Una nuova professoressa di Italiano at Becton is here and ready to teach current and future students about the language and culture of Italy! A huge surge of students decided to add the Italian language onto their list of skills over the past year, so a new teacher was needed to fulfill the desires of many Wildcats. Luckily, Mrs. Anna Maria Altomonte has already exceeded those desires! Coming from Italy, Altomonte shares that she found it a bit difficult moving from her home country to the U.S., “I did not know anything about American culture or even how to speak English,” she explained. “Coming here was the start of a new life — I left the things I did not like back at home.”  This shining teacher did not always plan on leaving her beautiful home country. She had everything: a bachelor’s and master’s degree, a thriving dance career, and so much more. The Italian romantic expressed, “I left for love. My husband wanted to come here, and I followed him.” Altomonte has continued to fulfill her love for teaching as well, here at Becton.  

Altomonte’s student, Giana Viso,  is taking her first year of Italian with Altomonte. Although Viso was initially interested in Spanish, Italiano became her new cuore because of Altomonte’s passionate teaching. Because Viso’s family is of Italian descent, she felt it would be best to brush up on the language a bit; fortunately, Altomonte is underway to making Viso an absolute pro! Viso stated that Altomonte, “…is very understanding, funny, and nice.” She enjoys how engaging Altomonte is with her classes and expressed how helpful she is as well. Viso mentioned that Altomonte often reassures her students, “If we don’t understand something or know how to pronounce a word, she’ll keep going over it until we get it.” Clearly, Altomonte wants her students to succeed.  

Finally, as mentioned, Altomonte  did not know a lick of English stepping foot onto American soil. Despite the challenge, shortly after arriving she decided to eagerly take on teaching a few Italian classes in a Catholic school in Hackensack. The school’s principal was very impressed with Altomonte’s work and recommended her to obtain a degree in teaching Italian. Several years, and schools later, her eye was caught by none other than Henry P. Becton Regional. When asked what she liked most about this school, Altomonte declared that Becton was, “…the school that I was looking for.” She admires the support and culture brought together by students and teachers. As for advice for current and future Italian students, Altomonte encourages that they, “…repeat everything! Don’t be shy to speak the language!” All in all, we welcome a warm benvenuta to Mrs. Altomonte!