Chris R. Vaccaro, the Executive Director of the Italian American Heritage Society of Long Island, spoke with Italian studies students at Comsewogue High School about preserving heritage and building opportunities for the next generation.
“I often talk about bridging that gap between honoring the past and inspiring the future,” said Vaccaro. “Well, I can’t inspire the future without getting them directly involved in our organization. Every conversation I have with high school and college students is extremely important because they are the ones who will take the baton and run the next lap of cultural preservation.”
Vaccaro met Matt Drucker, an Italian teacher at Comsewogue, at a conference of the American Association of Teachers of Italian on Long Island.
Anyone interested in interning must be a high school or college student of Italian descent from Long Island and should contact Vaccaro directly at [email protected].