After hundreds of teachers were nominated in the Unsung Heroes competition, conducted by EducationHQ and Australian Teacher Magazine, five worthy recipients have been handpicked to go in the running for the Italian Teacher category, proudly supported by Il Globo and La Fiamma.
Now it’s your turn to decide.
Which one of the five shortlisted Italian language teachers below do you believe to be Australia’s most deserving Unsung Hero?
Voting closes at 17:00 AEST on December 10, 2018.
The winner of the Italian Teacher award will receive a $1000 cash prize courtesy of Il Globo and La Fiamma to spend on their further professional development.
Mary Lantman
Cairns School of Distance Education, QLD
Mary is a Senior Teacher at Cairns School of Distance Education.
Mary demonstrates curriculum leadership by using evidence based approaches that promote positive student outcomes.
She shares her understandings collaboratively and guides new teachers with planning, scaffolding and moderation techniques.
Mary submitted an application for funding to invite specialists to work with students on an Italian cultural-arts project.
She also coordinated the Italian Cultural Day at Cairns School of Distance Education.
Mary is connected with the Italian Language Centre which supports the Italian Program at Cairns School of Distance Education with a financial contribution of $1000 to support the purchase of teaching and learning materials.
Mary is an active member of the Modern Languages' Teacher Association of Queensland.
In this role she works across a number of schools to support the development of all languages.
Mary has also volunteered to chaperone students in the Queensland Department of Education Swiss - Italian Student Exchange Program conducted in 2017-2018 summer vacation.
Maria-Pia Gagliardo
MacKillop Catholic College, NT
Maria-Pia is the most passionate Italian teacher that I have ever met.
She goes 100 per cent above and beyond her duties to ensure that her students are not only meeting the criteria that they must, but are also having a fabulous time while doing so.
I have witnessed Maria-Pia in action when she is cooking pizza with her students, playing guitar while teaching her students songs, preparing her students to enter singing competitions, where the students are singing in Italian, preparing students who wish to visit Italy.
Everything that Maria-Pia does with her students, she does so with a beaming smile.
She is a real asset to our college.
Franco Cudini
Galen Catholic College, VIC
Franco has been teaching Italian for forty years in Regional Victoria.
He works with passion and enthusiasm and he can connect with students as well as with colleagues and parents.
He has never stopped updating his knowledge and teaching strategies.
He is an inclusive and motivating leader for our LOTE department.
Out of school, he has been involved in a number of initiatives to promote Italian language and culture in the wider community.
He is also one of the founders of NETI (North East Teachers of Italian) and one of the most inspiring and caring people I ever met.
Jenna Lo Bianco
St. Paul's College, VIC
Jenna Lo Bianco has a profound and deep passion for the Italian language.
What makes her different to every other teacher is her passion and love for the language.
She teaches in such a creative and unique manner that makes her stand out.
Her true obsession for the language is revealed not only in her way of teaching but the effort and love she puts into her corrections, planned activities and creative resources.
She is always going above and beyond for each individual student, and places such a believing spirit in each person for them to achieve their potential and achieve their best.
She has such a motivating and inspirational spirit that enables students to feel confident and capable of doing well in Italian, despite any set backs that they face.
Specifically for me, Jenna Lo Bianco enabled me to succeed in my studies during VCE, coming top 10 per cent within the state of Victoria.
More than that, her passion is what truly inspired and led me to experience my own love for the language, culture and grammar.
She enabled me to develop my own passion and opened my eyes to what I am truly passionate about becoming, an Italian teacher.
I have further objectives to travel in Italy and one day open my own Italian school.
I cannot even begin to explain or decribe how I feel about the language of Italian, and how much of a dream it is for me to be an Italian teacher, yet all these objectives and desires have been birthed and were all found by one person, Jenna Lo Bianco.
I honestly don't believe I would've discovered my true passion for the language and my eventual career if it wasn't for Jenna Lo Bianco.
Anna Favrin
Penola Catholic College, VIC
Anna has been teaching Italian and French for over 30 years with enthusiasm, passion, creativity and total dedication.
She has been leading the Languages team at Penola where we have a strong and vibrant Italian program with international exchanges, languages assistance, latest technologies, contemporary, bright and colourful learning spaces.
She also introduced Italian CLIL at Year 9 whereby students study Religious Education and Humanities in Italian and then accelerate into Year 11 Italian in Year 10.
She has also created a pathway to First Year University Italian She work tirelessly to build and excellent Italian program.
We currently have two Year 11 and two Year 12 Italian classes.
