For the first time, 11 Rider University students are traveling to Italy this summer to teach English to elementary school Italian students and Rider’s connection with Italy will broaden further. Four hundred Italian students will study English on campus throughout the summer as a result of last summer’s pilot program.

The visits have been arranged by Rider’s Auxiliary Services and Study Tours, an educational travel company based in Milan. Last summer, the visit of 47 Italian students to campus was spearheaded with the assistance of the Office of Campus Activities. The transition to Auxiliary Services demonstrates a cooperative effort and commitment to the expansion of external programs at the university.

“We’re excited to host nearly 400 students from Italy this summer and look forward to larger groups in the future,” said Diane Bozak, director of business conferences and camps. "It is the hope that this growing partnership between the university and Study Tours will yield even more innovative programs such as sending American high school students to Europe.”

Mike Reca, assistant vice president for auxiliary services and facilities planning, concurs. “The benefits of this program are far reaching and provide the university with great opportunities for exposure.”

Answering the request of the Study Tours program for energetic American students with a strong liberal arts background, 12 were selected (with one declining) from an applicant pool of 70. Their selection was based on the breadth of their academic performance, resumes and interviews. Four students departed for Florence on June 14 with others to follow at different times this summer. Teaching at the La Principina camp, their stay abroad will range from two to six weeks. Rider students will teach English in the morning and give the children opportunities to practice their new skills in afternoon drama and music productions.

Expanding last summer’s scope, groups of Italian students and 25 chaperones from various parts of Italy will learn and/or sharpen their English speaking skills at Rider beginning June 30 during five separate two-week tours. The last group will leave Rider on August 21. In addition to English instruction classes, their itinerary will include visiting such sites as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and sites in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. New highlights for each tour session will be an overnight stay in Washington, D.C., a trip to Wall Street, and ample time factored in for shopping. While on campus, students will stay in Rider’s new residence halls.

“Last summer was so much fun and highly educational; I had a chance to learn a little bit of Italian myself,” said Karson Langenfelder, a Rider senior political science major and one of three welfare directors for this summer’s Study Tours program. Langenfelder will serve in that capacity with Nick Barbati, a senior political science major, and Anna Jasicki, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in finance. “We are the point people for coordinating the students’ daily activities and needs. It’s everything from soup to nuts. I am very excited about Rider’s increasing exposure on the international level. This is a fantastic way to do it.”