Olgiate Olona, June 26, 1959 - Educational project (2025-2026)

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 (a set of pens engraved with the date June 26 and the year of award) offered personally by Alberto Colombo with the authorization of Olgiate Olona mayor.

school year:

2025/26 | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 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, 2026 - Sara Grigolato, first classified

Educational project school year 2025-2026

In 2026, the educational project in memory of the plane crash has been addressed to 42 students in the eighth grade of Dante Alighieri school.

First classified, the work in prose Non è solo una parola by GRIGOLATO SARA:

Non è solo una parola

(it’s not just a word)

I’m thirteen years old and until recently the word commemoration seemed long, difficult, one of those words used by adults who say they’re serious. Then I understood. Here in Olgiate, when June 26th arrives, it’s not just any day. It’s not just a date written on the calendar. It’s a day that breathes more slowly.
Seventy people. Seventy empty chairs. Seventy stories that couldn’t finish their sentences. I didn’t know them. I don’t know what their voices were, if they laughed out loud, if they were afraid of flying, or if they looked out the window with eyes full of life. But I know one thing: when we commemorate, it’s not just to remember how they died. It’s to remember that they lived. Commemoration is being silent without feeling uncomfortable. It’s listening to their names, because each one was truly important. It’s placing a flower, not out of habit, but because that gesture says: You still matter.
I’m thirteen years old, and perhaps I don’t understand everything about grief, but I understand that forgetting would be like making them disappear twice. And then I understood that commemoration isn’t a difficult word. It’s a promise. The promise that those seventy names will never be just a number, but part of our sky, every time we look at it and remain silent for a moment.

Second classified ex aequo, the poem Incolpevoli vite by SOFIA MALVESTITI:

Incolpevoli vite

(blameless lives)

In the memory of each of us
must not only be the heroes,
but also the seventy innocent lives
that disappeared with a bolt of lightning.
The lives shattered, the dreams stolen,
smiles that flew in the sky of Olgiate...
That day of June was fateful for you,
but your memory is made immortal
by our thoughts and our memory
that will always remember your story.

Second classified ex aequo, the poem Ti penso by AURORA SENALDI:

Ti penso

(I think about you)

I think of you, because I never wanted to forget you.
I think of you, even though it pains my heart.
I think of you, because I don’t want (to forget) that time passes in vain.
I don’t sing against the sky, I smile at the dark sun.
I still think of you, and you don’t know how important it is to me, despite everything, not to forget your flight, which didn’t end on earth, but tastes of immortality.

Second classified ex aequo, the work in prose Tempesta d’estate by BEATRICE MACCHI:

Tempesta d’estate

(summer storm)

Seventy hearts extinguished in a summer storm. A bolt of lightning was the architect of your end. Your breath will never return to this earth, but ours is here, and now it’s up to us to remember. To remember the terrible tragedy that tore you from the future, from seeing and embracing those you love. And now fly, reach the sky, no longer on a plane, but on a star that nothing can dim and shines immortal. That monument that stands where you perished on the ground renews our memory: it doesn’t allow you to die in our hearts.

Second classified ex aequo, the work in prose In ricordo delle 70 vittime by MICHELLE PEPE:

In ricordo delle 70 vittime

(in memory of the 70 victims)

Seventy years ago, seventy lives to remember, a simple plane ride that turned tragic: a single bolt of lightning was enough to rip the sky and change their fate. A sudden flash, a distant roar, clouds gray and heavy like the silence that filled the valley. Friends, family, all lives shattered: time stood still on those beautiful moments, those moments they still had to share, moments that life prevented. Time has passed, but the memory lives on, in the hearts and minds of those who never forget.

Commemoration of June 26, 2026
The students authors of the deserving works awarded together with the teachers in Licterature, deputy mayor and councilor for Educational Services of Olgiate Olona, mayor of Livraga, school coordinator teacher and coordinators of the promoting staff of commemorative events

Commemoration of June 26, 2026 - Sara Grigolato awarded the Special award 2026

Special award 2026

Before the notification of the names of students authors of the finalist works, the mayor of Olgiate Olona authorized - even in 2026 - Alberto Colombo to give the Special award in a personal capacity to the work Non è solo una parola with the following motivation: «The result of a process of extraordinary reflection and introspection, the genesis of a text rich in original terms and images, the work crystallizes the essence and relevance of the personal and collective memory of June 26, 1959, in Olgiate Olona.».
Determined thereafter that the work Non è solo una parola was the one of Sara Grigolato, Alberto Colombo handed over the Special award 2026 to this student on June 26, 2026: a pens set with the date of June 26, 2026 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 2025-2026

June 27, 2026 - Article published in VareseNoi.it

Papa Leone benedice la commemorazione di Olgiate: «Un balsamo le sue parole»

June 27, 2026 - Article published in IlBustese.it

Papa Leone benedice la commemorazione di Olgiate: «Un balsamo le sue parole»

June 20, 2026 - Article published in PrimaSaronno.it

La comunità di Olgiate ricorda le 70 vittime del disastro aereo

June 16, 2026 - Article published in La prealpina

In memoria della tragedia aerea

June 12, 2026 - Article published in VareseInLuce.it

Olgiate Olona non dimentica: al via le celebrazioni per il disastro aereo della TWA del 1959

June 10, 2026 - Article published in Malpensa24.it