Thomas:  Welcome to Belfast, Francesca!  I’m Thomas.  
Francesca: What’s that over there ?
Sean: That’s a Peace Wall.  It separates  a Catholic neighborhood  from a Protestant one. I’m Protestant and Thomas is Catholic  but we like to play together. We’re good  friends.
Thomas: There are a lot of  Peace Walls all over Northern Ireland.
Francesca: Why do people write on them?
Sean: Because they  want  to express  their  thoughts and feelings  about war and peace in Northern  Ireland.
Thomas: Tourists write on the walls too.  Why don’t  you write something, Francesca.
Francesca: Oh yes!  I‘ll write.....“NO WARS  AND  NO  WALLS.  LET’S  LIVE TOGETHER TO  BUILD  A  BETTER  WORLD. “

In 1976  due  Northern Irish citizens, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, both personaly involved in the terrible incidents which were happening in their country at the time, founded  a  peace movement, Peace People. This peace organization won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize.  Enjoy this excerpt  from  their  First Declaration:  http://youtu.be/j2OdG7k659I
The  song you hear in the background is  "There were roses" by the Northern Irish folk singer Bobby Sands.

A teacher's midlife crisis

    After having put years into the classroom I believe I’m experiencing some kind of occupational stress and losing my identity as a teacher. Having grown up in a country where you are valued for what you are and what you achieve makes it extremely difficult for me to work in a school system which does not reward teaching quality and offers teachers no opportunity for advancement.

   How are teachers with broad perspectives, engaged in challenging new initiatives and responsible for their own professional development rewarded if not only with words? When will school systems value  teachers who go beyond their required duties or extend their knowledge and expertise?

   Teachers who display greater commitment do not get higher salaries or extra days off, they do not have earlier retirement options nor do they have opportunities to get grants or to have a school transfer more easily.

   Teaching entails commitment and commitment entails personal cost and personal investment. Commitment and innovation lead to school development more than reforms do.

Why God created teachers

Surfing  the Internet one day I came across this poem  I'd  like to share with  teachers and students.
            

  WHY GOD CREATED TEACHERS

 When God created teachers
He gave us  special friends

       To help us understand His world
And truly comprehend

The beauty and the wonder

Of  everything we see,

And become a bettere person

With every discovery.

When God created teachers

He gave us  special guides

To show us ways in which to grow

And so we can all decide

How to live  and how to do

What's right instead of  wrong

To lead us so that we can lead

And learn  how to be strong.

Why God  created teachers,

In His wisdom and His grace,

Was to help us learn to make

Our world a better place.

  

                                                           Author Unknown

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Imagine

Have a look at this video I made working with a primary school teacher, Carmela di Gaeta,  who  first introduced me to the use of ICT tools in education in 2007.   Our students  were  from primary and secondary school.  They enjoyed  and appreciated  John Lennon's evergreen "Imagine".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy2UBVV5L2Y

Forget them not, forget it not

Today I have  experienced the  same  emotional  impact  I felt on September 11^th 2001. I  am deeply moved by the solemnity and sobriety of the memorial ceremony that is taking place at Ground Zero in New York City at the moment.  How  wonderful it would be to be  there!

The seemingly endless four hours reading of the  names of those killed in 9/11 attacks is an example of the  extremely profound respect and  gratitude for those who died.

Very meaningful is the speech delivered by Donald Rumsfeld, ex-US Secretary of Defence,
on Sky News:  
“...The purpose of terrorism is not to kill people it’s to terrorize people, it’s to alter their behavior…. Free people, those of us here in the United States and in other free countries, the very essence of their lives  is that  we can go where we want, say what we  want and do what we  wish to do,  and that has not changed, we have not become terrorized. We have had to make  some adjustments to be  sure…… in the main the American people are still the free people they were and that is a blessing because we have not had to alter our lives…

The Perspective of Improvemnt and Progress

I‘d like to share an excerpt from the book The Story of the Italians in America - Your Ancestor Series - ( Doubleday & Company Inc.,  Garden City, New York , 1965) by Michael A. Musmanno, a jurist of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and a politician of Italian heritage. The author depicts the hardships and prejudice Italian immigrants faced in the USA but also their achievement. Here is one of the most touching and meaningful pages of his book:

  Though the children’s garments were left much to be desired, they were getting the best clothing in the world for their minds. They were being dressed with education in the free schools of America. Itwas only a little country school they attended but the teacher seemed to know everything and the children brought home books that excited even Antonio and Maddalena who dreamed of the day their offspring would take their place with dignity and respect in the life of America, earning wages that would supply them with good clothing, nourishing food and warmth no matter how wintry the winds of life might blow.

    When the United States went to war with Spain, Giovanni joined Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, fought in Cuba and came back in a blue uniform with yellow stripes and a sombrero pinned up at the side, a dashing hero to two sisters and three brothers. And as the first three sons reached working age, they got jobs on a railroad section gang, toiling close to their dad. The fourth one, Francesco, worked in a steel mill by day and went to school at night, steering his life by a star which pointed to a lawyer’s career. The other daughter, Rosina, became a telegraphist. Antonio and Maddalena offered prayers of thanksgiving for the opportunities of America to live in self-dependence, self-respect and with a continuing prospective of further improvement and increasing happiness. They now had a more substantial home, shaded by a slight mortgage and five fine mulberry trees, the saplings of which had come from Antonio’s paese.

    When America declared war on Germany, two of the brothers sailed away to the battlefields of France. One did not return and the mulberry trees spread their melancholy shade for young Raffaelo resting in eternal peace and glory in Flanders Field. Maddalena, with a sob in her throat, placed a golden star in the window. Antonio hung in the next window the American flag. He knew now he was truly an American because the blood of his boy was in the red stripes.
    Fifteen years later, Francesco, who had become a successful lawyer, was elected judge. On the day he was to be installed in office, Antonio and Maddalena sat in the courtroom, trembling in their ecstasy. It was true and yet it could not be true. The forlorn immigrants who had landed in America many years ago had had many dreams, but even in the rosiest clouds of hope and promise they could not visualize a shining judicial robe for one of their own children. At the moment that Francesco took the oath, Antonio lifted to his lips the folds of an American flag at this side and kissed the nation’s ensign, murmuring at the time some words. That night at home, Francesco said to his father: “Papà, I saw you kiss the flag at the swearing-in ceremony and I know you spoke some words because I saw your lips move. What did you say?” Antonio lowered the large-bowl pipe at which he had been puffing and, as creamy clouds of smoke ascended to the ceiling, he replied: “My boy I said: ”Thank God for a country where even the son of an Italian immigrant coal miner and railroad section hand can become a judge.”

The Creative Life at Terezin Concentration Camp

The Terezin Promise

I am very interested in the Holocaust and have been fascinated  by the rich cultural community  at Terezin concentration camp (or the Thereisenstadt  ghetto as the Germans called it).  Here is one of my works:  
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24i4ZtnCKA4

Terezin was a town near Prague which was walled and transformed in a concentration camp by the Nazis.  Hitler  wanted the world to know  that it was “a city for the Jews” where  Jewish scholars, professionals, artists, musicians and  political prisoners from several countries were encouraged to lead a creative life and could  be protected  from the stresses of the war. The Nazis  created  this façade  in order to deceive the world, especially the International Red Cross, into believing  that the Jews were safe here.  On the contrary, they were not safe  at all. TerezinConcentration Camp was only a way station: inmates were to be sent to die at Auschwitz-Birkenau, if ever they survived.
In this singular ghetto the artists exposed the truth of this horrible place  through art, poetry  and music. Also children were taught to do so.
One of these artists was Friedl Dicker-Brandeis who secretly  taught art to hundreds of children in the camp from 1942  to 1944. She saw drawing as a means for children to understand their emotions. In  September 1944 she was sent to Auschwitz  where she perished  the next year,  but before she was taken away she gave two suitcases with 4,500 drawings to  one of the chief tutors of the Girls’ Home.  After the war,  the director of the Girls’ Home  brought the suitcases with children's drawings to the Jewish Community in Prague. Today  the drawings are in several museums.One of the many poems found in Terezin is “Butterfly” written by the inmate Pavel Friedman at the age of 21.  It is included in  a collection of works of  art and poetry by Jewish children who were prisoners in  Terezin  Concentration Camp .  The poem “Butterfly” inspired the “Butterfly Project” of the Holocaust Museum  in  Houston. This exhibition features  1.5 million paper   butterflies;  the number symbolizes the number of  children  that died in the  Holocaust. 

 Fifteen thousand of the Terezin inmates were children of which 132 have survived.

I was   also very impressed by “The Terezin Promise: the promise made by a Jewish girl at Terezin, Raja Englandergova, to her teacher, Irena,  not to leave the camp without the poems and drawings of the children of Terezin; the real promise was to live and  hope and to NEVER FORGET.