Each year the Vermont Italian Cultural Association awards up to three grants to individuals seeking to broaden their knowledge of Italian culture. In 2024, VICA named one of these grants to honor retired Senator Patrick Leahy, whose maternal grandparents immigrated to Vermont from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy. The Leahys have been VICA members since 2012.

At VICA’s Carnevale fundraiser in March, Nicole Mandeville of Richmond, Vermont, was announced as the first recipient of the Senator and Marcelle Leahy award. The owner and director of the Burlington Forest School, a place-based preschool for children ages 3–5, Nicole will travel to Reggio Emilia, to attend the North American Reggio Emilia Association conference titled “Deepening Research with the 100 Languages.”

She will be attending with a cohort of other educators from Vermont and plans to share what she has learned with her staff and other early childhood educators upon her return. Senator Leahy expressed, “Marcelle and I are thrilled that Nicole, a dedicated and innovative early childhood educator, will be the first recipient of this grant.”

One of the distinct requirements for recipients of the Senator and Marcelle Leahy award is that they must have Italian heritage. Nicole’s maternal great-grandparents, Vincenzo and Rafaela (Bucci) Festino, along with Nunzio and Maria (DePinto) DePalma, emigrated from Corato/Bari, Puglia to Boston in the early 1900s.

In addition to Nicole, Stacy Hopkins of Hartland, Vermont, received a $1,500 grant to attend Alchemia Contemporary Jewelry School in Florence, for a two-week intensive course. Trained in Florence as a jeweler 25 years ago, Stacy will reconnect with the language, people, and culture that were formative to her development as an artist and jeweler. When she returns, Hopkins plans to create a solo exhibit at Scavenger, her gallery in White River Junction, including an artist’s talk to share what she learned from renowned Florentine artisans and goldsmiths.

This year’s award recipients reinforce the cultural value of our grant program. Both Stacy and Nicole impressed the Scholarships and Grants committee with their commitment to Italian culture and desire to expand their skills, knowledge, and passion for their fields. We look forward to them sharing their experiences with VICA and the broader community.