Italian Club has returned, new and improved. Among the changes is the introduction of alternating morning and after school meetings, allowing for more students to attend when they otherwise couldn’t. With the club’s revitalization, one would wonder what was the club like originally? How did it come to be?

“I’ve been here five years now,” explained club sponsor Anna Izzo. “For the first two years, at the beginning of every year, I tried, and it kind of ended up being just me buying a lot of food and the kids coming, eating and then leaving.

Obviously that got frustrating, and so this year I tried to spark a little more interest in it at the beginning of the year so that’s why we waited two months before we had our first meeting, and I think that helped a lot so it was nice to see that some students were really interested in it. I met a couple students who couldn’t take the class because of their schedule, but they still wanted to do the club so that was it.”

Additionally, another coming improvement is a shift towards a more student-run club than a teacher- directed one.

“Right now it’s pretty much just me, but it’s definitely going to become more student focused, and I’ll have them kind of brainstorm ideas,” Izzo said. “Especially maybe the upperclassmen and be like, what do you want to do?”

Students can find a restaurant in this area, and they could meet there. They could also find a game they want to play or organize the Christmas party. But Izzo believes it will be led by her for first couple months, but then later on led by the students.

Furthermore, the Italian Exchange is approaching, and Italian Club intends on being involved. Right now, they’re looking to “maybe [have] a breakfast with them,” and add a change in the schedule for the exchange to benefit the club greatly.

“So, this year they’re coming in February, typically they come around Thanksgiving, so we have a little time to plan that,”Izzo said. “But I’ll probably have a meeting where I’ll ask Italian Club ‘what do you want to do with them?’ and hopefully I’ll have them do something like a breakfast in the classroom, so they can meet them.”

Additionally, those in the club love the Italian culture for a multitude of reasons.

“I just love it. I think it’s the best place in the world,” Izzo said. “Everything about it, like the culture, the food, the language, the people. I just fell in love when I first went there when I was in high school. I’ve lived there for about a year or so. I just fell in love with it.

I think the language is just gorgeous, and every little town has so much history and culture and everywhere you go there’s so much to see. I just love thinking that right now there’s a country of a bunch of old men arguing at cafes and just talking in Italian. So I get to talk about it every day, so that’s pretty awesome.”

Senior Juliana Lappano shares Izzo’s opinion, stating that she loves “all the yummy food” and the “cool, fun traditions about the Italian culture.”

“The rich history of arts Italy shares is fascinating,” senior Tania Rojas said. “Especially its famous structures like the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I also love Italy’s expressive language, the value of family and the focus of Italian society.”