The Language and Enrichment Center hosts 5th annual End of the Year Celebration at the Scotch Plains Italian American Club

The Scotch Plains Italian American Club was filled with electrifying energy of the children, parents, and staff of the Language and Enrichment Center the night of June 6th. The Italian Language and Enrichment Center hosted their 5th annual End of the Year Celebration which comprised of children ages 2 ½ – 9 of the Let's Play in Italian programs from their Nutley and Scotch Plains locations. The students performed various shows such as comedy skits, a play called Bianca Neve (commonly known as Snow White) and several songs like Il Cafe Della Peppina, Dove Pollice, Cera Un Cocomero, all sung in fluent Italian. “There were multiple surprises that night,” says director of the Language and Enrichment Center, Catiana Celentano, who started the Let's Play in Italian program back in 2006. “Some of our quieter students really came out of their shells and sang their hearts out as soon as the curtain opened. I got goosebumps when one of our 3 year old students sang a solo in fluent Italian in front of a crowd of 225 people.” Celentano continued, “it's one thing to get a child to perform on stage in English, but conquering it in another language is absolutely magnificent in my eyes. Our programs have made such a positive impact on our students and I couldn't be more proud of their performances.”

Let’s Play in Italian started in 2006 when Celentano was determined to share her passion for the rich culture, history and language of her family’s native country of Italy. She felt compelled to share it with fellow Italian-Americans and anyone who was interested in learning about the language and the culture because it seemed to be fading among her generation. It all started with Mommy & Me classes that sparked an interest throughout the state prompting sessions to become available in Scotch Plains, Hoboken, and Nutley. It was that initial interest that grew into a completely new idea for Celentano, a school that would teach Italian to the group of babies that with time became toddlers.

The Mommy & Me classes teach the children the language through song and play. In 2008, the non-profit organization, the Italian Language and Enrichment Center (“LEC”), located in Scotch Plains, was created as a preschool and enrichment program along with after school and adult classes which provide lessons to children ranging between the ages of 2½ through 5. The LEC has grown remarkably since its inauguration and is even recognized with a special day bestowed upon it by the town of Scotch Plains: June 1st is Italian Language & Enrichment Center Day. The LEC is honored to be recognized as a vital part of the culture of the town.

This year was the first time the Language and Enrichment Center included their students from the Stelle Marine program at the End of the Year Celebration. The Stelle Marine program is an Italian learning program for kids ages 6-9. Most of these children started learning Italian with Celentano as infants or toddlers when Celentano first opened in 2006. Once they graduated the Italian preschool and kindergarten, they were still eager to continue their learning of Italian. So, Celentano created a level one and two after school program two days a week. In these levels, the Stelle learn to read, write and converse in Italian. The jokes and short comedy skits they performed at the End of the Year Celebration were an example of what they learned this past year. The audience watched first hand as the students of the Stelle Marine program conversed in fluent Italian with their fellow students in their program. “Every year the performances get better. I'm looking forward to next year,” says Celentano.

For information about any of our programs or the Language and Enrichment Center please visit their website www.letsplayinitalian.com or by calling 732-558-4781.