ITALY
The Corning San Giovanni Valdarno Sister Cities Program is an immersion program for Corning Painted Post High School students and teachers, along with their counterparts from F. SEVERI, I.T.C. Instituto Statale di Istruzione Superiore in San Giovanni Valdarno.
Italian guests visit Corning in late September, and enjoy the hospitality of student families and educators. They experience American culture, including our high school, beautiful community and the surrounding areas.
The experience begins with their arrival in New York City, where they are greeted by Committee representatives. Our guests enjoy the sites of NYC, Washington, DC and Niagara Falls, along with school activities and special time with their host families.
The reciprocal program by F. SEVERI, I.T.C. Instituto Statale di Istruzione Superiore in San Giovanni Valdarno occurs in February, in conjunction with the Corning student’s winter break.
Our Committee involves many dedicated adults, students, families, and educators in our community, who continually support this ambassador program. This devoted team and student club coordinates events throughout the year to raise funds for the organization. Standing meetings are held monthly at 6 pm, in the conference room at the Corning City Hall.
2021 Update
The San Giovanni Sister Cities has used this time of quarantine and social distancing to virtually stay in touch with our Italian Family and Friends. On November 14th, 2020, we held a "virtual pasta dinner" with many of the teachers and public figures from San Giovanni Valdarno. We received an update from the new mayor, Valentina Vadi, on the COVID situation in the city and surrounding Tuscan Region. We talked about our commitment to continue our Sister City partnership and hope to resume the exchange once the health situation improves.
It is our hope that we will be able to complete our adult trip, sometime this year or early 2022, to San Giovanni where we will take Corning Mayor BIll Boland to San Giovanni and we can meet with Valentina to re-sign documents and further solidify our Sister City partnership.
We will continue to reach out to our Italian friends and family and connect with them virtually until further notice.