Help Us Bring Italian American Heritage Curriculum to Our Schools!

In collaboration with the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission (NJIHC) and the National Columbus Education Foundation (NCEF), we have launched a letter-writing campaign aimed at education commissioners in all fifty states. Our initiative promotes a groundbreaking curriculum titled “The Universality of Italian Heritage,” which features a unique series of videos created by the NJIHC—the first of its kind in the nation. Several New Jersey schools have successfully integrated this infusion model into their existing curricula, and we aim to extend this opportunity to every school district across the country.

This engaging and informative curriculum is available at no cost through the NJIHC website. It includes a four-part immigration video series entitled “An Italian’s Dream: Leads to the Origin of the Hispanic Peoples and Beyond.” We encourage you to view and share these videos within your organization and community. These valuable resources are currently available to school districts throughout New Jersey and in select districts in Italy, and we believe that every school in the nation would benefit from incorporating this video series into their curricula. Therefore, we are strongly advocating for every State Department of Education to adopt it.

Developed since 2003, these educational materials have undergone a pilot process in schools across New Jersey and Italy. They are designed to be infused into all academic subjects within state-approved curricula. Each lesson begins with an Italian theme and then expands to encompass the cultural heritage of all students. New Jersey was the first state to enact legislation addressing prejudice and discrimination against Italian Americans in the media, and this curriculum serves as a model for teaching heritage and promoting prejudice reduction.