ANNAPOLIS STUDENTS WIN ITALIAN EMBASSY’S DA VINCI PRIZE
Two students of Italian at Annapolis High School won first prize in a contest that the Italian Embassy in Washington sponsored this past fall to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci, the extraordinary Italian “Renaissance Man” and polymath, died on May 2, 1519. The two students, Julia Boivin and Sabrina Gleitz, are seniors in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Annapolis High School. They produced and edited the winning video, which they created to illustrate the amazing breadth of the genius of Da Vinci. Both Julia and Sabrina are honor roll students at Annapolis High. Julia is the President of the Italian National Honor Society, while Sabrina is its Secretary.
Annapolis High School students Julia Boivin, left, and Sabrina Gleitz, 2nd from left, sport their medals as their teacher Maria LaVerghetta, 3rd from left, holds the plaque presented by Professor Maria Fusco, the Italian Embassy’s Director of Education, right, for the embassy’s contest to honor Leonardo DaVinci on the 500th anniversary of his death. (Bottom photo) Sandra, Julia and Maria at the Italian Embassy.
The students’ winning video illustrates the amazing breadth of the genius of Da Vinci.
Sabrina wrote the script for the video and Julia did the editing. Both Julia and Sabrina are students of Maria LaVerghetta, Annapolis High School’s Italian teacher. Maria is an AMHS member and the society’s representative to the Greater Washington D.C. Observatory of the Italian Language. The medals for Julia and Sabrina and the plaque for Annapolis High School were presented by Professor Maria Fusco, the Italian Embassy’s Director of Education, on October 23 of last year. The Italian Embassy organized the contest as part of Italy’s celebration of the anniversary of Da Vinci’s death. Major events took place in Italy throughout 2019 in cities such as Rome, Milan, and Florence as well as other locations.
Da Vinci of course enjoys worldwide recognition as an artist and inventor whose insatiable curiosity led him to explore the worlds of science, mathematics, architecture, design, engineering, anatomy, geology, cartography, sculpture, drawing, painting, botany, paleontology and literature. As the Italian Embassy aptly noted, Italy’s commemoration of Da Vinci marks 500 years of Italian genius, leading the way in technology, culture and innovation. ❚