The educational project at “Dante Alighieri” school of Olgiate Olona
In order to provide continuity and sightedness to the memory of June 26, 1959, an educational project has been started in 2010 thanks to the intuition of Alberto Colombo supported by Beato Contardo Ferrini Institute and by the Municipality of Olgiate Olona. The project is addressed to the students in the eighth-grade of Dante Alighieri school and consists of: a multimedia conversation in the classroom about the historical fact and the commemorative events, dialog with the students, screening of the video of song Olgiate Olona, 26 Giugno 1959 composed by Nicola Puddu; production of a work written in Italian language follows. The works in poetry and prose are received anonymous; then they are selected and judged by a jury outside the school; the most deserving works - those which best reflect the historical fact and the commemorative events - are rewarded during the commemoration of June the 26. Because of their exceptional nature, some works received a Special award offered personally by Alberto Colombo with the authorization of Olgiate Olona mayor.
school year:
2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 | 2015/16
2014/15 | 2013/14 | 2012/13 | 2011/12 | 2010/11 | 2009/10
Commemoration of June 26, 2023 - Alice Fontana, first classified
Commemoration of June 26, 2023 - Riccardo Della Torre, second classified
Commemoration of June 26, 2023 - Samuele De Paola, third classified
Educational project school year 2022-2023
In 2023, the educational project in memory of the plane crash has been addressed to 74 students in the eighth grade of Dante Alighieri school. The following are the translations of the best works rewarded during the ceremony of the 64th anniversary of June 26, 2023.
First classified, the poem Ali spezzate by ALICE FONTANA:
Ali spezzate
(broken wings)
Broken wings over seventy innocent lives,
broken dreams and broken loves.
The sudden bolt, light
that darkens the lives.
Powerful glow that divides the sky,
little boy who saw no light.
Sudden death erases boundaries,
pain dissolves the borders of living.
Body falls and spirit rises,
the memory remains and hurts less.
Memory keeps the indelible mark,
constant commitment, oblivion threatens.
Ali spezzate has received the highest overall score by the jury until today, it is the most voted among the 125 deserving works of the thirteen editions of the educational project.
Second classified, the poem Lacrime by RICCARDO DELLA TORRE:
Lacrime
(tears)
Deep tears rained from the sky
and like starlight
seventy people watched
the place of an end and a beginning.
Fire raged in their bodies
as their souls soar in the sky
The hearts of relatives broke
and their hopes and future together.
They were enraptured by the tragic fatality:
memory is a way to go
and only passing it on
the memories will not fade.
Third classified, the poem Settanta vite perse in un secondo by SAMUELE DE PAOLA:
Settanta vite perse in un secondo
(seventy lives lost in one second)
Seventy lives lost in one second
but each of them contained a world.
Seventy lives torn from a body,
whose road was cut short by fatality.
But evil was not only for seventy lives,
for other lives the suffering was great
and those families still remember
the people dead in a second.
It’s not just for them to remember
the dead lives that didn’t want to go;
ours too is the duty to celebrate
those seventy souls that we can still love.
Commemoration of June 26, 2023 - Left to right (near the ten students authors of the works awarded): Elisabetta Feraco (teacher in literature), Donata Canavesi (school director deputy), Gianni Montano (mayor), Emanuele Castelnovo (who sponsored and gave the book coupons on behalf of the relatives of Pietro Castelnovo), Luisella Tognoli Minorini (councilor for the educational services)
Commemoration of June 26, 2023 - Samuele De Paola winner of the Special award 2023
Special award 2023
Before the notification of the names of students authors of the finalist works, the mayor of Olgiate Olona authorized - even in 2023 - Alberto Colombo to give the Special award in a personal capacity to the work Settanta vite perse in un secondo with the following motivation: «With appropriately chosen phrases and words, with deep meaning and embellished by rhyme, he captured and crystallized both the essence of the plane crash and each of its protagonists, and the feeling and commitment of those who exercise and perpetuate the memory of June 26, 1959, taking care of the seventy immortal lives and their families».
Determined thereafter that the work Settanta vite perse in un secondo was the one of Samuele De Paola, mayor Giovanni Montano handed over the Special award 2023 to this student on June 26, 2023: a pens set with the date of June 26, 2023 engraved on it accompanied by an auspicious message that encourages the student to cultivate the talents not only literary underlying the awarded work.
Documents and articles related to the educational project 2022-2023
June 25, 2023 - Article published in Malpensa24.it
Lunedì alle 17.33 Olgiate commemora il 64° anniversario del disastro aereo
June 24, 2023 - Article published in InformazioneOnline.it
Disastro aereo del 1959, la memoria coltivata dai ragazzi
June 9, 2023 - Article published in Malpensa24.it
Il 26 giugno è il 64° anniversario del disastro aereo di Olgiate, la più grande tragedia di Malpensa
June 9, 2023 - Article published in VareseNews.it
Olgiate Olona commemora il 64° anniversario del disastro aereo
March 4, 2023 - Article published in PrimaSaronno.it
Disastro aereo, il racconto agli alunni delle scuole medie
March 1, 2023 - Article published in Malpensa24.it
Lezione dedicata e premi per gli alunni di Olgiate in memoria del disastro del 1959