“It is a source of profound pride to have contributed to the history of this prestigious high school which over the years has trained entire generations of students, who have become excellent professional resources in national and international contexts”. Thus the MEP Giusi Princi, speaking on the occasion of the important anniversary of the 100 years of the “Leonardo da Vinci” Scientific High School in Reggio Calabria, in which she was director from 2010 to 2021. Thanks to Princi’s managerial vision, the high school it is open to modernity and innovation, becoming a point of reference for the Italian school system.
“First of all, I would like to thank the new head of the high school, Prof. Antonella Borrello, of whom I proudly acted as tutor in the probationary year, and all those with whom I had the privilege of collaborating in the long years of my leadership at the high school”, states Giusi Princi retracing one of the most significant pages of high school history. “These were important years – he continues -, characterized by a precise managerial direction inspired by the strong desire to give meaning and essence to public schools, ensuring that it was the real social elevator of varied opportunities to be offered to students. From this perspective, I wanted to concretely apply the autonomy that the Bassanini reform has attributed to school institutions, opening the high school to the wider social community, to national and international scenarios, to innovative educational paths, involving all local partners and while activating national and European networks. The first great objective I gave myself – she highlights – was to build an educating community, a place that was welcoming, open and capable of responding to everyone’s needs. A school that was not only an education center, but also a social garrison, a point of reference for families and for the territory. Convinced, therefore, that education must represent a true social redemption, I have tried to offer all students the opportunity to emerge and at the same time improve themselves, encouraging educational support for all. Educational offices, including individual ones, for the recovery of basic skills (in person and remotely), guaranteed to students in all disciplinary areas. Afternoon workshops: musical, theatrical, sporting, expressive which allowed the children to experience the school spaces until the evening. Psychological listening desks, free specialist visits through which the path to health promotion has been traced. Great attention to educational innovation thanks to the important experiments conceived over the years: mathematics and science high school with the partnership of the Mediterranean University, biomedicine with the support of the Provincial Medical Association which has now become a national model, Cambridge international high school through which the response was to the challenge of globalization and internationalization with the study not only of English, but also German, French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese entrusted to native speaking teachers. The partnerships with professional associations are also important, with the Prosecutor’s Office which allowed magistrates to enter school classrooms to systematically teach students”.
“In the long years of management at the high school, not only attention was paid to the educational offer – continues Giusi Princi -, but also the spaces and structures were rethought and improved. With a real structural revolution, the school premises have in fact been expanded with the creation of modern and functional classrooms. The branch office has been renovated, all the classrooms have been digitalised, the administrative office spaces have been reorganized by renewing the furnishings, transforming all the school environments into welcoming spaces, designed to facilitate the study and well-being of all students and staff. Already from the early years, the high school was equipped with advanced laboratories and established the physics museum, a unique place that houses a wealth of instruments dating back to the early 1900s that were lying in the basements. We were among the first to adopt the electronic register and implement the distance learning model already during the first days of COVID. I strongly wanted – he continues – that the right to study was also best guaranteed to commuter students, so I activated the shuttle service for all students coming from the suburbs. Many recognitions have been obtained over the years – adds the MEP -, from the medal of the Presidency of the Republic, given to students directly by the Head of State, to the praise of two Ministers of Education, of different political backgrounds, recalled by the excellence of the high school recognized beyond national borders, by the successes of students in various national and international competitions. The real pride, however, was above all that of having promoted in the students the pride of belonging to the high school, their finding themselves in the values, in the listening, in the community spirit that I still find today in the many young established professionals, and students in those years, in the slogan ‘Vinciani forever’. It is true that it is the manager who gives the vision and the impulse – continues Giusi Princi – but all this would not have been possible if there had not been an extraordinary team made up of teachers, administrative staff, school collaborators, parents, united by a commitment common and a shared vision. And now I look to the future with the hope that the high school can continue to be a hotbed of talent and a point of reference for the new generations, with the certainty that the school model outlined will continue to thrive for a long time, implementing itself under the valid guidance of the the current manager and of the entire teaching and administrative component and through the school managers who will succeed one another, because the school – he concludes – is a precious asset for the community, an example to be preserved and expanded”.