April 5, 2025
By Madison Quick
Staff Writer
With its best results yet, LHS placed second out of four New Jersey high schools at the Italian Language and Culture Day competition at Rutgers University-New Brunswick on March 20.
The group of 23 students earned the award for a nearly five-minute skit they performed entirely in Italian.
Skits in this year’s competition–which five judges adjudicated–were required to address the global impact of Italians.
Junior Layla Santos, a two-year competition participant in the Italian III-Honors class, said the students worked together to decide on an approach for the skit.
“We all shared ideas and created it together. It wasn’t a one-person job,” Santos said.
She said the skit they came up with had a storyline that embodied the assigned theme.
“For me, the best parts of the performance were the moments of laughter from the crowd who picked up on the humor we inserted into our skit.”
“Our skit was [set] in a classroom, and we all had to present different parts of history and [convey] what makes Italy so significant,” Santos said.
Senior Ariana Feliciano, who takes Italian IV-Honors and has been participating in the competition since her sophomore year, said she felt a lot of emotions performing the skit.
“It felt bittersweet because it was my last one…, but I felt really good about what we had presented on the stage,” Feliciano said.
She said she appreciated the camaraderie among her classmates.
“Nobody was looked down on because everybody… was there to have fun. Everybody got along and helped each other out,” Feliciano said.
She said she enjoyed performing and watching the competing schools’ skits.
“Every year, I get to learn something new about Italian culture when we do this competition, so it’s really nice to see what the other schools do,” Feliciano said.
Signor Raguseo, who advises the competition team, said LHS’ skit was meant to be educational and funny.
“For me, the best parts of the performance were the moments of laughter from the crowd who picked up on the humor we inserted into our skit,” Raguseo said.
He said he was happy with the outcome of the competition.
“I felt a sense of joy and pride because my students and I were finally recognized for our hard work, dedication and creativity after many years of competing,” said Raguseo.
