Dolores Miller and Giovanna Portanova, who both teach Italian, plus social studies teacher and soccer coach Rob Saint John, chaperoned the group during spring break. The three soccer players taking the trip were Cassie Baker, Samantha Sandowski and Amanda Pissios. It was a trip of a lifetime for the whole group.

Amanda Pissios (from left) Rob Saint John, Samantha Sandowski and Cassie Baker stand in front of The Duomo in Florence.

"You learn how different their culture is to ours," said Baker, a senior. "Europeans are so laid back and happy. The scenery was breathtaking and the sights in the cities were unbelievable."

Sandowski said, "I loved it. It was my first time to Europe, and I had a great time. We even saw a Italian soccer stadium."

The group flew from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, and then took a local flight to Venice, Italy. After a few days in Venice, they took a bus to Florence, and then to Rome. Along the way, the group met locals and had plenty of opportunity to practice their Italian.

According to Baker, 18, the highlight of the trip was a visit to the Vatican City and an unexpected view of Pope Benedict XVI.

"Saint Peter's Square was awesome," Baker said. "There was such a huge crowd and they were all excited to see the Pope."

Sandowski said her favorite part of the trip was taking a gondola ride through the canals of Venice.

"Rome was a typical big city with lots of traffic," she said. "Venice was so romantic, so different as to how we live our lives in the United States."

The group stayed in hotels and spent days sightseeing with a local tour guide. The kids did get some free time to shop and explore the unique restaurants.

"The food was simpler and they served more vegetables," Sandowski said. "The pasta was fresher, but the pizza is different than what we have in America."

Both girls agreed that they would love to return some day. In fact, Baker said she would like to live in Europe.

"I didn't want to come home," Baker said. "I wasn't at all homesick. I've been to about 30 out of the 50 states in America, but Europe is totally different. I was shocked at how nice the people were and how well we adapted to their culture."

Baker did point out that Germany wasn't at all pleasant, saying that the people were cold and the security was crazy. Italy, on the other hand, warmed to her instantly.

Article written by Dan Currier on Monday, May 17, 2010 for the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/norridge/sports/highschools/2285244,norridge-riditaly-051710-s1.article.

Italy Trip Group Picture at the Vatican

Person	Ext	VM	HH	E-Mail
Monica Hansen Music Keyboarding	222	720	820	mhansen@ridgenet.org
Gazda Jennifer 1/5 Spanish	222	790		jgazda@ridgenet.org
Dolores Pigoni-Miller	222	721	821	dmiller@ridgenet.org
Giovanna Portanova Italian / Study Skills	276	739		gportanova@ridgenet.org
Elizabeth Romano	222	771	871	eromano@ridgenet.org

They are WMV files, which can be opened with Windows Media Player, Nullsoft Win Amp, VLC Media Player and other media applications.

• Conjugating Verbs By Sean Quinn and Frankie Pavone
• The City by Dana and Katherine
• Avere and Idiomatic Expressions with Avere by Sean, Shawn and Henry

Inspiration for the students' book writing assignment was provided by a visit to Ridgewood in March by two award-winning professionals - children's book author Candace Fleming and children's book illustrator Eric Rohmann. Fleming's biographies of Eleanor Roosevelt and Benjamin Franklin are both American Library Association Notable Books. Rohmann has won the Caldecott award for excellence in children's illustration for his book "My Friend Rabbit." He was a Caldecott runner up for "Time Flies."

"Writing and illustrating a book - in Spanish - was a very interesting assignment," said Ridgewood senior Alex Cabot, 18, of Norridge. "It gave me an opportunity to use two things high-school students don't normally employ - a foreign language and my imagination."

Cabot, a Spanish 4 student, credits Fleming with helping him think of his book's central character, a chicken named Jimmy.

"He's sort of a teenaged chicken," Cabot explained. "He's hungry, so he walks into a taco shop in Peru."

Cabot, who didn't know students were allowed to use some English, wrote his book entirely in Spanish. His story is a mixture of dialogue and description. Jimmy, a chicken of few words, says "Squawk!" a lot, Cabot admitted.

"The shop's daily special is chicken tacos," he said. "The chef, Jorge, is running low on chicken. My story turned out to be really funny."

No chicken was harmed in the creation of his story, Cabot insisted, adding that Jorge ends up with more problems than Jimmy. Plot, characters, dialogue and description were only parts of the students' assignment though. They also had to illustrate their work.

"Jimmy is your basic pencil and crayon chicken. He does have a bright orange beak though," Cabot said. "Jorge is more developed. He's bald, with a long nose and a big, curly mustache."

Cabot's book, along with his classmates' work, will be on display from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM May 9, 2006 at the Eisenhower Public Library, 4652 North Olcott Avenue.

Comic books created by Ridgewood students who attended a three-day workshop hosted by professional comic book artists Bill Reinhold and Jill Thompson will also be on display.

The visits of Fleming, Rohmann, Reinhold and Thompson were part of Illustrated Manuscripts Circa 2006, a joint grant between Ridgewood and Eisenhower Public Library.

The grant was partially funded by the Illinois Secretary of State under the federal Library Services and Technology Act, under the auspices of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Article written by Wynn Koebel Foster in the April 27, 2006 issue of the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/no/04-27-06-900207.html . Used with permission.