Students from New York have earned top honors in Italy for bringing a thoughtful perspective to Christopher Columbus through a podcast connecting history, education, and Italian American identity.
La Scuola d’Italia Guglielmo Marconi won first prize in the international competition “Immagini e Immaginario su Cristoforo Colombo,” organized by the Centro Studi Colombiano of Fondazione Casa America with Liguria’s regional education authorities and support from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The award was presented in Genoa on October 12, 2026, during Columbus Day celebrations. Approximately 200 students participated, representing schools across Italy as well as Madrid, La Plata, and New York.
The winning podcast, titled “Columbus: Eroe, Complice o Essere umano?”, explored the Genoese navigator from multiple perspectives. According to school principal Anthony Martire, students worked for several months alongside teachers of history, geography, Italian, and technology to examine both Columbus’s life and the ways his image has evolved over time.
Liguria President Marco Bucci welcomed the winners, praising the students’ creativity and their ability to engage with an important historical subject. Second place went to the Littardi school in Imperia for a digital book, while Genoa’s CPIA Centro Levante received a special award for a video.
The New York delegation also visited Genoa’s National Museum of Italian Emigration, whose 16 exhibition areas trace migration stories from Italian unification to the present.
Together, the award and museum visit celebrated a connection between Italy and the United States – one strengthened by young people asking questions, telling stories, and discovering their heritage.
